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“Hispast with witches? I thought his father was the one who dealt with them.”
“Oh, I thought you knew,” she said with furrowed brows, leaning against Liliane’s old beater car. “It’s part of what led to his exile, after all. After the Bled massacre, Alistair had Alexei and every other vampire elite in Slovenia hunting any other outcropping of spirit witches for decades. But apparently, Alexei saved a coven of witches in Oslo, infuriating his father enough to punish his son and heir.”
A sudden gust of frigid wind slapped against my cheeks, but I felt only fire in my veins.
This couldn’t be the secret he had been harboring from me for months. Had he killed spirit witches? Hunted them down for slaughter? All the while he had me, a spirit witch, traitorously attempting to erode the magick within their talismans, as if their legacy could be removed from Gaia as easily as the witches who created them.
But he had saved a Coven, my intuition whispered to me.Acted so egregiously that his father exiled him to New Orleans, of all places.
“Do you know how to get to Henry’s cabin from here?” My teeth snapped together as I white-knuckled Liliane’s car keys. “I have some business with the vampires and never got the address from Alexei.”
Genevieve looked worried at my deadened tone, but she spouted the details for me as I entered it into my phone.
“Thanks for your help, Gen. Truly.” I avoided her gaze as I hurried into the driver’s seat. “And I’ll see you and the others at the cemetery this weekend. A drunk seance honestly sounds perfect about now.”
Her face cleared, though a small frown still curled her lips.
“I’ll let the others know, but Jade? Please be careful and do nothing… rash. I meant it when I said I don’t believe we should hold creatures accountable for actions they had no part in. From all accounts, it seems like Alexei has been an ally to witches. Look at the way he treats you.”
I knew she meant well, but nothing would stop this long-overdue confrontation.
“I won’t be in any danger, but Alexei?” I trailed off with a humorless smile. “He’s in for a rude awakening for keeping this from me.”
As I drove deeper out of town and into the wilderness, I felt more lost than ever. Doubt curdled in my stomach until I felt sick with it. I had more answers about the talismans and dark magick, but now it was time to have it out with the vampire about his secretive past with the Bled witches.
I would have my answers before sunrise.
17
“Alexei, you continue to disappoint me.”
I listened to my father’s chiding tone through the phone with detachment, my glass of blood-wine swirling precariously close to the edge. “What have I done to displease you now, Father?” I sighed.
My nerves felt frayed over the previous night’s debacle in Boston. What should have been a simple mission had devolved into violence the moment that cretin laid his vile hands on my witch. Now, I had the burdensome aftermath of my father’s wrath to deal with on top of Jade’s disgust.
My father seethed. “Do you think I don’t know about your excursion to Boston, breaking your exile? Or what happened within your ridiculous Court a week ago? After nearly a decade, you still dare keep secrets from your king?”
“Silas told you about the masquerade?” I asked in a deadened voice.
“Unlike my flesh and blood, Silas follows orders. He understands the precarious predicament your little excursion puts us in, especially considering the flux of violence in Boston.”
It shouldn’t irritate me to know that Silas had slipped details about my life to my father. My second, as my father stated, did what he was told—with no thought for personal ties or relationships. A loyal soldier. Even so, his betrayal stung.
The anxious groaning of my father’s leather chair grew in tempo. “Perhaps it’s time you return home for the Wild Hunt. I can re-acclimatize you to your duties before we announce your betrothal to Seraphina Dvorak.”
As always, the mention of the vampire female made my fangs lengthen with frustration. I stalked over to Henry’s bar table and poured more bagged blood into my glass, ignoring the bitter tang as I swallowed it.
“Don’t make that sound, Alexei. We have planned this union since your birth, and I will not hear any more of your refusals on the matter. Not now that you have stolen the Staff of Borislav andlost it.”
The glass threatened to shatter, but I forced it from my grip. All my hopes of keeping the matter secret from my father dwindled to ash. Silas had shared more than I originally thought, the bastard.
“I’ve got it under control,” I bit out caustically.
My father’s response on the other end of the line was a snort of derision. “That I do not believe. This isn’t up for discussion, Alexei. As your king, I command you home before the hunt at the end of the month. I’ve allowed you to dally long enough in your exile. It’s time to take your place at my side in Slovenia with your bride.”
Instinct rose to the surface as I clambered for my mate. A female that was decidedlynotSeraphina Dvorak.
This time, when my hand clenched around the glass, it shattered beneath my touch.
