Whoa. Hold up. This is his sister?
I look beteen them, confused. Where Everett is tall and cold-looking, his sister is petite, curvy, and warm as she smiles with relief at her brother. They look absolutely nothing alike.
He steps out of the apartment like he’s about to wrap her in a hug, but Heidi scrambles back, holding up the amulet like it will ward him away.
“Don’t! Sorry, it’s not you. I—it’s a long story, but…” She trails off before looking curious, gesturing at the left side of her face to indicate his. “Did…did that hurt?”
Everett almost goes to cover his scar before putting his hand back down. “At the time. It’s fine now.”
“Oh—I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a memory that painful. And dear gods, you’re alreadysostressed out about your keeper right now, and so tired and frustrated and your quintet is struggling so much and?—”
“You’re alive,” Everett breathes, studying her with the intensity of an overprotective older brother. “How?”
“It’s a long story. My best friend made sure I survived for as long as I did,” she adds, her face falling for a second before she fidgets with the hem of her shirt. “And…well, I came here for two reasons. The first was to thank your keeper and Crypt DeLune for getting me out of the citadel.”
“What? The citadel?”
Uh oh. Looks like Frosty is about to have a fucking aneurysm.
Heidi flinches hard, taking a big step back like his freakout is physically assaulting her. Everett notices and swears, taking a deep, calming breath and glaring at the amulet she’s holding.
“You lost your dampening charm.”
“T—the liches took it away,” she says faintly.
Everett pinches his nose, taking two more deep breaths like he’s trying not to lose his shit. “Liches.You were around liches. Okay.”
Heidi puts on a smile, but it’s strained. “I’m fine now. Really. I’ll find other things to help with it. And I can tell this is a really bad time, so I’ll come back later about the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, because it’s kind of big. I just...” She trails off again, her brow furrowing as she glances behind us through the doorway. “Wow. She’sreallyexasperated. Is everything okay?”
Wait. She can sense Maven’s emotions right now?
“You’re an empath,” I realize, feeling stupid for not catching on earlier.
Heidi nods, fidgeting again.
“Tell me what else she’s feeling,” I press, desperate for any scrap of information about my mate.
Everett’s sister hesitates, clutching the amulet close to her chest. “This is blocking a lot, so I can’t pick up on minor emotions, but…it seems like she’s getting impatient. She’s also really happy, I think—but in a hopeful way. Like she has something good to look forward to.”
That’s enough for me to breathe fully again, optimism flooding my system. I thank Heidi and leave the front door, returning to Maven’s room. Everett quickly finishes his conversation with her before rejoining us and pacing in the bedroom.
Silas glances at us from the chair beside the bed. “Who was it?”
“Everett’s sister,” I explain.
“Heidi,” Crypt supplies, still exhausted as he breathes raspily beside Maven. “So she survived after all. Good.”
“At some point, you’re going to tell me how the fuck you know my sister,” Everett warns, glaring at Crypt.
“If she hasn’t shared that tidbit of her life with you, it’s not my business to share,” Crypt drawls before breaking into a fit of wheezing coughs again. He hisses in pain, wipes more blood from his mouth, and lays his head on Maven’s chest to listen to her heartbeat. “I’m going to sleep.”
“What do you mean?” I frown. “I thought you couldn’t sleep.”
The incubus doesn’t bother answering my confusion as he shuts his eyes and murmurs, “If I don’t last until our goddess opens her pretty eyes again, tell her it’s still the best rest I’ve ever had.”
The silence in the room grows heavier with every second that ticks by. Everett paces while Silas and I watch Maven and Crypt lay motionless on the bed. I really fucking hope the Nightmare Prince is just sleeping. I think I still see him breathing, but I can’t be sure. He just looks feverish and pale and…
“Fuck,” I mutter. “He really is dying, isn’t he?”
