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Ysa grabbed me. “You can’t?—”
“He’s going to die anyway! I need to know what he knows.”
She knocked my hand away, pointing to his skin. Little black lines had replaced his veins as the poison worked its way through. “What if that kills you?”
“It won’t.” My fangs shot out, and I positioned myself over his neck, stabbing into his flesh and puncturing the artery.
I pulled from him, drinking greedily, and the magic I was cursed with mingled with his blood. Pulse after pulse of his racing heart drew his lifeblood into me while my power devoured him, pounding at a rate that would kill anyone who wasn’t supernatural. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, and his body tensed.
Visions of the truth filled my mind.
Sleeping with Katie, using her for information to pass on. Jordan never appeared before Mathis directly. But there were others. Names of traitors. Faces of false allies. My House was blessedly skimp on those who had betrayed me, but there were more to deal with.
Jordan started to seize, his end coming soon. I clamped down on his neck, pulling more blood and more information.
Memories of hidden meetings and secrets shared with Vesperus’s mole. An army, hidden in Utah. Mathis had every intention of starting another war. Taking over territory, fighting to take down entire Houses. All he needed was something to kick it off. Biding his time, he planted his spies, preparing to strike when he knew he wouldn’t get caught.
Dannika’s image flashed through Jordan’s memories. A picture of her standing with Nova, turning almost as though she could see me looking at her. The image warbled. He didn’t know what Mathis’s plans for her were, but the picture in his mind charred, breaking into pieces of falling ash.
I released his neck with a pop, grunting as I took in deep breaths and tried to unravel the makings of what I had seen.
The poison had traveled the length of his body, and his head lolled forward. “You can’t . . . protect . . . her,” he wheezed, barely able to speak the words between his dying breaths. “She’s . . . already . . . dead . . .”
His final words hung in the air, as potent as the poison he’d used to end his life.
Fear.
That was the emotion I was no longer acquainted with. Not since the Great Sacrifice. But here it was, burying itself beneath my skin, taunting me with the thought of losing Danni.
I clenched and unclenched my fists, breathing hard. I tried to control my reactions while everything inside me sat on the precipice of explosion. My head snapped in Ysa’s direction.
“Where is Danni?” I asked, looking at Ysa over my shoulder. She shook her head. “Find her. Now.”
CHAPTER 19
Dannika
Isat next to a koi pond, stroking Nova’s fur while I watched the fish glide through the water. Overcast skies spread as far as I could see, floating gently for miles, blocking out any chance of the sun peeking through.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept in, only that I was alone when I woke up. Elias had left, which I’d suspected he would. He’d held up his end of the bargain. He’d kept me safe during my heat, and he never crossed any of the lines I’d put in place. Now he was gone. As king, he had a job to do, and the logical part of me understood that. But there was another part of me, one that felt confused and lonely when I’d realized his side of the bed was empty.
The days we’d spent between the sheets were hazy, but some of those moments shone through the fog. I pressed my legs together, shaking the thoughts from my head, but it was no use.
Echoes of my voice replayed in my mind, demanding Elias to give me relief, pleasure, and satisfaction . . . to give me everything. Images of the way his eyes looked up at me when I ground myself against his face made my pulse quicken.
My cheeks warmed at the memory of his hands pressing against my thighs, and the way his warm, wet tongue licked me from — A buzzing against the rock made me jolt in surprise, pulling me away from my erotically charged reverie.
I grabbed the phone as it vibrated, skidding across the stone. My heart skipped a beat in excitement. It was my sister’s number. Four times she’d sent me a message with a date and time, but a call never came through. “Hey,” I said, clearing my throat of its hoarseness.
A suspended moment passed before Adora’s voice filtered through the other line. “Oh my god, you had sex.”
I sputtered. “What? I did not! Why would you even think?—”
“Your throat is hella scratchy. So you’ve either been screaming for your life, or you’ve been having a grand ol’ time. It doesn’t sound like the former.”
My jaw fell open, and I looked at Nova. She snuffed loudly, turning her face in the other direction while avoiding eye contact. How could my wolf look guilty for me? Adora’s laugh told me she’d heard Nova’s reaction.
“It’s not what you think,” I started, then sighed. “Markus hasn’t rejected me yet, so the bond triggered my heat.”
