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Evie opens her mouth. I can tell she wants to say something, but she frowns, then says, “I can’t remember his name. I’m sure I know it, but I can’t remember.”
“You can remember. You just can’t say it, as in share it with anyone.”
That’s even worse. It means the notturno is skilled at mind wipes. According to Et’enne, this type of memory control is advanced.
“How can I not say it?”
“I presume you’re under a compulsion not to.”
“Oh my fates. This is so wicked!” She giggles. “I can see his name in my head, but I can’t tell you.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. I don’t know the name of the notturno I met last night either.”
“Thank the fates. I would hate having to share with you.”
She uses the towel to wipe off the makeup under her eyes. The charcoal stains the gray towel. “What did he look like?”
“Painfully powerful and handsome.”
She nods. “Painfully. I like that.” Evie levels me with a look. “The mind-wipe thing makes it hard to focus on anything besides having a good time last night, but I’m pretty sure I overheard one of the notturnos say they want to party with El’jah while they still have a chance. You know what that means.”
It likely means they think El’jah is going to get the call of duty soon. They think Et’enne finally found my brother a bride.
“It will be as our king wishes it.” That’s all I can say. I love Evie and she’s one of my best friends, but some of the matters of the royal family remain in the family. I trust her, but my brothers and I keep dangerous secrets my friends are better off not knowing.
Our biggest secret is our magic. People speculate about the kind of magic we carry, and we let them, but we haven’t declared our powers. We want our enemies to remain uninformed.
“What else did you hear?”
“They talked about the Winter Court.”
I snort. “There is no Winter Court.” The Unseelie prince and his mother tried to take the king’s crown. He released the full force of his power and killed the prince, exiled the queen regent, and destroyed the Winter Court, scattering his aristocrats and vampiric houses. Those who plotted against him are in hiding, but others are displaced and have no home to return to. The Unseelie king nearly razed his court to the ground, leaving only one tower intact.
It’s been prophesized his mate, who is also the sister of our queen and a fate who sees all that will come to pass, will deliver their baby girl at the top of that tower, and that their child will carry the magic that originally created the notturnos, magic that the fae world hasn’t seen since vampire creation.
“That’s exactly why they think the power they’re feeling on the rise is going to reconstruct the Winter Court.”
A shiver runs down my spine. Most notturnos sense power the way fairies do since notturnos lived as fairies before they turned undead, but something about the way she speaks makes me sit up straight. “What kind of power? Can you be more specific? Try to recall some details.”
“It’s making them want to go to bed early and wake up with a hunger for blood the likes of which they only experienced when they first rose as the undead. Their elders are rising at twilight and becoming faster now.”
Notturnos’ powers on the rise is never a good thing for the fae or the world in general. The undead share a violent history with the living. “Have they mentioned why they think they’re feeling all that?”
Evie nods, curls bouncing. “They talked at great length about this notturno who rose from the dead. Or the undead, in his case.”
“What of him?”
“They’re calling him the general, and he’s come to unite them under one banner.” Evie locks her eyes with mine. “And he wanted me to tell you that. Oh yes, I remember now.” Her eyes widen. “He told me to tell you to stop looking for trouble.”
It’s him! And he knows I was searching for him.
Evie yawns. “Can I crash in your glorious bed?”
“Of course. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange our trip to the province.”
“Do I have to attend the funeral?”
Some of us grew up with fathers we remember with fondness long after they’re gone. Others, like Evie, weren’t so lucky. Et’enne took most of our father’s wrath while El’jah and I, having been born after the Summer throne’s heir, were nonexistent. Our father left us alone. Utterly alone for the better part of our lives.
