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“Isn’t it obvious?” Monroe turns around in her seat at the front, her brows knit as she studies my face like she’s waiting for V to reappear at any moment. “She wanted to beyou.And if she was able to get the Anya betrothal out of the way, that left room forherto marry Reid instead, to become queen of the first region. And if nothing changes, if Westcott and his people were all massacred—”
“She’d get to rule at the top of the food chain with a puppet for a husband,” offers Leif. He glances at Reid over his shoulder. “No offense.”
I suppose it makes sense. The version of me who felt powerless tomydecisions wanting to flip the script and put herself in the most powerful position of all.
And I helped her do it.
I inhale sharply as Reid’s hand cups the side of my face and tilts it, inspecting me. I stare back, not sure what he’s hoping to find, and the bond expands in my chest as if it’s searching too. I don’t know what I’ll do if he doesn’t believe it’s me. If none of them do.
He searches my eyes for a moment and asks, “Is she gone for good?”
Swallowing hard, I nod, and I hope to God it’s the truth.
* * *
I’ve never takenthe HSR trains before, more commonly referred to as theestate trainssince they mainly transport important personnel between neighboring estates. They run between a few of the different regions, and seeing as I’d never left New York before a few months ago, I’d never had a need. They’re much nicer than the train that runs between the academy and the estate. Sleeker. Faster. And the inside is clearly built for clientele who expect luxury, not the everyday public transportation crowd. The fact it’s still running is a miracle itself.
Or maybe it’s a testament to how much of a bubble we’ve lived in. Westcott’s attacks have made the entire world feel like it’s burning to the ground—but all that space outside the regions, all of the people who have never set foot in an estate, maybe life is exactly how it’s always been for them.
Would things have been different if I’d taken Connor up on his ideas to leave the region all those months ago?
But I know the answer is no. Maybe things would’ve been different for me—maybe we’d be happy and oblivious somewhere—but Westcott would still be trudging forward with his plans, putting everyone I know and love in danger. Closing my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see wouldn’t stop it from happening.
The plan was to take the train as close to Westcott’s compound near Locklear as we dare. There’s a spot a few miles out where what remains of Locklear’s Marionettes will meet us and help transport us the rest of the way. The backup numbers Reid and Auclair managed to rally aren’t quite what we hoped, but they’re enough to fill a dozen train cars behind ours, which will have to be enough.
Even going over two hundred miles per hour, it’s a long ride. As far as I can tell, it’s British Columbia outside the windows, leaving Yukon and the entirety of Alaska left.
When I was younger, I always thought one day I’d get out in the world to see the rest of the estates. But now I’ll never get to see what Locklear was like before the attack. According to reports, it’s all but destroyed now. I don’t let myself linger on the thought for too long.
Calla was nowhere to be seen when I came back to my body. Because if Popi was working with Westcott, she’d already be at one of the compounds. Same with Adrienne and Cam—both of whom no one has heard from since they set out.
But the alchemists completed the spell before the fire started, so the planshouldbe moving forward as expected, but that brings little comfort when there’s no way to confirm it. And besides, their role was merely a stepping stone.
We pass through a lot of open space. There are some towns and cities outside of the estate regions, but we never get close enough to see them. Even for someone whose only experience with life outside the regions was tainted by Westcott and the wolf camp, it seems unnaturally quiet out here.
Reid switched to the carriage behind us shortly after I woke, the same one the rest of the vampires and higher-up Marionettes are in since it’s equipped to protect the vampires while the sun is up.
I move to one of the regular seats instead of the couch. The others shoot glances at me over their shoulders when they think I’m not looking, but Jones is the only one to approach. At least he’s not as angry with me as some of the others, having never met Beth, and he shoots me an uncomfortable smile when takes the seat next to me. He and I were never particularly chatty to begin with, but it’s a comfort, having someone,anyone, in that seat.
Apparently traveling back and forth from the shadow realms is incredibly taxing, and I lose my fight to stay awake more often than not, drifting in and out of sleep with my face pressed against the cold window.
I dream of fires and shoving my sister into darkness and my blood deal slithering from my arm to Cam’s, of the humans strapped to metal tables in Westcott’s labs and bloody lashes across backs and a mindless Queen Carrington lunging at me before turning to ashes at my feet.
“Princess?”
I gasp, the air feeling like ice against my skin as I turn around in a dark space. The floor is cold and gritty beneath my bare feet. Low in the corner there’s a figure crouched—no, two. Chains rattle as one of them stands and steps forward into a pocket of light from the moon.
Cam’s face is covered in dirt and dried blood, looking thinner than I remember him to be. He seizes my upper arms, but I barely feel him.
“They know. Theyknow—”
When I lurch awake in the train, I’m covered in a cold sweat. Monroe and Kirby are on the couch facing me, that wary look still in their eyes.
I blink, shaking off the dream—orhadit been a dream? It felt different. The second person…was that Adrienne? But Cam and I have never shared that kind of connection before.
Well, except for one time. When he felt called to that tarmac to save my life.
What if this…?
