Page 65 of Darkest Heart

She slowly stood. “Thank you.”

I didn’t know what to do with that. The last time we’d been together, she’d been high on venom, and I’d tasted her. She was beautiful, and fuck if I had enjoyed every second of it. But now things felt different.

“Niall, I… should we talk about what happened before?”

I wished my heart would stop fucking racing. “We don’t need to. We had fun. That’s all that matters.”

She grabbed my arm as I moved to push past her, and electricity pulsed between us. “I wasn’t myself, and the adrenaline and everything. I mean, it was good, but I’m not interested in becoming the plaything of a vampire.” She let go, and I straightened my back.

“You’re going home soon, anyway. It won’t happen again.”

“If you still want to feed…”

She was trying to appease me, so I wouldn’t change my mind. Normally I’d agree. But this felt wrong. “I just need your brains right now.” I pointed at the books. “Anything to do with Salenia, the underworld, demons, or a prophecy to do with a queen. Write it down and don’t skimp on details.”

She nodded and grabbed a book. I hurried out to find the rest of them, when I spotted Gwen and Felix walking the corridors as the evening drew to an end. It seemed her anger at my time with Elizabeth, or her loss of Astor, was gone. She walked her fingers up his chest, gazing into his eyes. I narrowly avoided them on my way to my old room, wondering how I’d ever been so obsessed with her.

TWENTY-ONE

Sebastian

The storm came and went as the night wore on. We’d searched all over, but she wasn’t here. My inhale shot pain through my rib cage, and I closed my eyes.

Sargon’s crown glistened as he appeared beyond the forest, holding the Cane of Cineris. I eyed the object that could turn any vampire into ash. He was a short flight away, out of earshot still, as an army of guards followed him. Erianna huddled closer, our arms touching as he held her dagger. “We can’t tell him.”

“No,” I agreed, whispering just in case. “He loved her more than anything.”

“Loves,” she corrected. “Love doesn’t die when the person does.” Her breath hitched, her chest heaving as they grew closer. “He’ll kill us first for letting it happen.”

Zach walked up next to us, sliding the sword back into the scabbard. “We will say she’s gone ahead, to look for Olivia. She wanted to go alone from the beginning. He knows how she operates.”

I nodded slowly. “He’ll find out some time, but I need his head clear. We need to find Olivia, today.” Missing her overhauled everything else. Ravena’s death only weighed on me because of what she meant to my wife. Despite their relationship deteriorating, there was love there. It would destroy both Olivia and Sargon to find out, but at least the king wouldn’t be grieving for his daughter and wife at the same time. If he lost his mind at the news now, he wouldn’t strategize. Who knew what he would do? Olivia could lose her life because of it. We had little time. The bond became more distant with each passing day.

I didn’t need to say any of this to my friends. They understood, most likely were thinking the same thing. Our unspoken communication, the ability to just know half the time what the others were thinking, was one reason we stayed so close. As the king came into talking distance, I was glad to have them at my side. I had no clue what would happen after this. It was unknown territory. The aniccipere had already gone as far as kidnapping the heir to the throne to topple the monarchy. Gods only knew what they would do next. A war was brewing, Zach and Erianna’s warrior senses picked up on it weeks ago.

Sargon pressed the cane into the dusty ground, looking up at the dusty mountains. “Where is my wife?”

Erianna opened her mouth, uncertainty in her stare as she looked at me. I stepped forward, taking the burden of the lie upon myself. I’d be punished for it eventually, but I didn’t care. Not if it meant finding my wife, today. “The queen went ahead on her own. We tried to keep her with us, but she insisted on finding Olivia herself.”

A low groan sounded behind closed lips as he tightened his grip on the cane. “We must find her.” The corner of his eye twitched, and a mixture of fear and anger flickered in his green irises. His eyes darted from me to Zach, then to Erianna, without actuallylookingat any of us.

She left before I reminded myself. Ravena had taken Olivia before. He was afraid history might repeat itself. “We should find your daughter first,” I said, emphasizing the daughter part. “We find your queen wherever Olivia is. She’s the one in genuine danger.”

He nodded, and I peered at the stony-faced sangaree standing behind him, as stoic as the statues littering the ghost towns. I counted fifteen. “Where’s the rest of the army?”

“It’s your majesty,” he barked, pointing the cane at me. I jerked away from it, sensing its ancient magic pulsing a little too close. “If I brought the entire royal guard, we’d have been noticed.” His condescending tone continued as he addressed Erianna next. “We have soldiers placed throughout the towns in surrounding areas. The rest arrived this morning. Considering none of you communicated with your king, can you manage explaining why you are here?”

I assumed he’d had his men tracking us since they arrived this morning. I glanced at Zach, praying he’d buried Ravena far enough into the forest that she wouldn’t be found by any soldiers patrolling those areas. If they’d arrived earlier, they’d have seen us moving her body. Then we’d been completely fucked.

Zach shot me an icy stare, and I composed my expression. “We thought she was here, but when we went inside, we found no one. The court’s been abandoned. We searched the entire area.”

Sargon grimaced. “Then where is she? Do you have any useful information?”

Erianna gritted her teeth. Meanwhile I wanted to snap at him if he bothered to come with us in the first place then maybe we’d be closer to finding her. But at least he brought an army, even if they were scattered. I couldn’t afford to lose my calm. Not today, while I needed his resources more than ever. Olivia wasn’t in the mountains as we thought. But we had to be close, and undoubtedly, the aniccipere would know we were coming soon.

“We’re going into the next town. Salvor told us that she was being held in a town with a graveyard.”

Zach grumbled. “Except every town here has one.”

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