And Aurelia… she was starting to live.
There were no royals to entertain. We bounced from city to city, stopping by the various vampire covens and families as we found them, many of them still treating Aurelia as the princess she had once been, offering us meals and lodging.
They had made their feelings on the now dead Castle king very clear, but now, without the pressure of royal customs, they were much more open and friendly with us.
“What? You didn’t know?” Elora said with a scandalous gasp. “Your husband is using the last bit of his inheritance to open a…sex club.”
The last bit was spoken in a whisper, likely afraid her own husband would overhear. But he was in the other room, andstanding by her side was a tall, stoic guard—a masculine woman, bulky, with a shaved head and tattoos on her face, dressed in an all-black guard uniform.
She wasveryattentive to Elora, and it made me wonder if that was the reason her husband had been treating her so differently.
The first time I’d seen her, she was a shell of a vampire, with her husband keeping blood from her to make her compliant and submissive. But she looked positively lively now.
Aurelia, Cedar, and I were sitting in her parlor, drinking blood and relaxing as they chatted when the topic of Caspian came up.
“Ex-husband,” Cedar and I said together.
Elora laughed behind her hand, her guard’s lips twitching ever so slightly.
“Of course he did,” Aurelia replied with a huff and took a sip of her blood.
“The other one just doesn’t feel right now.” Elora grimaced. “No one really has the energy to play those silly political games anymore.”
“It was a stupid idea in the first place. An excuse for unhappy vampires to let loose.”
“Is that not what this new one is too?’ Cedar asked.
Elora lit up.
“No! It’s better! Invite only, and they accept everyone—humans, witches, and vampires alike. I even saw a few of thoseshiftersthere.”
Interest leaked through the bond.
“We may have to pay them a visit,” Aurelia said as she stood in a swift motion. “But first, I think we have a few hunters waiting for us, don’t we?”
Anxiety ran through my chest as we all stood and started to say our goodbyes. It had been a few months since I’d seen my brothers, and I was both excited and nervous.
Especially since the last time I saw them, they’d been searching for our mother.
Cedar squeezed my arm, and I sent her a smile.
You have them. It will be okay.
“You’re getting taller—again,” I grumbled as Tate gave me a side hug.
I said nothing as he slipped a small box into my pants.
We met just a few miles away from our next destination, since Gabriel’s band of hunters had also been on the move over the last few months. It wasn’t easy to plan, but we were finally close enough to meet.
“That’s what happens,” he said with a smirk. “We humans grow.”
“Quarter humans,” Aurelia corrected.
Tate rolled his eyes and pulled away. “Think fast.”
He grabbed something from his belt and threw it at Aurelia, who caught it with ease. The glint of metal told me what it was.
When she opened her hand to look at it, surprise and something a little heavier settled in the bond.
