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“You won’t,” my mother says.
“I’ll make you one of mine.” The vampire bares his fangs, and I jump back.
“Fleur, do what the notturno says, and I’ll return you to the party. Nobody will know anything. This is between the vampires, not the fae.”
“He’smyvampire, Mother.”
“Stop with the dramatics and summon him.”
“I’d rather die.” I pull back my shoulders and lift my chin. “Do your worse, but know that Nottuza shall have your heads.”
The flapping of leather wings makes the vampire turn.
I follow his gaze.
A colony of bats emerges from behind the mountain and descends upon us, making the thousands of vampires crouch and prepare for battle. The heads of the houses retreat from me, which opens a space in the field.
The colony descends sharply in a fury of batting wings.
The shadows of the night gather right in front of me, and the bats fly right into it, making me jump away.
Nottuza materializes as if out of a portal or thin air.
Around him, the vampire armies start emerging from the shadows, from behind the trees, down the mountains, crawling out of the ashes where they lay hiding this entire time. There are so many of them, thousands.
Nottuza takes stock of them, even nods at my mother, who starts retreating into her portal. “Fleur, come away now,” she says.
Frowning, he touches the swelling on my cheek. Disbelief passes over his face, and then his jawbone snaps out of the socket and slackens, accommodating his growing fangs. His cheeks rise, his eyes turn red and glow, and his power starts curling around his body.
It’s visible. Red and angry undead magic.
“I want their heads,” I tell him, then cover my mouth, shocked at my words.
“You shall have them,” he says, his voice guttural as he barely contains his anger.
I reach for his hand and start unbuttoning the cuffs of his jacket. One, then the other, while Nottuza growls from deep in his chest, making terrifying sounds.
Ledger stops next to us as Nottuza shrugs off his jacket, which I fold over my arm.
On Nottuza’s left, Leroy steps up. “I’m so excited about this, I peed my breeches.”
Nottuza’s shadows start wrapping around my feet, bats circle, then drop from the sky and transform into his males. The three hundred.
Before I disappear into his shadow portal, Nottuza releases a terrifying battle cry.
38
FLEUR
Since I was gone for only a short while before Nottuza returned me to the party, nobody noticed my disappearance. Not even our commander, and that’s only because the Spring princess lost control of her magic while dancing with him.
A bolt of lightning struck the windows, shattering them, but right before the pieces rained down upon the guests, the commander struck with his magic and put the glass back into place. Aamako dropped the shutters over the broken windows, and the party went on, albeit without the princess, who’d made quite an impression.
Needless to say, I missed out on the embarrassed princess, a very shocked commander, and an upset Spring royal family.
The moment I returned, I found Augusta and asked her to tell me if Nottuza would survive. She owed me big-time for not warning me about the vampire taking all those fae in the first place. Although she told me nothing of the future, she asked me to pray for him.
I did. As I entertained folks and diverted the gossip about the commander and the princess, I prayed to the fates for Nottuza’s well-being.
