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Her stomach twists, and every sound outside the beach shack takes on a new, more sinister meaning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The Order put a bounty on any information which leads them to Vera.”
“Vera?” Maddy echoes. Vera was the vampire who turned Maddy. Why would they— “They’re trying to use my maker to find me. Vera turned me.” The words burst out of her, pushed by the intensity of the revelation.
Fury burns through Maddy and the point of the wooden pike presses into Sylvan’s neck. He swallows several times before Maddy realizes she’s almost shoved the sharp end into the Fae’s neck.
She backs off slightly, and her shoulders droop. “They’re going to use the sire bond to find me.”
“It would seem so,” Sylvan agrees.
“Don’t they get it? I’m trying to keep them safe!” A string of curses escapes Maddy’s mouth, but she doesn’t lower her hands. “Is that whyyou’rehere?”
Sylvan shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to take you back to the Order. I need your help instead.”
“My help?” She lowers the weapon. “Don’t make me change my mind and cut off your head.”
Sylvan grimaces. “Don’t worry. You’re too valuable to kill.”
“Naturally.” Maddy sighs, and her stomach drops to her toes.
When did she get to be just Maddy again? Maddy + Caleb. Her heart twists. She’s stuck out in the middle of nowhere being miserable because Vera turned her into a vampire. She had to give up Caleb, and nobody bothered to ask how Maddy felt about any of it.
“Do you know why Vera changed you?”
“I didn’t ask her,” she snaps. Her upper lip curls, and images of attacking Vera play in her mind. Vicious doesn’t even begin to describe it. “What’s her reason?”
“Vera took your blood and delivered it to Quinn, and he used it to open up a portal to the Faerie kingdom. We need your help defeating Orion now that he’s back in this world.”
Maddy’s ears prick, and excitement bubbles through her misery. To save the mortal world, they have to defeat Orion.
“What do you need from me?”
“Long ago, before the Fae were banished from the earth, my ancestors hid a weapon which would kill Orion and his spirit as well. We need your help to end his threat once and for all. It’s in everyone’s best interests to do away with Orion and his worship of the Eldritch.”
Maddy nods. “So, how did you find me?”
His smirk sets Maddy’s teeth on edge. “You can thank Vera for pointing me in the right direction. After that, it wasn’t hard to find a new vampire, trying to keep herself from everyone. Are you hungry?”
Maddy presses her hand to her stomach once more. She feigns nonchalance, but the thought of consuming blood nearly brings her to her knees. “I could eat.”
“Come with me. After you’re fed, we’ll be able to find the only weapon that’s strong enough to defeat Orion. We need your magic to make it happen.”
Maddy crosses her arms, suspicious of the Faerie standing there. “What happens when we defeat Orion?”
Sylvan studies Maddy. “What do you mean?”
“What happens to the Faeries after Orion’s defeated?”
“We’ll all return to our kingdom in the Fae realm once Orion has been dealt with. We have no desire to live in the mortal realm or play conquerors here.”
Maddy’s gaze narrows, and she studies the stranger. In the last few months, she’d met so many two-faced individuals with ulterior motives. “How can I believe you?”
“We’re not sure you have a choice.” Then he smirks again.
Maddy doesn’t like the words as soon as they leave the Fae’s mouth, but she isn’t sure she can argue with him. She moves to the edge of the porch, watching the rain as it pours from the sky. Her stomach feels as though it’s trying to consume itself, and she’s not sure where she’s going to get her next meal. If Sylvan, Alec, and the other Fae are the only option to get an army with the potential to beat Orion, then she doesn’t have a choice. None of them have a choice.
She turns back to face Sylvan. “I’ll go with you.”
