Page 95 of Clash of Kingdoms

We’d returned with only a handful of vampires. Most of them had died in the battle. Guilt crushed my lungs, knowing it had happened because of me. Thank you for everything, Beast. Where will you go now?

Away from here. Sssomewhere my babiesss will be sssafe.

To the northwest, there’s land given solely to the dragons. I’m sure King Rolfe would let you live there if you wanted.

Dragonsss?

They’re like you—but with wings.

Fassscinating.

Meet us on the other side of the mountains to the north. There’s a kingdom there called HeartHolme. I’ll have your answer then.

I’ll sssee you then, sssnake friend. She turned away and dove deep into the chasm.

I caught up to Kingsnake and Cobra, pulling Cobra’s other arm over my shoulders and helping him through the long tunnel.

“I can’t believe we’re still alive,” Cobra said.

“It’d be stupid to croak at the end, so don’t even think about it,” Kingsnake said.

“Can you imagine how angry Clara would be?” Cobra said. “She would bring me back to life just to kill me.”

When we left the tunnel, the Exiles were there to intercept us. We were escorted into their humble fortress under the mountain, given cots to lie on. We’d been bleeding a long time, and those wounds closed naturally, so there wasn’t much medical attention they could provide.

What we needed was blood.

When Cobra’s armor was removed, the extent of the damage was visible. He had scars from all the places he’d been stabbed. His previously flawless skin was now tarnished by the battle.

Kingsnake was scarred too, but knowing him, he was just happy to be alive.

Every time I moved or breathed too hard, the wound made me wince in pain, but if I’d survived this long, I would probably pull through. The others were in similar shape…and most of them didn’t make it at all.

Now I knew how Huntley had felt after the battle that had claimed so many of his people.

Ian walked in sometime later and took one look at all of us before his face paled. “There are so few of you…”

I sat up in the cot, exhausted. “Yeah.”

“What happened?” Ian came to my bedside and pulled up a chair.

I told him the whole tale. “They were pissed.”

“You think they’ll come for us?”

“I think there’s a pretty good chance they will. We need to get back and warn Huntley.”

Ian gave a nod before he looked at Cobra. “You look like you’re in no condition to travel.”

“We need blood, and there’s none of that here.” The Exiles were suspicious of us, keeping their distance like we might bite their arms off. “We need to head back. If we haven’t died yet, then that means we should pull through.”

“Are you sure?” Ian asked.

I nodded. “Huntley needs to know what’s coming.”

TWENTY-ONE

HARLOW

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