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“Fuck off, fae. You’re about to be my political adviser, anyway. Seeing as Kana told me you grew up in the Aralian court, you probably know more about this shit than I do.”
“I know less,” Cade offered, gleefully shoving some of Kana’s left behind things into a bag. “But I’m ready to do some fucking demolition on that palace. I wanna make sure when our girl returns, there isn’t a trace of that cunt left.”
“Now, that’s an idea I can get behind,” I agreed. “Fae, can you glamor me the fuck out of this place?”
Rush laughed, but I felt the flow of his magic around me, and together the three of us escaped out of a side door without another word about it. There was already a trickle of vampires and half breeds heading down the charred mountain path, and I recognized their clothing as that of the poor, their numbers made mostly of commoners and country vampires.
Cade zipped ahead, weaving in and out of the line of vampires while Rush and I stayed together.
“Glad he’s feeling better,” I remarked, catching a grin on Rush’s face.
“I think you should send someone to find Blaise once we reach the palace,” Rush said, hiding away the smile as he began to take his new job seriously. “And I know you’ll hate it, but let Luca lead the ice wolves as much as Vento allows. We all need to band together. There will be plenty of attacks,” he warned.
“Don’t I know it,” I muttered, still thinking about Merden. I wanted her dead, but I just didn’t know how to do it yet. She could return and attack, staging the same sort of coup against me that she’d done with Kana’s parents. The mist would never support her with the Ancient Magic, but it wouldn’t keep her from killing for the throne.
That was, if the gobbelins hadn’t already taken the palace.
Cade sped back up the path toward us, anger creasing his brow. “These are all half breeds and mixed blood vampires. Whatever magic used to keep them out of the Vault has come back - they were all forced out by it. Apparently, only pure bloods are left up there.”
I growled under my breath. It fucking figured. “Well, then we’ll know exactly where to find Merden when we’re ready to end her.” Hopefully, all her noble cronies would just stay up there too, and I could build my city with the people who actually deserved my protection.
We made our way quickly down the mountain, and the next few days became a whirlwind.
I didn’t sleep, and I barely took time to eat. There was too fucking much to do.
The ice wolves had done their job well at protecting the palace, but there just weren’t enough of them to patrol the city. Gobbelins overran the woods and countryside, and the reports were dire. Thankfully, Blaise returned quickly to help, and she and Valentina were miracle-workers in organizing guardsand soldiers. Our army was small, but it already had armor, weapons, and solid leadership.
Luca and I kept our distance, but he and Vento worked as a good team, bringing the half breeds together with the ice wolves and even combining efforts with Blaise. Rush and Cade continued to heal and help any injured vampires or wolves who came to us.
And me? Well, I fucking raged. Every time someone wasn’t asking me a question or demanding a plan, I ripped down walls and burned ugly furniture. I blasted through every trace of Merden or Girard, my energy feeding off desperation to make this palace a home for Kana when she returned.
Because she had to return.
I’d gone from tentative faith to all-out zeal. Myaimawas coming back, and anyone who doubted it could either disappear or die.
“They’re calling you King of Commoners,” Rush remarked when he brought me blood and food, practically forcing me to pause and eat.
“Good. I’d rather have that title,” I grumbled, downing the blood. I was in a hurry to finish gutting the Queen’s suite.
“Have you ever heard of an energy cleansing?” the fae asked, sounding as calm as I was edgy. He was always trying to calm me down these days. When I didn’t answer, he continued. “Even humans recognize when the energy of a place has soaked in the darkness of whoever lived there.”
“You’re saying you can still feel Merden in here?” I asked, gesturing around the nearly bare rooms.
“Absolutely. But I can banish her, once and for all,” he said, a feral grin spreading across his face.
“Well, then fucking do it. Anywhere you feel her - cleanse away.” I wasn’t sure how it would help solve any other problems, but anything that helped us forget the things Merden had donein this palace was a win in my book. Anything that could make Kana more comfortable in the palace when she came back. She was fucking coming back.
Rush spent the rest of the day going from room to room in the palace and deep in the dungeons, cleansing. His magic dwindled away, little by little, until it was me forcing him to take a break.
“I know you get energy from pleasure, so go do something fun,” I snapped, trying not to think about how recharged he could have been if Kana were here. Rush’s attention flicked to Cade entering the room, and a little gleam I didn’t want to ask about fired up in his eyes.
Striding from the room to avoid whatever they might decide to do, I headed down to consult with Blaise.
“The gobbelins are mobilizing,” she reported unhelpfully.
“As in, we’re expecting an attack?”
“Multiple attacks. All fronts. We’re as ready as we can be, but this could be brutal,” she warned.
