Page 25 of Midnight Kingdom

“M-Mr. Cambion? Noni don’t mean to wake you, but she worried. She real, real worried.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up from the pillow. Noni slides down my torso and lands in the blankets that gather around my waist.

“Noni know you real kind to fae like her, so she wanna tell you, but... Oh! Noni not very good at keeping secrets and this a big one. Master will be angry, but he not thinking right.” The little creature tugs at her chestnut curls and chews her bottom lip. Her eyes flicker anxiously around the room.

“You can tell me. If Pyre’s in danger, I need to know.” I help her up and lean against the headboard, feeling the pain in my chest as I wince. In the battle with Variant, when we freed Morrigan, Variant came for me and lanced my chest with his blade. He would have killed me if Eilish hadn’t pulled me out of his way. “What is it?”

“Master is gone. He leave before the sun come and he take the angel with him... er. No, that not right. The angel takehimbefore the sun come up, but it be Master’s idea to go. Noni heard him talking to the angel.”

“What?” I ask in alarm. “Where did they go?”

“They go get his powers back. It a long way from here.”

“Where?”

“Across the spirit world, where Master tell Noni she can’t go.”

“Then you don’t know the way there?”

“Noni no know the way.”

I jump from the bed, carrying Noni with me as I limp over to wake Dragan. The big brute squints his eyes at me and gives me the middle finger. I shake my head. “Get up now. Eilish is gone.”

That gets him up and moving, just like I knew it would. Dragan searches high and low for his clothes, asking me a million questions I don’t have the answers to, while I awaken Baron. The surly vampire is no easier to deal with than the gargoyle, but I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to their bullshit.

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Dragan demands, eyeing me narrowly. He bends over to take a deep breath and then holds his side as though he’s in pain. He probably is in pain—just like the rest of us are. The fight with Variant took a lot out of us all.

“I mean, she’s gone,” I respond with a shrug. “And Pyre is with her.”

“You’ve got to stop smoking whatever roots you elves like to—”

“I’m serious.”

“Fuck! Then we’d better get our asses moving,” Dragan responds and I can see the worry in his eyes. Whatever distrust he harbors toward the angel half breed, one thing is obvious—he cares about her.

“None of us is in any shape to go after her,” I say, pointing out the obvious. “You can barely walk and I can barely even stand up.” I take a deep breath. “Not to mention the fact that none of us knows where to go.”

“What do you mean?” Dragan demands.

“Noni doesn’t know where they went.”

“Fuck!” Dragan says and bashes his fist into the wall, shaking the whole house.

“If she’s with Pyre, she’s safe,” Baron says as he appears in the hallway.

CHAPTER SIX

DRAGAN

The Veil

I’m nervous for Eilish, as much as I wish I weren’t.

I keep replaying Revenant’s words—that Pyre will keep her safe. I only hope it’s the truth. Regardless of the frustrating and confusing relationship between Eilish and me, I want to protect her and keep her safe.

I don’t understand why I care so much, after realizing what she is--succubus. But, I do and I can’t help it. And that bothers me because it’s a sign of weakness. Caring about someone else hurts you—it affects your decision making in a negative way. You can’t think clearly or logically.

I don’t know if it’s owing to my anger with myself over Eilish, but I feel different. I don’t want to lose my will to fight, but each day I feel like I’m drifting away from the man I used to be. Not the King of Shadows, the betrayer, or even the man who killed the last of the succubae... I feel like I’m drifting away from myself, fromDragan,and everything I thought I was.

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