“What the hell?” I asked.
I leaned over the balcony, checking out the cobbled streets of the town directly below me and saw a shit load of guardians in their navy uniforms marching under the glow of the streetlights.
Were we under attack again?
I dashed to the bedroom door, flinging it open, Medusa hot on my heels.
Two guards immediately blocked me, a pair of burly thrall guys built like muscled mountains. I’d break my hands punching those chests.
“The guardians are here to protect the palace,” Medusa said behind me.
I gasped a little too hard. “They…they are?”
“Yep. Silvanus arranged it earlier with President Walker.”
“Oh. Shit.”
Guardians worked on the side of order, not chaos. Unless you were an executioner, of course.
“Now get inside,” one of the guys demanded.
After some death glares, I closed the door. Rather than argue, I cooled things off before a situation arose.
I knew when to keep my mouth shut, at least ninety percent of the time.
A little sweaty from the rush of panic, I sat on Silvanus’s bed to gather myself, desperate to get out of here.
“Are you okay, sugar?”
I nodded at her, getting to my feet. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay to panic.”
“No, it’s not. Excuse me a sec.” I went to the bathroom to splash my face with water.
“Get a grip,” I told my reflection, droplets of refreshing cold water glistening on my skin.
Aidan showed up behind me, waving a dagger.
Oh, shit.
I spun, bringing out my stakeblade. But he came at me with a quicker move, driving the knife into my stomach.
Pain exploded through my body, my head immediately lost in a sickening spin.
Whoa. The white-hot burn in my guts snatched my breath away, confusing my cells with agony and a wave of numbness.
Any second now, I’d pass out.
Medusa came at him, throwing a punch. But he vanished in a cloud of gold-and-black, her fist colliding with my face instead.
“No!” she yelled.
Down I went, the back of my head smacking on the tiled floor, the dagger still buried inside me. A film of watery red passed over my vision, my chest full of cold fire.
I coughed, blood spurting from my mouth, my life draining away.
Caer’s voice chimed weakly in my ears, begging me to sing. But the sluggish thumping of my heart drowned her out.
