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“A vampire told me.”
“The one you’ve been fucking?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” a male voice says at the same time that a notturno appears next to me.
I hiss and move away from the tall male with chin-length blond hair. Surprisingly, he bows, yet only slightly, just enough not to be rude, but not quite the way he should greet a fae royal. He ignores my mother completely, which tells me he arrived with her.
“Mother,” I say. “What have you done?”
“A lady must eat, Fleur, as you so kindly reminded me. I cannot survive when you are eating for both of us. I am not your child.”
Ouch. I slid right into that jab to my infertility. She’s done this often, and yet it hurts every time. The wounds of her sharp words are a part of my life. “Tell me what this is about,” I demand.
The male wears a dark cloak with an emblem that identifies him as the head of his notturno house, and behind him, other males wearing dark cloaks appear on the field.
When they join him, I recognize most of them as the heads of the vampire houses, two of which are in the Summer Court and are our allies. I tilt my head, acknowledging those two, and notice no vampire is bowing or even giving me so much as a nod. They stand with the male in the front, telling me they’re all equal and have agreed upon whatever plan they’ll execute now.
“I count only six of you. You’re missing Vane., I say. Notturnos keep arriving, now looking more like a gathering army than a secret meeting of powers. “Mother?” Fear makes my heart race.
“Stay calm, Fleur, and don’t try anything.”
“I do not wish to hurt you,” the blond notturno, who goes by the name Belas, I believe, says. He crouches to swipe ashes from the ground. When he stands back up and opens his fist, the wind carries the ash over his shoulder and onto the coats of the other males.
“A dragon attacked this fae village,” he says.
“I know nothing of that, but if a grave crime has been committed, I promise to probe our allies for information.”
“A notturno called Nottuza is one of those allies, is he not?”
Nottuza and I have kept our relationship private, and since he wiped the minds of hundreds of fae and notturnos, only a few people know about it. All of them are people I’m certain wouldn’t talk.
This vampire is guessing at best. “I’m sorry, who?”
The notturno backhands me. It’s quick, shocking, and painful.
I hold my heated cheek.
My mother growls, “This was not part of our deal.”
“Your daughter is a lying whore who thinks she can manipulate us.” He points at me. “I know you’re involved with Nottuza.”
I tap my cheek. “If you know that, then you know he’ll kill you for touching me.”
The vampire laughs. “Take a look behind me. I brought the wrath of all the houses here. When we’re done with him, we’ll take over the Unseelie Court. The undead magic we feel is becoming stronger.” He leans in. “Soon, we’ll come for your court. I’ll make an example of you and make you my bride.”
“You didn’t kidnap me to tell me that. What do you want?”
“We want you to summon him.”
I glare at my mother. Our magic is our family’s secret.
She shrugs.
During our brief conversation, notturnos have kept arriving, materializing all across the field. All the houses brought all their fighters. There’re over a thousand vampires now, and if I summon Nottuza, he’ll come alone. He’s powerful, but not this powerful.
“And if I refuse?” I ask.
