I’m taking a swig of soda when she drops that bomb and I start choking. A hacking fit attacks me, and Haven reaches over to hit me on the back.
When I finally get a hold of myself, I turn to Titus. “Is this true?”
He nods once, looking grim.
My gaze flicks back to Ensley. “How long have you known about this?”
She shrugs. “A while.”
I look back to Titus. “How come you never told me?”
He shrugs as well and then says, “You never asked,” before shoving in a mouthful of potatoes.
Just then, the sat-phone buzzes in my pocket. I fish it out, knowing the unknown number has to be Talon.
“I gotta take this,” I say, pushing out of my seat.
My mind reels from the revelation that my sister plans to marry a prince.
“Tell Lock I say, ‘Hi,’” Ensley calls over to me as I open the front door.
I just shoot her a glare. I’m going to need more details when I get back.
The phone buzzes again when I step out onto the porch. I could have stayed inside to take the call, but if it’s bad news, I don’t want Haven to overhear. She has enough stress right now.
I pick up the call. “What’s up?”
“We’re still alive,” Talon says.
“I figured that much. It’s hard to make a call when you’re dead. Any issues so far?”
Talon pauses. “A few.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“A few attacks from the vampire clan. Nothing we couldn’t handle. Which is honestly what concerns me.”
“What do you mean?”
Talon pauses again. “The attacks were weak.”
“And that isn’t good news?”
“They were easily defeated. Too easily.”
I know what he’s getting at, and it makes my gut tighten with dread. “Could that be because your mother and the Society were backing you? The plan was to make it look like it was just the two of you. Maybe it worked, and the vampires only sent what they thought they needed.”
“Maybe,” Talon says, but doesn’t sound convinced. “Something feels off. It’s less than nine hours until the blood moon, and we haven’t sighted the demon once. This monster has been planning its rise for millennia, and now it’s just a no-show? That doesn’t track.”
“There’s no reason it would want to wait until the next blood moon,” I agree.
I inhale a deep breath of crisp mountain air, hoping it clears my head and helps all this make sense. We did everything we could. We hid Haven in the medical wing, away from the other Order members, and quietly spread a rumor that she’d be leaving that night to hide from the demon, hoping it would get to the vampire clan if there were still leaks.
Ensley even glamoured Locklyn to look even more like her sister. And when we snuck out early the next morning, Ensley glamoured Haven, giving her black hair and changing her features so she wouldn’t be recognized if someone did happen to spot us. The only ones who knew about the switch were in that conference room with us. Ares is the obvious suspect if word got out, but he was in solitary confinement again. I believe him, that for killing his sister he hated the demon and the vampire clan as much as we did.
“It could be waiting to make its move right before the event,” Talon offers.
“That’s true. Don’t let your guard down.”
