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“Well, we can’t.”
His answer seems so final in the quiet of the car.
She’s still trembling, and her un-beating heart seems to split in two while her empty stomach crawls out from between the pieces and rears its ugly head. The two sides of her war as her thoughts tumble end over end without stopping. She wants to charge the building, rip the front doors off their hinges, and attack everyone inside.Consume. Consume. Consume.It’s her new dead heartbeat, never far from her mind.
But it’s Mason’s punishment swimming in her thoughts most of all. He’d been surly and disrespectful and quick to rush in where others had not. Surely, he understands what an unprecedented situation they’re all in…
The vampire king becomes a human, and his hunter girlfriend becomes a vampire nearly at the same moment. Now Caleb has creepy Fae magic powers he can’t control, and Maddy doesn’t know how to control her bloodlust when she needs to feed. They’re both bigger messes than they’ve ever been, but they don’t get time off from saving the human realm.
None of that is important in the face of Orion’s arrival. None of it. She glances at the red-tinged sky, fighting the urge to shake her fists at fate and circumstance. What do they do now?
At this moment, they’re alone—on their own in a world of hurt. Maddy and Caleb against everyone. How do they draw the rest of the realm into the battle meant to save it from an evil ruler? What rallying cry could they use? Who do they have on their side now?
No one. No one. It echoes in her head with hunger’s heartbeat. Her skin chills, or maybe she only imagines it. Everything’s a muddle, but one thing is for sure…
How could they all turn their back on her…on Caleb…on the whole world?
In the driver’s seat, Caleb still stares at some place far away, the way he does when he’s working through a problem, trying to see through to the end of it.
He takes a sharp intake of breath, and his gaze cuts to her. “Are you okay?”
Her chin quivers. “No, I’m not. I’m hungry, and I’m angry, and it’s like two sides of me are fighting for control.”
“Neither of those is a very balanced side of you.”
Her laughter sounds tortured, strangled—even to her. “No, not very.”
The vehicle beeps as Caleb presses the start button, and the engine turns over. “We should probably find you something to eat.”
“Where are we going to do that?”
Caleb’s fingers drum on the steering wheel as he thinks about the growing dilemma.
Maddy’s thoughts continue their chaotic spin. “Big feelings are hard to outsmart,” she comments, scrubbing a hand over her face. “I’m not used to it.”
“Especially when you’re hungry.” Caleb studies her, and the warmth in his gaze shocks Maddy. How can he look at her like that? She’s basically tried to warn him that she’s about to lose control, and he still looks like he’s going to love her to the end of the time—which might not be too long from now if they can’t figure out how to beat Orion.
Her eyes flood with moisture. “What are we going to do?” she asks, fighting the desire to wail at the top of her lungs. “We’re all alone. We have to beat Orion, but the Council is out of your control, the hunters won’t help us, and I’m about to go mad with hunger.”
Caleb chuckles, probably to keep from wailing himself. “Well, the hungry part is definitely the most concerning of all of that.”
Maddy playfully rolls her eyes at him, but a dark shadow enters her periphery as it crosses near them in an arch as though it's circling their SUV. Vampire-fast, the lone figure disappears between two buildings, but Maddy sees the movement in a sort of fast slow-mo. Maybe it’s a benefit of vampire sense. She can’t tell who it is, but she launches herself out of the passenger seat, anyway.
“Someone’s out there,” she yells at Caleb. It could be anyone, and she doesn’t want him hurt. “Wait inside.”
“The f—”
The slamming of the passenger door behind her cuts off the rest of his argument. Maddy scans for movement. She feels like she should recognize who it is, almost like she can almost say who it is. Before she can sort through all the sensations in her brain, Cora comes to a stop in front of her.
“Cora!” Maddy exclaims. “You nearly got yourself murdered.”
Cora’s mouth twitches as though she’s heard a joke she can’t laugh at. “I know you too well, Maddy, and murder isn’t something you do. Besides, I also know that you’re not nearly as good with your vampire skills as you will be.”
Caleb climbs out of the driver’s seat of the running vehicle and jogs around to join the two of them.
Maddy glares at Cora through narrowed eyelids. The half-flattery should irritate her more than it does, but Cora isn’t wrong. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to help.”
