Page 16 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
The angel spits out blood and staggers to his feet, visibly hurt. “Aconite.”
Arielle grips the armrest of the nearest seat, crawling back to her feet with her back hunched, and I rush over to help her.
“Thank you,” she croaks, spitting out a mouthful of saliva.
As I help her into the closest seat, the loud banging on the door suddenly becomes impossible to ignore, and I leap forward, skirting the injured angel’s legs to open the latch.
Alec about carved a hole in the door, his nostrils flaring. The vampire flies past me to check on the princess.
“Don’t worry, Beaumont. We won,” Keenan grunts from the floor.
I lean on the panel in the short corridor leading to the cockpit, my heart hammering in my ears.
The clear pitch of Keenan’s voice spooks me as he says, “The planereeks… that stench will stick. Do ye know how hard it is to find cheap private jets?”
Thomas peeks at the witch through the porthole, and his spine eases. He offers Keenan a hand to get up. “You’re welcome. For saving your life, I mean.” He cracks a smile that’s cocky enough to be considered mischievous. “And you can afford a new plane, I’m sure.”
Keenan’s face flashes with a hint of nostalgia… and maybe even affection? “Look at ye. Ye’re not the angry boy I remember.”
We all catch our breath. A handful of bodies pepper the concrete floor of the hangar, and I guess not all demons turn to dust when they die.
The redheaded witch elbows her way past Keenan and Thomas to the back of the plane where she stowed the rest of her stuff. “Good job, guys,” she says.
Despite her victorious smile, her voice is not as energetic as it was earlier. Clearly, she doesn’t trust us enough to show how tired she really is, but I’m not fooled.
Keenan’s gaze bounces to her like a moth to a flame. “Ye leveled-up since I last saw you, Lana.”
She shrugs his comment off, but not in an arrogant way, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “Not really. I just had the right set of tools. Funny how you still fight with only guns, blades, and teeth.”
Alec glowers from his seat beside Arielle, his shadowy gaze full of reproach. “No self-respecting vampire would fight his own kind with the inventions of rebels.”
Arielle sighs at his reaction and offers a slightly more diplomatic answer. “Alec means to say that, in the wrong hands, these types of weapons could cause a lot of damage. They allow normals to hunt us, and so they’re outlawed by my kin.”
Thomas chuckles darkly. “So… think we should just wait around until we’re eaten?”
Alec clicks his tongue. “Eaten, really? From where I’m sitting, demons are the ones in danger. In the last century, human populations have skyrocketed. They outnumber demons 10000 to 1. We’ve got to keep our weaknesses a secret, or we’ll be the ones going extinct, not them.”
Arielle nods. “That’s the true purpose of the night courts. Our rules are strict, but they make the world safer for all supernaturals.” Her blue gaze darts to Alana. “Even witches.”
The redhead purses her lips to the side like she’s contemplating the vampire’s point of view. “Hm, maybe. But until demons stop hunting us like we’re venison, I’ll keep my grenades close anyway.” She zips up her bag and throws it over her shoulder. “Can I get a minute alone, Your Majesty?”
Arielle and Alana walk off the plane with Alec, the bodyguard inspecting the hangar once more as the queen discusses something with our new, reluctant ally.
Keenan walks over to me, erasing the others from my peripheral vision. The slash on his torso has already healed, the big splash of blood reddening his white t-shirt the only clue that he was stabbed straight through the chest as he grazes my cheek with his thumb. “Ye alright, leanbh?”
“Yes.” Surprised by the gesture, I jolt away and run a hand through my hair, my gaze darting around the plane to check if someone saw us.
I cross Thomas’ gaze and quickly look away, blood searing my cheeks.
I wasn’t raised in a world where bisexuality was accepted and tried to live as though it wasn’t a part of me. Besides… reciprocating Keenan’s kiss was only a product of his enticing magic, nothing else. Both my fascination for Arielle and the angel derive from their demon-ness, and that fact alone is enough to whip me back to reality.
I’m only a nice meal to them. Normals outnumber demons like livestock outnumber the farmers.
That’s all.
And if a part of them feels something more, it doesn’t erase the fact that they feed from me, and that my first purpose is to please their taste buds. Needing a moment to myself, I hustle out of the plane.
Thomas is quick on my heels. “We’re leaving soon… You should come with us.”
