Page 54 of Soulbound Shadows: Part 2

“All right,” she said finally. “Let’s get you home.”

“Did we everyone get out?” I managed to ask, my voice a flat rasp. I had to know. I didn’t know what I would do if the answer was no.

“Yeah, everyone’s at the safe house. The others are making sure they get the help they need.”

“Nathan?” He’d looked so terrible. It took a lot to kill a vampire, but not one with their life force leeched away.

“Marcus said he’d recover,” Evangeline said. “We got to him in time, Gabriel. He’ll be fine.”

The vise around my chest loosened ever so slightly. One life saved, at least. One life out of hundreds? Thousands?

Evangeline wrapped her arm around me and nudged me into a walk. I fell into step with her and barely noticed the blip of magic from the teleportation. I kept walking forward robotically until we reached the safe house. Walking was simple and achievable. I’d done it for centuries. Before we reached the door, it burst open, and Lissa ran out, her face pale.

“Is it true?” she asked me. She didn’t even acknowledge Evangeline’s presence at my side. I kept walking.

Evangeline left my side, and I heard her saying something, but everything seemed very far away. The building rearranged itself around me, and suddenly I was on the second floor, with Lissa and Evangeline herding me to a sofa. Someone tried to pry the bag of papers from me, but I clung on tight. Those were important. It was my responsibility to deal with them.

There was a ringing sound, which I assumed was just a product of my shock until Lissa answered her phone.

“Yes, he’s here,” she said. “He just got back.” A pause while she listened. “Are you sure?” A sigh, and then, “All right, but just… be careful.”

She handed the phone to me, and I held it to my ear automatically, staring unfocused at the floor.

“Finally,” said the voice on the other line. Gwendoline. “I’ve been trying to reach you. When I called you, some horrible child picked up.”

“Yes.” My tongue felt thick in my mouth. “That was Merri. I gave her my phone so she could watch YouTube.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the call, then Gwendoline decided to brush past that. “All of the portraits in the vampire branch of the citadel have changed,” she said, and the cautious note of sympathy in her voice startled me.

I rubbed a hand over my eyes, then pinched the bridge of my nose, hunching forward on the sofa to rest my elbows on my knees. “Already?” Just like everyone who’d taken a guided tour of the citadel, I knew about the enchantments on the portraits. They repainted themselves to show the current head of each sect in the event of the former leader’s death.

“A few minutes ago,” Gwendoline said. “I’m staring at one right now. It did a good job with your cheekbones.”

“What do you want, Gwen?”

“Can’t I just call to make sure you’re handling this reasonably well?”

I didn’t dignify that with a response. It wasn’t that Gwendoline didn’t care, exactly. It was just that she knew if I was upset, I wouldn’t turn to her, so she didn’t feel the need to insert herself when her presence would be of no use. Gwendoline was good at thinking that way, which made her exceptionally skilled as a political animal and fairly challenging as an acquaintance. She wasn’t calling to offer condolences, and we both knew it. Above me, Lissa murmured to Evangeline, and they both watched me worriedly. Evangeline wasn’t surprised. She must have already put two and two together.

Gwen sighed, sending a crackle of static down the phone line. “I know you probably don’t want to think about this right now, but you are needed here. I’ve already dealt with the bounty on your head, so you won’t have to worry about that, but people are panicking. Roland was in power for a millennium and a half. Even though most of these people never so much as spoke to him, they’re floundering without him. You need to be here to sell the idea of power. I can handle the politics if you’ll let me, but they need a face to rally behind.”

“I don’t deserve that,” I blurted. I didn’t know how I meant it. Did I not deserve their loyalty and support, or did I mean I didn’t deserve the burden of taking over the mess my father had left behind?

“I know,” Gwendoline said. “But that doesn’t matter. I’ve been keeping things together so far, but I need you here as soon as possible.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’ll see you soon.”

I handed the phone back to Lissa, and she began a clipped conversation with Gwendoline about logistics as she left the room, leaving Evangeline and me alone.

Evangeline sat down next to me, and when she moved me so my head was on her shoulder, I went along with it limply. She took one of my hands in hers. It was still filthy, stained with the blood that was and wasn’t my father’s.

“I know this is, like, the worst possible time,” she said quietly, “but I think there’s something I should probably tell you.”

“I… I can’t. I need to go,” I said, voice muffled against Evangeline’s shoulder. “I have to make sure my people are taken care of.”

“What? That’s crazy,” she said. “You can’t help anyone like this.”

I flinched and pulled away from her.

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