Wyatt wagged his finger at her. “Thoseare the humans you have to worry about. The ones that know what we are and think we’re demons. They’re the instigators who started the witch hunts and incited townspeople to burn us at the stake. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. People like him aren’t as harmless as you think.”
I moseyed over to the other bed and sat on the side nearest the window, next to Niko. He took a pillow out from behind his back and offered it to me. Only one wall lamp behind the beds was switched on, illuminating an old painting of a horse, its wooden frame so thin and cracked that it must have been hanging there for a hundred years.
Gem rested her arm on the old-fashioned TV box that sat on the edge of the dresser, her expression doleful as she stared at the floor. Her dress lit up the dim room.
Niko got up from the bed and stood beside her. “Tell them what else.”
Her heels gently tapped against the dresser. “A lady downstairs didn’t see me. I bumped right into her in the lobby, and she looked right through me. I guess it’s not just a rumor anymore. We’re disappearing.”
Christian got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed next to me. I dodged his pensive stare by picking the nail polish off my fingernails even though the chipped pieces would reappear. I hadn’t yet decided what I was going to do regarding my father.
“She sawme,” Wyatt complained. “Called me a name I won’t repeat.”
Christian squeezed my hand. I grabbed a loose piece of thread on his green sweater and wound it around my finger.
“What’s shakin’?” Claude sauntered into the room.
When he shifted his gaze in my direction and his nose twitched, I tried to think of something else.
Sex on top of a train with Christian, walking on a building ledge, my father’s laugh…
Claude crawled across the bed and sat to my right. “What troubles you, female? Viktor’s safe. Did something happen?” He turned his eyes to Christian.
While the others chatted about rescuing Viktor, Christian squeezed my knee. “She’s gonna be just fine. Tough as nails, aren’t you, Raven?”
I steeled my heart so I wouldn’t have another meltdown in front of everyone. That wasn’t the image I wanted to project in front of my peers, regardless of how I felt. So I listened to everyone talk for the next ten minutes.
“How are my people?” Viktor boomed.
Gem hopped off the dresser and flew into his arms. She squeaked with excitement, her feet dangling off the ground as he hugged her back. Claude winked at me before getting up to greet our leader. The relief was palpable as the team stirred with excitement. Viktor united us.
Niko patted Viktor’s chest. “We had no doubt you would come back to us. Apologies for not setting a guard outside your door. If we’d thought to do that, the worker wouldn’t have gotten inside. This is cause for a celebration.”
“Miss Parrish was generous enough to gift me a special drink,” Viktor said, a tight grin on his face. “Unfortunately, I cannot taste the vodka, but I will still indulge in hopes that the fates take pity on me.” He chuckled at Lenore, who lingered in the entryway like a ghost.
I smiled mechanically at the bitch. While we couldn’t taste food or alcohol, there was no assurance about Sensor-spiked drinks. Breed magic could still work on us, and that was why I’d switched out the alcohol. At least for now, she couldn’t keep him under her spell with a love potion.
Unbeknownst to her.
“The chair, if you please.” Viktor motioned for Christian to move it in the corner next to the dresser.
Christian effortlessly lifted it over his head and set it down. That forced Wyatt from his spot on the floor. Lenore floated across the room and sat regally, her back as straight as a board and ankles crossed. Viktor stood at her side while the rest of us took a seat on one of the two beds.
“What’s the plan?” Blue asked.
Viktor folded his arms. “I have been looking at these marks on our hands. There must be a connection to the hourglass—perhaps a power that is contained. We destroy it. See what happens.”
“I tried,” I admitted. “It’s impossible.”
His eyes sharpened at me. “You went to Miss Parrish’s home without telling me? When was this?”
“Before you ran off.” I stared at my boots, wishing I’d worded that differently. “Seemed like a good idea to check things out.”
He lowered his arms and gripped the dresser. “You went alone?”
“I went with her,” Niko cut in. “Both she and I tried moving the hourglass. It doesn’t react to Mage energy. We couldn’t move it, nor did our light affect it.”
Viktor paced toward the door. “I cannot believe you conspired this without my knowledge.”
