Page 55 of Queen of Darkness
Now, I blushed. “Stop, please. I’m just me. I’m not a hero. I just want toexist. I want my mother to exist without needing those damn drugs. Your team, they all deserve to find mates. To have someone they can love, who won’t be executed on sight. That’s what I’m fighting for.”
“I know,” Aaron said, smiling broadly. “But they know it, too, and that’s how they see you. You’re a beacon for change to them.”
I sagged even deeper into the couch. “Oh, god. That’s not good.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because, Aaron. What if I fail? Yes, I got rid of the Blood Letter, but the odds of me failing to kill Elenia are still astronomically high. She’s got a thousand years and more experience on me.”
“And you’ve got your shifter heritage.”
“Which will drive me insane if I tap into both at once.”
“Fenrir is still here,” he pointed out. “And besides, you won’t be alone.”
I looked at him.
“I’m going with you,” he said quietly. “And if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll plunge the blade into her chest myself. Sheneedsto be stopped. By any means necessary.”
“I agree,” I said. “And it’s about time we started working on that. Don’t you?”
Aaron’s eyes glittered with fervent intensity.
I matched his look with a feral, wicked smile. “Assemble the team.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Fenrir and Drakul were the first to show up, to my surprise. I’d expected the team members in Seguin to arrive first, but when Vir blinked into being in the center of his sanctuary with those two in tow, I had to wonder if that was any sort of indicator of their willingness to join our hunt.
They kept to themselves, however, sitting by the fire and talking somewhat animatedly—for two vampires at least—in whatever language Drakul spoke. I eyed them, wondering what was going on there. I hadn’t expected them to have much, if anything, in common.
“The others will be here soon,” Vir said, coming up beside me. “Dani won’t have taken much longer to get to Seguin and back.”
We’d sent Dani to get the other members of Aaron’s team since they all knew each other, but they were taking longer than expected.
“They should have been back ages ago,” I said. “Here to Seguin is a short hop. I don’t understand.”
“Maybe they were in the midst of something?” Vir suggested. “I don’t know.”
“Me neither,” I muttered. “And that’s what’s got me worried.”
Vir patted me on the shoulder. “It will be fine. They—” He paused abruptly, looking up. Then, he smiled at me. “They’re here. See, as I said, everything is okay.”
But as Dani and the five other members of Aaron’s team blinked into being, dropping their connected hands, I knew that Vir was wrong. Very wrong.
“What is it?” I asked as Dani approached, face somber. “What happened?”
A glance told me everyone was there. Nobody was limping or otherwise visibly hurt. So it wasn’t about the team, then. Something else had gone on in Seguin.
“Your dad found me,” Dani said, rushing on at my moan of dismay. “Everyone’s still alive!”
I sagged, and Aaron was abruptly by my side, his arm around my waist. I leaned into him, basking in his support.
“But …” Aaron rumbled. “What happened?”
“He gave me this.” She fished a letter out from her leather outfit, handing it to me.
I reached up to take it, my arm stiff, robot-like in its movement as dread overtook me. What was so bad that he’d had to write me? Johnathan said he’d protect my parents, and we hadn’t heard of a fight. Dani would have told me that right away. Which meant somethingelsewas going on.
