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“She has hawthorn inked into her skin,” Zan grated out. “I just found out about it.”
“It must be an enormous amount to keep me out of her head.” His eyes trailed to my body. “Where is it?”
“On my back,” I said stiffly.
“Fucking Clovers,” he spat out. “Thinking they can find ways to best us. How many others have tattoos?”
“I don’t know.”
His eyes flashed dangerously at my answer. “Take your best guess.”
“A couple dozen.”
“Really?” he mused, anger still gleaming in his gaze. “The Clovers and other groups like them are nothing when it comes to the larger picture. But knowing some can’t be entranced…that could become a problem. We need to fix that, Zan.”
“We’re working on it,” Zan ground out. “They’re spread out. Some are in human cities. Finding them has been difficult.”
“Your age, Kali.” He returned to the original conversation. “No lies.”
“Twenty-five.”
He released my jaw and backed up a step. I blew out a breath, my stomach churning painfully as I glared at him.
“Now, that’s interesting.” His eyes flicked behind me to Zan. “Have you told her anything about Shadows?”
Zan paused. “Not yet.”
“Let me explain, then.” Amaros crossed his arms. “Unlike vampires, I can’t control Shadows. They don’t follow my orders. Which is why they’re locked away for now. Until they can be beneficial to me. They would never bow to humans either, which is why PARA kills them. They’re a liability, even if their blood possesses the gift of healing.”
I stayed silent, taking in his words. It made sense. But why was he telling me?
“Shadows will only listen to their own,” he continued, glancing at Zan. “My son has been training to lead them. But even he has trouble.”
Ice filled my veins, and I went rigid. Zan didn’t say anything, but his grip on my hips tightened. He was leading the Shadows? For what? Another war? The blood drained from my face when I realized that it wouldn’t be Amaros heading up the fight against humans. It would be Zan.
“But as you witnessed, Shadows don’t obey Zan fully either.” Amaros sighed. “They listen to him more than anyone else, but only because he’s been working on it for years.”
I frowned, not understanding where he was going with this. He just said that Shadows only listen to their own. Zan had black blood, and he was a Kane. So what was the problem?
“You were surrounded by them. They only get fresh blood on rare occasions, meaning their urges to feed should overwhelm any other thought.” Amaros snatched my arm, pulling it toward him. “Yet they listened to you. Which makes me wonder…”
I hissed out a breath when he sliced my wrist open with his nail. My red blood trickled out, and Zan muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t catch.
“Yes, Zan, I trust you,” Amaros murmured, his eyes staying on my wrist. “But you can’t deny that the Shadows’ reaction to her made me question things.”
The second his hold relaxed, I pulled my arm away from him, pressing my palm against the small wound.
“I’ll see you two later.” With that, Amaros strolled away, whistling softly. “Have a good rest of your night.”
I had a feeling this conversation wasn’t over. This entire Shadow thing was making my head spin, and I wanted to question Zan about it all. Once we were alone, without prying ears, I was going to have him explain it all.
Chapter 30
Zan
“They didn’t bite her?” Pax asked again, his brows furrowed.
I glanced at Kali, who was standing in front of the large windows, staring at the stars. There was no one in the rotunda except the four of us. It had been two days since I’d taken Kali to the Pen, and it was the first time I’d been able to talk to my brothers. They’d just gotten back from surveying the area around Project Peace. Amaros was determined to go through with his plan tomorrow night.
