Page 456 of Fated to be Enemies

I nodded, needing a minute to process where I was and who was here.

“Kieren, do you know about my sister? My nephew? Are they?—”

He held up a calming hand. “They’re fine. All of them. The cook had quite a knock on the head, but she’ll recover. However, the Night Security guards were all killed.”

I winced, my heart dropping for those men who were only trying to protect us.

“Come on in.” He ushered me farther into the room.

Another Morgon, on guard, stood looking out a curved wall of glass. The room was a breathtaking open space with a domed ceiling thirty feet above our heads. A platform jutted out near the ceiling, the door leading to the rooftop we’d just entered. It was more than a little disconcerting to stare at the exit so far above my head, unable to escape if I needed to. A white marble fireplace stretched the entire length of the wall, a stark pillar against the warmer-hued stone. Low flames emitted the only light in the room.

“I’ve double-checked the security alarms downstairs. All good,” said a Morgon woman in dark combat gear, appearing right out of the floor.

There was a giant hole dropping straight into the room below. No stairs. Of course. Why would they need them?

The Morgon woman crossed in front of the fire, the light casting a warm glow on her blue-black wings, shining a halo on her white-blonde hair, falling like silk over her shoulders and down her back. She drew closer to me.

“Whoa. You reek of him!” I froze, afraid the monster had marked me, despite my unwillingness. “Kol sure got under your skin.” She grinned.

I sighed relief. She stepped forward and offered her hand, meeting me eye to eye. “I’m Valla Moonring.”

I shook her hand. “I’m Moira Cade.”

“I know.” She smiled, revealing how truly beautiful she was. “You’ve met Kieren already, and that’s Bowen.” She gestured to the one silhouetted against the window, her flaxen hair shimmering in the orange firelight. The twins had inherited darker looks, though they all shared the same midnight-blue eyes with a pale halo around the center.

“No time for chit-chat,” snapped Gaius. “We can’t stay here, but I need to give you what information I can before we go.”

“My home is safer than any other place,” said Kieren, his charming demeanor no longer present. He was more like his brother than he had let on when I met him. “Besides, Kol told us to stay at Safehouse X and make contact the moment she arrives. He’s in Drakos, but could be here in two hours. I’ll contact him.”

“No!” Gaius lunged and grabbed his comm device before Kieren could punch in a number. Everyone’s attention riveted to him. “No, Kieren. It’s not safe.”

Gaius moved to the fireplace. I took a seat on a cobalt-blue, velvet sofa.

“Why not?” asked Valla, her playful tone evaporating. She sat next to me, whipping her wings behind the sofa-back in a swift move. Unlike a Morgon man’s large wings, hers fit her frame—long, sleek, and elegant.

“He has spies everywhere. Even moles in the Morgon Guard and elsewhere. They’ve been able to intercept communication sent via comm devices. Don’t ask me how. I was never included in the intel briefings. I was used”—he turned away from us, staring out into the moonlit night—“for more brutal purposes. I couldn’t warn you because we were forced to take injections every day to prevent Moonring clan members from infiltrating our dreams and stealing secrets. They know well enough how many of you are in the Morgon Guard.”

“Injections of what?” asked Kieren, voice dropping to a lower register. He sounded so much like his brother.

Gaius shrugged. “I didn’t ask. It would’ve been suspicious. This operation runs like a militant machine. You do what you’re told. I couldn’t receive or give any more messages to Kol once I was assimilated into their ranks and taking the injections.”

“Wait, Gaius.” Kieren thrust his palm out. “Who is the leader? That’s what we’ve been unable to discover.”

Gaius faced us again, the fire at his back, his dark features hidden in shadow. “I don’t know. We… They called him lord and master. When I came on scene, Barron Coalglass was in charge, abducting girls for their blood and for…other purposes.”

“Their blood?” asked Valla. “They were really drinking human blood?”

“I believe the king was drinking their blood,” said Gaius before blowing out a tired breath. “Our orders were to harvest the blood, and that was all we knew. But I know of one instance where he bit and drank from a victim directly.”

I shivered. “Maxine Mendale.”

Grim-faced, Gaius nodded.

The other Morgon who’d been standing guard near the window joined us. He wore his long hair in a cue. His eyes shined pale green by the firelight, his wings a deeper shade of the same color. One of the Huntergild clan.

“So where did he come from? This lord and master,” asked Kieren.

“I can’t tell you. I can only say that one day, not long after I joined their ranks, Coalglass called an assembly at Palace Prime.”

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