Page 187 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“Why do you think that?” My eyes narrowed. She said she was a friend of Thea’s, but how could I trust her when she was the only one unaffected?

“I don’t like champagne. I didn’t drink it. Everyone else did.” She wrinkled her nose.

But Thea wouldn’t have, not with being pregnant. So where was she?

“We need to find Thea.” I nodded at Lia.

“She went back to her rooms,” Quinn told us. “She said she wasn’t feeling well.”

I prayed that was the result of morning sickness and not whatever had poisoned everyone here.

Across from me, Lia swayed on her feet and clutched her stomach. I shot to her, placing a steadying hand on her back. “What is it?”

“Something is wrong.” She gripped my arm frantically. “We need to get to the throne room.”

My eyebrows shot up. “The throne room?”

She jerked her head. “Yes. It’s the magic. We have to hurry.”

“Come with us,” I ordered Quinn.

“Try to stop me,” she said even as her lip trembled. At least she was brave.

I forced myself to go slowly enough that I didn’t lose them. I wouldn’t risk going ahead and leaving them behind. My heart stuttered when we spotted the open throne room door.

“Stick together,” Lia ordered us as we approached it. She took one step through the door and halted.

I cursed as I took in the bodies on the ground, blood seeping into the stones.

“Gods,” Lia breathed. A curse or a prayer. Maybe both.

“Lysander!” Thea cried, and my eyes turned to her in relief. She was alive, in one piece as far as I could tell.

But next to her... My relief leaked from me as I took in Willem, and next to him, Thea’s mother, with a knife held to her own throat.

“How the fuck did you three get in here?” Willem growled.

“I don’t like champagne,” Quinn’s voice cut through the air.

“Me neither,” I said.

But he wasn’t looking at her or me. He was looking at Lia in a way that made me want to rip him apart. He pointed a finger at her.

“And you?”

She didn’t say a word.

“Lia,” I said her name under my breath.

“No, something else protected you.” His mouth curled into a cruel smile. “Why don’t you come out and play?” He snapped his fingers, and Lia doubled over, hands clutching the sides of her head.

“Lia!” I moved to her side, reached for her. She jerked away from me, even as her face lifted to mine—her face but not her face. Any doubt I had that she was the most beautiful female I’d ever seen vanished. Her human features smoothed into immortal skin, a faint light glowed in her eyes, and as she dropped her trembling hands, I saw her ears, and every thought eddied from my head, save one.

Fae.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

THEA

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