Page 301 of Sorrow & Strangers

“A bounty?”

I nod.

“Couldn’t they have picked a better photo?” she asks, growling softly.

“Also, Al . . . I’ve caused a bit of havoc.”

“What happened?” she asks with a small sigh.

“I might have killed a couple of people and burned down a printing press.”

Alice snorts. “Why?”

“For printing some bullshit propaganda.”

Alice crumples the flyer and rests her head on my shoulder.

“Tell me about Dimstraeux.”

“Why? He’s a prick,” Alice scoffs.

“He’s the one making up all the stories.”

“Who cares?” Alice says with a shrug.

“Unfortunately, all of your people. He’s the only one they’re hearing from.”

Alice sits up. “They’ve always hated me,” she says, and while her words are blasé, there is a hint of upset in her voice.

“Because they don’t know you. They’ve been peddling this shit for gods know how long. But now they’re putting it in the public eye⁠—”

“Who cares, Sum? They hate me and they always will,” Alice says, abruptly standing up.

“They don’t know any different, Al.” As much as I hate to admit it, the stranger had a point.

Alice walks to her dresser and brushes her fingers over an ornate hairbrush. I’ve never mentioned it, but I’ve always wondered about it. It’s always been in her room, but it doesn’t fit with her usual decor. Alice and I have always had the type of relationship where we don’t have to share anything, including the sore bits. We tend to share a lot, but we are both naturally secretive people.

“I stopped trying to change their minds a long time ago.”

“Might be time to rethink that,” I say. “I wanted to kill them all.”

Alice glances at me over her shoulder, her eyes flickering with vulnerability. “You did?”

“Alice, I wanted to gift you your realm filled with nothing but the ash of your people.”

Alice turns and runs back across the room. Jumping onto the bed, she throws her arms around my neck. I hug her back tight, and in this moment, I know exactly what she’s thinking. While the act would have been reckless, she knows I would decimate her enemies for her, and she feels it as true, unconditional love.

“I can’t care what they think,” Alice whispers into my hair. “What they believe. It’s too late.”

“It’s never too late,” I say, holding her close.

Alice pulls back, shaking her head. “Please, Summer. I’m not strong enough to do that shit again. To try again.”

“Okay,” I say immediately. My loyalty is to her, not her people. She says she’s done, then she’s done, and I will stand at her back no matter the consequences. But I will be damned if I will let them think poorly of her. She will always have the choice of her kingdom.

Alice nods and wipes away a stray tear. “I don’t care about them,” she says, though I can feel the lie in it. “Thank you,” she says after a moment of silence. “For loving me.”

“It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” I say with a shrug. She came into my life a hissing, feral vampire, and she burrowed her way into my heart. She’s my best friend and my sister.