When Wolf’s massive gold wings appeared in my periphery and when Huntyr’s slim figure cast a shadow over the stranger on the ground, I kept my mouth shut.
“Speak,” Huntyr demanded. “You’ve pulled us away from a very entertaining evening, so this better be good.”
The stranger surveyed the crowd, as if he wasn’t comfortable divulging information in public like this.
But when every eye remained locked on him, the fae pushed himself up to his feet. “I came from Pericius. Please, I had nowhere else to go.”
Huntyr assessed them, her eyes storming with a violence I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a reminder of why she was the blood queen.
“A fae thought a kingdom of vampyres more than a week’s journey from his own was the only place to go?” She crossed her arms, her expression one of disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
“I come with a warning,” the man said.
Wolf stepped forward, wings broadening in anticipation.
The fae gulped, his eyes widening, but continued anyway. “These rebellions are just the start. The new king is starving our towns and neglecting his citizens. The rebellion only exists because he’s so hungry for power.” He paused, catchinghis breath. “And he’ll come for Scarlata when he’s finished destroying us.”
“This changes everything,” I pushed.
Wolf, Huntyr, Rummy, Xavier, and I gathered in the study once the stranger had been chained up in the most secure holding cell in the kingdom.
He was the only occupant, since we weren’t exactly used to keeping prisoners here in Scarlata.
He wasn’t technically a prisoner, but we’d yet to decide whether he could be trusted, so for now, that’s where he would stay.
Huntyr hadn’t spoken since we left him, but her face said enough. She knew just as well as I did that there was a legitimate threat here.
We had more than vague word of rumors and a cryptic letter from the east. This alleged refugee was just the beginning.
And if Scarlata was truly at risk?
We had to act. Now.
“Ifhe’s telling the truth,” Rummy chimed in. She sobered up in the last twenty minutes, but that didn’t make looking at her any easier.
It didn’t help that Xavier stood so close to her.
“Jessiah’s right,” Wolf added. “We’ve spent years rebuilding Scarlata, and once we’d found our footing, we should have been more proactive. Instead, we’ve been sitting around and waiting for the truth to find us. We need to send our men to Pericius. And we need to do it soon.”
Still, Huntyr said nothing. She paced back and forth, her black fae wings tucked behind her shoulders as she moved.
Wolf leaned against the back wall, watching his wife with the eyes of a predator.
“Our men can be ready by the morning,” I added. “We can take them with us if necessary.”
Xavier nodded along with me.
“The stranger stays here.” Huntyr finally broke her silence. “If refuge is what he seeks, we’ll give it to him.”
Rummy stepped forward. “And what if this fae is just the beginning? What if hundreds more come?”
Huntyr stopped pacing and faced her friend. “Then we house them, too. This is the foundation Scarlata was built on. We can’t turn our backs on them just because they come from somewhere else.”
As Rummy cursed beneath her breath, I bit back a smile. She was so used to getting her way, and now she was losing.
It was about damn time.
“You sure your men are ready?” Wolf asked. “The journey on foot will take at least a week.”
