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Donovan can’t hear us, but I feel like whispering anyway. It’s dark and early in the morning and it all feels so fragile, so quiet, like there’s something almost sacred about the space that we’re inhabiting right now.
“We’re doing this together,” Raven says. “That’s what you keep saying. That’s what we’re doing. You can’t back out on us now.”
I’ve never felt so scared before, not since I realized my parents weren’t ever coming home. “I just found you guys,” I whisper. “I just got a family again. I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t,” Cain assures me.
“You can’t promise that.”
“Hey.” North squeezes my hands and then takes my chin between his fingers, turning my face to look up at him. “You told me that I am who I want to be. You told me that I shouldn’t dwell on my weaknesses and on putting myself down. You can’t tell me that and then turn around and be so hard on yourself and give up on our future. You don’t know the full context or how things are going to turn out. If I can decide who I am and how I get to be, then you get to decide your future and whoyouget to be, too.”
I’m comforted in part by his words, and I appreciate his faith in me, in us, but I can’t help but feel that’s not entirely true. Because North also told me that visions from the Sight pretty much always come true.
I can’t let this one come to pass.
CHAPTER21
Ican’t go back to sleep again, and it’s close enough to when we should get up anyway, so we go ahead and get ready. No sense in wasting any time lying around trying to catch one more hour of shut eye.
Once we’ve made sure we have all the supplies that we’ll need, we head into the panic room to get Donovan. He glares at us as we enter.
“How did you sleep?” Cain asks with a smirk.
“Just get these fucking ropes off me,” Donovan snaps.
He’s surly, that’s for sure, but he doesn’t struggle or try to go against us as we untie him. The potion prevents him from betraying us, so there wouldn’t be any point in trying to attack us. He does glare a lot, though, as we undo the circle that’s holding him trapped and undo his bonds.
Our next step is to use our glamour to make it seem as though we’re in chains. It’s not real, so hopefully it won’t upset Raven too much, and Cain and Raven can each glamour and control their own appearance. I’m glamouring for both myself and North, and I have to admit I’m a bit nervous. I’ve used my glamour before, for jobs, but never against anyone as powerful as Roanac. Will he be able to see through it somehow?
“Take us back to your place,” North orders Donovan. “We need to get some guards to make it realistic.”
“They’re going to be suspicious,” Donovan points out.
“Oh, your men don’t implicitly do as you say?” I reply. “They don’t instantly trust you?”
Donovan glares at me, but he doesn’t argue. We portal straight to his opulent main room. It’s like a throne room, and frankly I wouldn’t put it past him to call it that if he thought he could get away with it. But he’s not the leader of the vampires here in the United States, so that would be considered akin to a coup.
Everyone starts as we appear. Only Donovan can portal in and out of his hideout like this, I suspect, but the fact that he’s appearing with four apparent prisoners has to throw his various lackeys for a loop. They all seem to be going about their business, chatting, holding takeout boxes, and so on, so it seems nobody noticed yet that their boss has been missing.
“Sir?” a vampire steps forward immediately, eyeing us up and down.
“These idiots tried to get revenge on me,” Donovan says. He sounds pissed, but to his minions, he’s just pissed that we tried such a thing. Only my men, and I know the truth that he’s pissed because we succeeded.
“I’m taking them back to Roanac,” Donovan goes on. “I’ll need a half-dozen of you. And make it snappy, just whoever’s on duty. WE need to make sure that none of these assholes gives us the slip again.”
The various people around us look at Donovan with respect. It must make him look good, to have captured four fae on his own. Especially fae that gave him such a hard time before when he sent bounty hunters after them.
Donovan must notice, because he preens a little. I have to restrain myself from rolling my eyes.You’re welcome, jackass,I think to myself. Congratulations, we just improved your standing among your men for you.
The six guards acquired, we head down to the portal room so that we can get to Roanac’s again. So little time has passed since we were last here, and yet it feels like an eternity. It feels like almost everything has shifted for me since that time.
When we pass through the portal, I’m braced for it this time. I know what I’m in for, instead of being inwardly panicked and worried about what I’ll find, stepping into the unknown.
Immediately, I notice that there’s more activity in the castle. More shades are roaming around, and I can actually see lights on in the castle windows where there was once only yawning darkness. Hmm. Is this because of Roanac searching for me?
Having more activity around could be a problem, but I try not to worry too much about it. Our course is set. There’s no turning back now.
As we step up to the front gates, the shades actually look surprised to see us. Or, well, as surprised as shades can get. Their faces are rather inexpressive, frozen like corpses and all.
