I’d prefer it not to bruise.
So be careful with my heart,
Or else my soul may depart.”
He bows low with a smug smile as he rolls the parchment with a snap. “Andthat, my dear, is called taste.”
I’m laughing now, a soft, helpless sound that spills from my heart as I clap for him.
Yet beneath the laughter, something else stirs. I didn’t expect sincerity beneath the theatrics, but I heard it and felt it.
For just a heartbeat, the world feels less broken and I feel…valued.
Torryn leans forward, elbows resting on his knees. “We need to talk about the offensive.”
The moment breaks, like a stone dropped into still water.
Riven straightens, the shift in him is immediate. Gone is the teasing spark and velvet tone. His expression hardens, mouth flattening as I watch his jaw tick.
“Six days,” he says, voice low. “And we bring the reckoning they earned.”
Sylvin doesn’t argue and Torryn doesn’t scoff.
It’s rare–the three of them agreeing on anything–but right now, there’s unity in their silence.
Riven’s fingers twitch once at his thigh, as if resisting the urge to unsheathe the claws I learned they have. “They struck while our people slept. Children. Elders. Dreaming in their nests one moment and burned alive the next.”
I swallow hard, the edge in his words cutting through me.
The air around him vibrates faintly, and for a breath, I see the predator I first met. The vampire who looked at me and saw prey before he ever saw the soul beneath.
But this time, the hunger isn’t for me–it’s for vengeance.
Somehow, it chills me to the bone more than before.
“We’ll all be there,” Torryn says, nodding toward the others. “On the front line with you. Unified.”
My heart stirs at the thought of these men–with their own histories and divisions–standing side by side because something matters enough to bind them.
Riven turns to me. “Where do you want to be when it happens?”
The question floors me, because he’s not telling me where I’ll be…he’s asking.
My mouth opens, but no sound comes at first.
Wheredo I want to be?
“I need these next few days,” I say softly. “To see if I can connect with…whatever power I have. If I’m going to be on the front lines, I want to know I can protect myself. I don’t want to be someone you’re all distracted trying to shield.”
He nods, simple and solid. “Fair.”
My explanation presses heavily against my heart, knowing I need to tell them the entire truth swirling around in my thoughts but fearing their response.
I glance toward the fire, then lift my gaze to meet theirs in turn.
“There’s something else,” I say, the tremor in my voice small, but unmissable. “Even if Idogo to the front lines, I can’t promise it will be to kill humans.”
All three go still.
