Page 36 of Veil of Blood and Bone

Jules sniffs, shrugs. “Do we need a reason? There aren’t many of us but we aren’t cattle confined to a pen yet. Are we? We’re free to roam. This place called to us on our way to New York.”

No, she did. Something about her pulls everything into orbit.

I blink slowly. “Then you’d better be on your way.”

Gustaf’s eyes widen. The hollows of his cheeks deepen, the wind knocked from his sails.

“The princess is in the area, too,” Jules answers with another purposeful shrug.

I shake my head. “Not good enough.”

Why would Rigantona Beausoleil come to Nightshade Hollow?

A small, too-human voice in my head whispers, the same reason they all do.

The forest goes oddly quiet. Night creatures normally awake and winging through the air at this hour keep their distance from the three of us, but the cold spots in my head are a dead giveaway. There are more vampires out there than these two.

This is new.

Something is different this time. I feel it. The cycle is repeating, but it’s off. Others of my kind, and foreigners not of this realm, are being pulled to Helene as well.

The princess executes the will of the queen.

A few Bloodletters are the least of my concerns. Wherever Riga goes, death follows.

Jules lifts his face to the sky. “This place is special, isn’t it, Nic? You sense it, too, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

I refuse to slacken my arm. Slowly, I tilt toward him, ignoring Gustaf and his useless struggles. “Get out. I won’t tell you again.”

“You’re not playing fair. There’s more than enough⁠—”

“No,” I cut him off. “Get out and take the others with you. There is no room for a nest. Deliver a message to Riga: Back. The fuck. Off.”

I won’t allow it. Not when there is so much at stake. Because Forest got to her first, and by all the fucking gods, this time, he won’t get a second more of any time I could have.

“Let him go.” Jules takes another step toward me, his eyes hard points of onyx.

I slide Gustaf higher up the trunk. “Leave.”

The standoff stretches against the wrongness of the night. Even the wind holds its breath, the trees bent below the weight of decaying foliage. A cloud darts over the moon and Gustaf’s red face darkens under the shadow.

Jules plays it off with an unconvincing laugh. “Will the life of my fledgling slake your bloodlust, Silver?”

I stay silent. He will take the terms however he wants to but the sentiment is the only thing of merit. This place and the people in it, for the time being, are mine, and all because of Helene. As long as she walks the streets of this ghost town then the others will steer clear.

Not like it makes a difference.

The small voice in my head is now resigned and emotional, trembling and firm in its belief.

It is already decided how it will end for her.

The certainty arrives before thought does. It always does. It’s memory that doesn’t belong to this body.

Jules grabs my arm. “Fine, then. You have our agreement. We’re out.”

I release Gustaf, and the vampire immediately drops to his feet, his spine curving as he hacks.

“Collect them all.” I jerk my head toward the other vampires smart enough to stay concealed. “Spread the word. One hint of Riga, and it will be war.”