Son of a bitch. That’s what Selor was trying to warn me about.
Queen Maewe continues to torture Manu, taking extreme pleasure from it. Fury erupts from the pit of my stomach, and before I can stop the shift, I leap in wolf form, gunning for the bitch. The guards shout a warning, but the queen is so focused on hurting Manu that she doesn’t heed them. Maybe I can end her reign of terror after all.
It’s a foolish hope. Seconds before I reach her, she raises one hand and lifts me off the floor. I can’t move a muscle, and then I hear bones shattering—my bones. White-hot pain flares everywhere in my body. Manu screams my name right before the world goes dark.
Forty-Four
RONAN
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
Iwake up with a chubby hand pressed against my cheek. Last night, after all we witnessed and the conversation with Castiel, Cheryl and I didn’t want to sleep away from the children, so we brought them to our room. Ollie and Rio slept snuggled between us. The traumatic events at Lord Valkor’s manor probably still haunt poor Ollie. I know they plague me.
My eyes open just a fraction, and Ollie’s big blue eyes stare right back at me. “Are you awake yet?”
“I am now.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Oh, okay, okay.” I sit up and glance at Cheryl, who’s still sound asleep holding Rio against her chest. She woke up a few times to feed him—I woke up too, but she refused to let me help. I couldn’t feed him anyway; it’s better for newborns if they only drink blood from females.
“Let’s try to be super quiet, okay?” I tell Ollie.
“Okay.” She slides off the bed and runs to the window. It’s morning now, and the sunlight peers through the opening in the curtains. It’s still surreal to me to be awake when the sun is out.
Ollie has never learned to fear the sun, something we’ll have to teach her before we return to the human world.
I put on my shoes, then take Ollie’s hand in mine to return to the children’s bedroom, where blood has been provided for her by the queen’s lady-in-waiting in charge. There’s no electricity in Ellnesari—everything is powered by magic here, including the icebox on top of the counter. It’s cool inside even though there isn’t any ice in it.
Ollie’s blue eyes turn crimson when she zeroes in on the small bottle containing blood. I remove the cap and hand it to her. “There you go, sweetie.”
“Thank you.”
She takes large gulps, and some of the blood drips down her chin. It’s Nightingale blood—the only kind she’s ever had since weaning off her mother’s blood. I wonder what years of consuming only that will do to her later in life. Will she be immune to the disease plaguing vampires? Hell… I don’t know if there will be any of us left if we don’t return Nightingale magic to the human world.
In no time, she empties the bottle, and her eyes return to blue.
“Do you want another?” I ask, not knowing how much a child her age should drink.
“No, I’m full.” She returns the empty bottle to me, already eyeing the toys in the room. Before she walks away, I wipe her face with the tissue that was conveniently left next to the icebox.
“Where’s Luna?” she asks.
“I don’t know. Probably with the queen.”
“Oh. Can I go visit her?”
“Hmmm… probably not a good idea right now. It’s early. I’m sure Luna will come visit you later.” Satisfied I didn’t miss any of the blood smears, I toss the tissue into the trash can.
“I like her. Do you like wolves too?”
Her question brings a smile to my face. “I love them.”
“Cheryl is a wolf too,” Ollie says. “The other females in the great house were afraid of her, but I wasn’t.”
Sadness overtakes me as I imagine what Ollie’s life would have been like if Castiel hadn’t rescued us.
“You are a very brave little girl. But there’s no need to fear Cheryl. She’ll never harm you.”
