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For a moment, I thought I hadn’t. That Mrak hadn’t saved me in time.And in that moment, all I could think about was all the other times I’d come this close to death before. Cassius’s manor. In the alleyway behind the bar where I’d had drinks with Willa.
Willa.
Gods—I never went back to Earth to tell her I was okay. Wassheokay?
Strength renewed within me. I had to get back to Willa. Ihadto stay alive for Mrak, who was doing everything he could to save me in this moment.
So, I dug deep. Clawed handholds in this life and clung to them with everything I had left until, finally, the darkness abated. My throat opened. And Mrak smiled.
“You’re alive,” he said as he held me to his chest.
I basked in the sound of his heart beating. “Thanks to you.” Even if his magic had triggered so many memories of Lazarus and my decade of being a victim to him.
“What happened?” Mrak asked, as if the tipped over breakfast tray and my current state of nakedness didn’t explain enough.
“Something was watching me,” I whispered, remembering the formless entity. “It…” It what? Memory of what I’d seen had grown foggy now, slipping away fast. “Death itself... maybe…”
Mrak smoothed a hand along my brow. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Karn?”
I glanced at Karn, who had his gaze averted now. Warmth flooded my cheeks as I pulled a sheet around me again. Mrak’s hand was still covering me. Large as it was, it didn’t cover my whole chest.
“She was poisoned,” Karn filled in. “By the looks of it, anyway.”
Mrak growled and pulled me even closer to him. His hand moved from my stomach to wrap around me protectively. “How?”
“The food—”
Mrak inhaled sharply. “I know that.Howdid you let this happen?”
Karn’s jaw locked tight. “Her food was prepared by someone trusted and delivered right here by that same person.”
“I want them executed,” Mrak growled. “Their family jailed.”
Panic sent my hand against his heaving chest. “Mrak, that’s—”
His burning, six-eyed gaze dropped to me, cutting even me so deeply I shrank against him. Anger burned in the crimson as hot as the fire magic he’d just used to save me. “Anyone who hurts you deserves death.”
My lips locked together, stopping just short of pointing out all the ways his tiny betrayals and lies had hurt me before we had finally understood each other. Instead, I tried appealing to reason. “You said you’d rule differently this time around.”
Mrak’s anger didn’t lessen. If anything, his body tensed harder. “That was before someone tried to kill you.”
“She is right,” Karn said slowly. Carefully.
Mrak’s fiery gaze lifted to him ever so slowly. To be honest, I was also surprised to find Karn agreeing with me. Mrak seethed, but seemed to calm as he took several deep breaths. “Fine. I want them jailed for now and an investigation launched. If this personyoutrust so much didn’t do it, bring me whoeverdid.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Mrak’s accusation was clear, and to be honest, I was still on board the “Karn is sketchy” train myself. Still, I tried to smile up at Mrak. “Thank you. Fair trials are a good thing.”
“I’m used to deciding justice,” Mrak said coolly.
That I had no doubt about given how many swift deaths he’d given vampires on Earth because of me.
“We’ll find it,” Karn said with a small bow. “I assure you. In the meantime, may I advise Aisling stay here in her chambers with someone testing all food and drink?”
Mrak nodded, although something made the corner of his tight lips twitch. Suspicion? “I worry that will make her an easier target if we keep her in one place.”
Mrak had a point. Luckily, I had a different idea. “Let me return to Earth.” Surprise raised Mrak’s eyebrows. He opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a finger. “With Cassius gone, I should be relatively safe. At least safer than here where it’s clear someone’s not happy about me. Besides, I need to check in with Willa and let her know I’m still alive.”
Willa had known I was going to track down Leif. When she didn’t hear from me, it wouldn’t take her much to put together the demon hunters had attacked Cassius’s compound. But that compound didn’t exist anymore, as far as I knew. I assumed it had burned much like Lazarus’s had when Mrak had taken over my body to break us out of here.
