After five lobster rolls and three sides of fries from The Salty Bastard, I almost feel like myself.Too muchlike myself. The heat hums under my skin again, deep and steady, licking along my ribs and tightening my chest. I’m aware of it now the way a man is aware of an old wound waking up in the rain. Familiar. Inescapable.
Aurora reaches out to touch me and I step just out of her grasp. Her eyes widen before I look down pointedly at my bare chest. The faint orange glow between my scales has returned, flickering softly beneath my skin like coals in a dying hearth.
“You’re all better,” she says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. Her fingers curl into her palm before she tucks her hand to her body.
That small, careful gesture guts me more than it should.
I swallow against the tightness in my throat. I want to reach for her. I want to draw her in, kiss her slow and deep until we forget all of this, but that’s not possible.
Now that I’ve regained my strength it’s time I share what I know, and there doesn’t seem any use waiting until we’re alone anymore. Apparently, everyone in this room knows the score, and I can’t think too hard on how that makes me feel.
I clear my throat. “Aura,” I say, “I overheard Mal’s vampires while I was chained up.” The memory is still sharp, still sour in my gut. “They were preparing to leave soon. Tonight, I think. They said something about fire covering the sky.”
Aurora stiffens. “What does that mean?”
The chatter around us quiets.
“I don’t know. But it can’t be good.” I push away the empty food cartons. “They weren’t just talking about a few of them. They’ve been gathering more. A lot more. Not just a handful like the ones in Boston.”
“She’s planning to take a horde of vamps into the Realm of Roses.” Aurora’s words come out hollow, but certain. Her gaze drops to the table, and her shoulders draw tight, like she’s bracing for a hit she knows is coming.
“What?” Kai shoots to his feet, chair scraping loudly against the floor.
I don’t flinch at his outburst.
I’m still not used to the King of Midnight sitting here like an ally, but as Snow pointed out, he paid for the food and stopped being an asshole to Aurora. That earns him…a sliver of respect.
Maybe.
Rap’s phone rings, and she barely glances at the screen before taking it and striding off with it to her ear.
“But the Rosari can drain vampires of their energy, put them to sleep,” Kai says, frowning. “Vampires wouldn’t get far. Why would she bother?”
“The Rosari aren’t fighters,” Aurora says, her voice sharpening. “They can drain the vampires, sure, but it’s not like snapping fingers. It takes time, effort, proximity. Meanwhile, Mal has likely trained those vampires to rip people apart. There would be a lot of bloodshed.”
“The vampires are a distraction, a means to an end.” My jaw tightens at the memory of Mal’s teeth sinking into my throat. “She’s not just bringing a squad of bloodthirsty idiots, she’s bringing an army she’s thralled. They’ve been turning people. Stockpiling. Preparing to flood the borders with bodies, overwhelm the Kingdom by sheer numbers so she can get what she’s really after.”
“My parents.” Aurora’s hand curls into a fist on the table. A thrum of protectiveness rushes through me, visceral and immediate.
“To kill them,” I confirm. Because that’s what Mal has wanted all along. To punish those who rejected her, who got her exiled. And she needed my blood to help her do it.
“Well, how do we know when she’s going to make her move?” Snow asks, tapping a fry against her lip. “If we’ve got time, we can come up with a real plan?—”
“We’re out of time.” Rap’s voice slices through the conversation. She crosses back to us, sliding her phone into her back pocket. Her face noticeably pale beneath the armor of dark eyeshadow and matte lipstick.
“Vampires are already flooding the Realm of Roses,” she says.
“Shit.” That came from Cinder this time.
“She’s going to waltz past the chaos and kill the King and Queen,” I say. “Because she drank from me. She believes my blood has made her immune to Rosari powers. The Royal guard is unarmed except for their feeding abilities.”
“I called them.” Aurora’s head whips up, a wild panic in her eyes. “I warned my parents. I told them Mal was coming for them. But I didn’t give them enough warning. They aren’t prepared.”
“Is that true?” Ariel looks from face to face. “Is she immune from Rosari powers?”
“If she’s been gorging on mage blood and absorbing their powers,” Cinder says slowly, “then it very well might be the case. But who knows what aspects of Talon’s fae abilities she’s taken on.”
I share a look with Aurora. Silently, we communicate that no matter which ones she gets, it will be bad.
