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Kas nodded. “I agree. Especially since Luca is so compromised right now. Cade’s doing better, K. I know you want to hide him from Merden, but he’s just as vulnerable alone at the palace. You need to be able to see him with your own eyes, any time you feel paranoid.”
A low growl of frustration bubbled in my throat as I realized how right they were. Anything could happen to Cade while we were in the mountains. I would be distracted worrying about him either way - at least if he came with us, I could watch and protect him more closely. And while I wanted to believe that his help in reversing the blood magic with the former slaves was his sole purpose as my weapon, the magic of Haret had never really liked to be pigeon-holed like that.
Cade’s body might be weak now, but his will to live was stronger than ever, and that was powerful. My gut was telling me that his purpose in all of this was just beginning.
“Besides, the journey looks easy now,” Kas added, gesturing to the blackened path. Several of the commoners had already started the journey up into the mountains, and they weremoving quickly. Some of them were even using their vampire speed because the path had been cleared so much by the fire.
“Fine,” I agreed through gritted teeth, hating both options. “But I want a way to carry himandhide him.”
Kas sighed, and I knew I was being a bit extra, but still. I wasn’t going to compromise Cade’s health and safety just because Merden had found a cooler venue for her grand finale party.
Just then a group of three harpies soared overhead, carrying some of the lesser nobles who apparently hadn’t gone with Merden in the first wave. Rush raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew my arguing was done.
“I’ll glamor him as a noble and ride with him as Saint Laurent. I’ll keep him safe, Kana. I swear it.”
His tone was so earnest and endearing that I couldn’t help but nod, giving up the fight. “As long as Cade agrees. But we need to move fast.”
Rush gave me a quick squeeze and hurried away into the crowds, his glamor of the noble vampire Saint Laurent blending in seamlessly with the others.
“Come on, princess. We have shit to pack,” Kas said, tugging on my elbow. We turned and sped back into the palace, intent on grabbing our clothes and extra weapons as fast as possible.
LUCA
It took Vento and me just over twenty-four hours to run the mountainside and arrive at the Vault.
We’d mostly avoided the burned path full of rowdy vampires, keeping instead to our four legs and the area just inside the new tree line.
“Merden has been fucking busy,” I said, pausing to catch my breath as we reached the top of the ridge and looked down intothe valley holding the Vault’s massive building. The sun had risen a few hours before, but every window in the Vault was still lit with candles, and I could see plenty of vampires passing through the halls and socializing. There was movement in the gardens as well, and the whole place looked like it had gone through a massive makeover.
It was hard to believe she’d only been here a couple of weeks, and I was starting to wonder how long she’d been planning this move. Had she been sending vampires up here to work the whole time we were locked in that labyrinth?
“What I’m curious to know is if she’s managed to reverse the spell keeping wolves out,” Vento pointed out, and I chuckled.
“I’m happy enough to sleep on the snow now. It would keep me farther from Kana.” I’d been halfway nauseous since the moment she’d asked Vento to let go of his alpha bond, and I’d charged the girl I loved, claws out and jaws wide.
I would have killed her without even hesitating, and that scared me shitless. Part of me had never really believed in the all-consuming power of the blood contract - that I could resist it if I tried hard enough - but now I knew how much of an idiot I’d been.
“I think you should show the crowds your wolf form. They’ve been taught vampire superiority for so long, that it would be a good challenge for their minds to accept that the mist is allowing you to compete for the throne, even though the laws are against it.” Vento crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a challenging look of his own. I’d bought into that idea of vampires being better for many years, too.
“The mist must have its reasons,” I muttered, turning over his proposition in my mind.
“To teach lessons about equality that the vampires have forgotten,” Vento pressed. I sighed, not exactly wanting to open myself up to more ridicule. Sure, my wolf heritage hadn’t been asecret from the crowd for a while now, but there was a difference between rumor and shifting into my ice wolf form right in front of them.
“Never underestimate the magic of Haret and its Goddesses, pup. These Trials are cleansing the vampires of more than just that idiot Queen. Even the wolves are relearning things we should not have forgotten,” Vento warned.
“And maybe the fae as well,” I said, thinking of Julianna asking for Rush. I didn’t want that mess on my plate - we had enough to deal with here. But there was still corruption in Aralia, and Vento was all too right about Haret.
Evil had taken root while the Path was closed between Haret and Earth, but now that Queen Carlyle had opened it, the magic of our world was doing some spring cleaning.
As we took our time descending the hundreds of stairs winding down into the valley, I pointed to the wide open main doors of the Vault, where a couple of my half breed wolves were loitering, checking out the vampires coming and going. My eyes widened when they saw someone they knew and scampered right inside the building.
“Well, I guess she took care of the spell,” I mumbled, half shocked that Merden was actually allowing any wolf blood into her guest house.
“Don’t let your guard down. People don’t change that easily,” Vento warned, despite what he’d said earlier about me showing off my wolf form.
We followed the crowds, and a pair of guards recognized me. “Competitor rooms are this way,” a burly guard called to me, leading us down a well-lit hall.
The Vault was still in need of new furniture and decorations, but it was obvious that there had been a lot of vampires cleaning and making use of what was here. I didn’t see any big areas indisrepair either, despite what Kana and the others had described to me.
