Page 4 of Consume Me
Vaelora’s words stop me.
I turn back to her, wary. “In exchange for what?”
“No price.” She smiles. “A gift.”
“Nothing is free, least of all from you.”
Hurt flashes in her eyes. “You wound me, old friend.”
“You forget I knew you before you decided to play Cupid in the Earth realm, Vaelora.”
Her lips form a pout that is as fleeting as the emotion itself. “Fine. The truth is, I owe you.”
I lift a brow at that. “Are you referring to the wine?”
Her smile widens. “Ah, so you do remember.”
“How could I forget?” I cross my arms, my voice low with warning. “More than half the court was drunk off their asses because you were foolish enough to smuggle in a shipment of vintage laced with a curse. I believe you called it ‘the finest from Coras Hollow.’”
Vaelora’s laugh is a rich, delighted sound. “Itwasfine—until the entire hall started hallucinating their deepest desires for all the court to see. Including multiple versions of me naked and prone for various admirers to ogle. I couldn’t show my face for a decade.”
I growl at the memory. “You would have lost more than your reputation if I hadn’t burned the curse out of the wine before the High Regent noticed.”
She lifts her glass in a mock toast. “And for that, darling, I owe you. A debt repaid, nearly a century later.” I don’t trust her, not for a second. But her silver eyes gleam with something close to sincerity, and the words worm their way beneath my stoic armor.
“I’m hosting a party for All Hallows’ Eve,” she goes on. “That is where you’ll find your Whispering Daggers. And their wielder.”
“A party? You want me to take my vengeance in front of all your lovestruck guests? Did the wine teach you nothing?”
“I trust you’ll be discreet. Besides, it’s the only way I can guarantee your quarry will come to you.”
“Why should I bother? This rune will lead me straight to them eventually.”
“That rune will only get you within the vicinity of the daggers, and we both know it. Are you going to searchout and interrogate every creature in the Crossroads one at a time, then?”
“If I have to.”
“And risk alerting your target before you can identify them?”
I bite back a curse.
She’s right, of course, but that doesn’t make this any less irritating. In fact, something about Vaelora being right makes this much more infuriating. Or maybe it’s the way she’s coercing me into coming to one of her stupid parties. Again. After the wine incident, I swore I would never repeat that mistake. But for my fallen sentinel brothers and sisters, I’ll do just about anything.
“When is this party of yours?” I ask.
Vaelora smiles brightly—victorious. “Tomorrow evening. You’ll need this for entry.”
She waves her hand, and a piece of parchment winks into existence, hovering in the air in front of me. I snatch it, not bothering to read it before stuffing it into my pocket. Then I turn on my heel.
“Wear something nice,” she calls at my back.
I don’t bother to respond.
Chapter3
Kendall
The next morning, I wake early and slip out before Natalia arrives. It’s not that I’m a morning person, exactly, but holing up in my tiny apartment isn’t an option. I’ve tried it before, but Natalia always comes looking for me, and I’ve learned from experience that I’d rather be gone when that happens. She’ll either make me talk about the daggers—which I hate doing—or worse, put me to work to “take my mind off things.”
