“Hurry,” I urge. “We’ve got company.”
Fyrestar moves impossibly faster, and we blast into the war room first. He drops me at the right-wing pillar, and I leap onto it. Maia soars across the room practically on Fyrestar’s flaming tail feathers and transforms in the air, dropping her booted feet onto the front-left pillar with a force that rattles the dais.
She looks over at me with a grin. “Kellan’s going to have a fit.”
I smile too. “Is he back?”
She shrugs. “Don’t know.”
Kellan barrels into the room next, answering the question for us. His wing nearly brushes my shoulder as he circles tightly and drops, settling behind me as he shifts into his common form to fit on the column.
I turn to gloat, cutting off my snide remark when I see how terrible he looks. “You’re back.”
“I guess you got right wing,” he says tonelessly.
“What’s wrong with you?” Frowning, I look him over. “Are you drunk?”
He shakes his head, his blue eyes the dullest I’ve ever seen them. “You should know me better than that,” he growls.
He sinks enough heat into his words to scald my face with regret. “I do know you, so what’s wrong?”
Arran flies in, taking the column behind Maia. Kellan doesn’t answer even though I wait, watching him. Danica and Wade arrive at the same time, and he gives her the right-side pillar without even going for it. Now that’s friendship. Everyone’s wing guards circle the cavernous room. Fyrestar circles with them. We wait for Bale. He never watches our race to the pillars. He times his arrival to see the result.
Bale swoops in, wrapped in shadows. He’s a thundercloud, and my heart jolts as if struck by lightning. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since that night in his lair, and my whole body ignites with awareness. He shifts and strides toward us. His amber eyes burn into me first, then sweep over the others.
“Did you settle the Fae Queen into the quarters we talked about?” Bale directs the question at Kellan. I whip around again, seeing the end of Kellan’s nod.
My eyes narrow. That’s what he was doing?
“She’s here now and awaiting your formal welcome. The journey from Tanturriff took longer than I expected because she refused to fly,” Kellan rumbles.
He would have carried her? Dragon shifters don’t just carry anyone. They’re not horses or wagons. They only carry someone if there’s a connection.
Kellan’s eyes flick to mine. His usual smirk infiltrates his weary expression when he sees me staring, and I snap my mouth shut, pivoting back around.
“What’s the battle horn about?” Wade asks from the back pillar on the left.
“Vampires,” Bale practically snarls. Anxiety grips my stomach so fast it’s like a fist grabbing and twisting my insides. My palms start to sweat, and I shuffle on my pillar. “They went all the way to Ruthinock for this batch of humans and are making their way back through our land.” He starts to pace, furious strides snapping against stone. “They’re west of Fanghaven now, which means they’re stuck on our side of the border until they can find a usable pass through the Silver Moon Mountains.”
My skin feels hot and cold at the same time. Numb on top. Feverish beneath. “How many?” I ask hoarsely.
“A good dozen,” Bale answers swiftly. “Nothing we can’t handle.”
A dozen vampires against the whole Elite Wing shouldn’t scare me. My pulse still races, and my body locks tight. I’ve fought vampires for nearly two centuries, and yet the thought of going back into battle with them now fills me with spine-icing dread.
“Rannigan Bloodthief must be on his way to the Ellonrift Council as we speak,” Maia snarls furiously. “He’ll walk in here with claims of Torridaig being the aggressor while he waits for his raiders to haul their spoils back to his blood markets.”
“What’s new?” Danica snorts her disgust. “It’s been that way for ages.”
“We could kill him. He’ll be right here,” I say softly.
Everyone still hears me, and all eyes turn to me. I do my best to hide that I’m shaking, my body still telling me to flee.
“You’re talking about murdering a starborn king,” Bale says with so little inflection that I don’t know if he likes the idea or thinks it’s utter madness.
I lift my chin. For all I know, Bloodwold could be my native home. My family could have been blood traffickers. “So? He murdered the Fanghaven royals in cold blood, then got everything he wanted and has been spreading his blood violence for two hundred years.”
“So we should do the same?” Bale asks warily. “And during a recognized moment of non-aggression between Ellonrift’s rulers?”
