His lips curved into a small smile, but it wasn’t endearing. “Didn’t seem that way as you left to come here without even a farewell when this brash plan of yours could result in your death. Permanently.”
“That was to make sure none of you meet the same fate.”
I didn’t expect Drystan to slam his spoon to the table, rocking our cups.
“That’s why I don’t havefriends,” he hissed. “They will always make you weak and force you to take stupid measures to protect them. Even then, they’re likely to leave or die sooner rather than later.”
Before I could respond, two parchments were slipped over the table between us by a hand. We’d been too lost in the growing heat of our conversation to notice someone had approached. Both of our hands reached for weapons, and I glanced up… then shock replaced my fear.
Drystan braced his hands on the table to rise.
“Sit, Prince. We don’t want to draw attention. Others might notice two of the most wanted in all of Solanis,” Tarran said, low and faintly amused.
His brown eyes danced from me to Drystan, but I was still, lost in my mind, which dragged forth flashes of memory after memory until I suddenly felt dizzy.
“Here to claim the prize?” Drystan snarled low, snatching up the posters with our faces on them. He scrutinized the parchment with a deep frown, and grumbled, “They got my nose all wrong.” When he looked over at me, it smoothed out a fraction. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost rather than just a red-headed ancient bastard,” he said.
Ancient.Tarran was an elder vampire… but he was also so much more than that.
Tarran spoke. “I hear you’re regaining your memories.”
There was a confusing note of gentleness but also tension in his voice. I could hardly bear to look up at him when I didn’t know how to react. How to unscramble the past from the present to make sense of him.
“Why are you here?” I asked, choosing to stay guarded as I cast him a hard look.
“I’m watching all sides of the brewing tide so as not to be caught on the ship that’s going down. May I?” Tarran didn’t wait for a response before sliding onto the bench beside Drystan.
“Turning us in would surely strengthen Auster’sship,” Drystan said carefully. I noticed how his hand hovered over a small blade at his side.
“Perhaps, but I like to believe the structure comes second to the skill of the captain.” His mischievous eyes slipped to me with that.
“Just explain how you found us here,” I snapped, on edge about his presence and slippery allegiance.
“It wasn’t hard. Even cloaked and hooded you stand out to anyone who knows what to look for.” His head canted like I was prey in his trap as he leaned on his forearms. “There’s a certain confidence in your swagger that’s finally come back. It had me intrigued.”
Drystan looked at us, puzzled.
“Did you know each other in your past lives?” he asked me.
My “no” was run over by Tarran’s “yes.”
Drystan shook his head like it would piece together how that was possible.
I closed my eyes on a long exhale. I didn’t know why I wanted to delay the inevitable spilling of the truth.
“He’s not just an elder soul vampire,” I said. “He’s the son of two of my guardians. A soulless and a fae.”
The shock on Drystan’s face was what I’d expected.
“No. That can’t be true. How could you have kept that from Nyte and me?” Drystan leaned his elbow on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose, mulling over the past like he might have missed something.
Tarran said, “You could say back then Astraea and me were somewhat estranged.”
I winced; the sharpness of his words was a dagger directed toward me.
“You made the vampires and me believe you wanted to capture the star-maiden as a gain for the vampire side of the war,” Drystan said sourly. “Now I discover she’s practically your family? Are you going to try to say your pursuit of her was out of endearment?”
I narrowed suspicious eyes on Tarran. “When did you want to find me?”
