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“I’m not.” He held me tighter. “I’m more worried about you. If you change your mind and decide you want to escape, I’ll be there at your side. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He kissed the top of my head, and for the first time in a month, I allowed my anxiety to slip away.
“Don’t go yet,” I begged, although I knew Erianna, Zach, and Sebastian would come back here soon. “Just stay for a little bit.”
He brushed my hair back, and I rested into his arms. I missed my best friend, and as we talked about the castle and the weird things the vampires did, my world centered and I found a semblance of normal amongst all the chaos.
TWENTY-FOUR
Erianna stood in front of me, arms crossed over her armored chest. Zach stood over by the window, leaving Anna to have her bath and a nap. Draven, fortunately, left before Sebastian brought them up to our room. “Don’t get mad at her.”
“It’s okay.”
“You’re allowed to get scared. What you’re offering to do is an enormous sacrifice. Being queen is not a simple task. As they say, heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
Sebastian extended his arms out, talking with his hands. “She was going to screw us over.”
“I don’t believe Olivia would do that.”
My stomach dipped. He was right, my original plan did mean hurting them, but I didn’t know it at the time. I hadn’t thought into anything too profoundly past my escape. Now I was, and with Erianna in front of me, I felt a little better about my choice. Perhaps she could be my advisor, like Hamza was to Sargon. I clasped my clammy hands together, steadying my breathing as the overwhelming weight of my decision pushed down on me. “All that matters now is I’m sticking to the plan.” I looked Sebastian directly in the eyes. “I hesitated for a moment. Can you blame me? Get over your tantrum so we can strategize.”
I saw Zach smirk in my peripheral vision. It felt unlike him to find anything about me funny, but clearly, the long journey with his beloved had lightened his mood. “She’s right,” Zach said, sending my eyebrows halfway up my forehead. “We need to come up with a plan. We didn’t count Kalon knowing her identity or Ravena being a vampire.” He walked over to the sofa by the fire, placing a folder down on the round, wooden table. “Here, I have a list of all the dignitaries at court.”
“How did you get that?”
Zach tilted his head, spilling his blond strands down one side of his chest. “I am an officer in the king’s army, specialized in archery.” He gestured to Erianna. “She captures prisoners and those the king wants brought to the castle.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed. “I’m surprised he lets you live in the city.”
“We are his eyes and ears there. He expects us to report back to him, and he can send for us when he needs us here. Sebastian has a similar arrangement, although he’s not often needed here.”
“A perk of being the master of travel.”
Erianna rolled her eyes. “It’s not even a proper title. Sargon created it for you so you can party and not have to work running some blood den.”
I sat on the chair across from Zach, crossing my legs. Sebastian sat next to him, whereas Erianna opted to stand. Sunlight glistened off her thin armor, which appeared to be made from blue-purple scales. She wore it like any other clothing, and it hugged her when she moved. She spotted me staring, and I looked away. “Sea serpent scales.” She answered my unspoken question. “They’re razor-thin but impenetrable. Feel.”
She walked to me, and I reached out, touching one. It reminded me of a flower petal, feeling so fragile in my fingers, but when I tried to break it in half, it was hard as stone. “A lot of sea serpents must have died to make this,” I thought aloud, imagining small snakes who lived in our rivers and lakes.
She laughed. “Just one died for this shirt. There are far more monsters than just us vampires,” she joked. “In the north seas, there are sea monsters twice the size of most ships. When I was first changed, I traveled with pirates. I still have most of my armor from those days.”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “You can talk about fashion later. We have a lot to go over.”
I scowled. He brushed it off like it was nothing. “Sometimes, I swear you don’t even try to have normal conversations, you know, form meaningful relationships.”
He scoffed. “You’re snarky for someone who just broke my trust.”
“For someone who wants something from me, you sure are acting like a dick.”
He stood, racing over to me.
We stared at each other for several seconds as fury spilled into his sharp features. “I need to know I can trust you, that you’re not just lying to me so you can leave at the last minute.”
My fists balled. “I wouldn’t do that.” Tension rolled between us. I lowered my barrier, mostly out of curiosity, and felt something different pierce through his pain—fear. He’d opened up about his family, and now he was worried I would hurt him too. Under all that rage and grief was a man who felt alone in the world. He didn’t even see what he had. I looked from him to Erianna and Zach. While he may have lost his family, he gained another. One I didn’t think he appreciated as much as he should have. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
His eyebrows furrowed, and his frown faltered. “This… this has nothing to do with being hurt.” He half laughed at the idea. “I’m just looking out for myself.”
“For Erianna and Zach too, right?”
“Obviously,” he said, his tone slick. “What are you implying?”
