The room gasps. Felicity eyes me warily but she can’t resist the spotlight all the same.
“Felicity’s a world-class opera singer. If we beg, maybe she’ll wow us with a song.” I grin while Meg stands nearby, tight-lipped but also protective. She’s cautious of Felicity after earlier, but it seems she understands that sometimes you need to play a longer game. Tension leaves my body.
Cajoling ripples through the crowd. Felicity sweeps up, accepts the mic, and launches into her routine. “Why yes, I’d love to. Do you know‘Hex and Hymn of the Divine’?”
The band obliges. Felicity sings.
Damn. I almost wish she were terrible, but she hits every note perfectly. Her powerful voice echoes off the walls, weaving through the riveted crowd, who hang on every word.
Crisis handled, for now.
Meg finds my hand. “Wanna dance?”
Nothing sounds better than Meg spinning me across the floor.
Except I don’t move. Part of me wonders what’s being decided behind the Blade’s closed doors and whether it will change everything I’ve worked so hard to build for Leigh this weekend. Leigh’s mother and grandmother are bright-eyed and chatting as they watch Felicity perform. They can’t know anything’s amiss. It would ruin their happiness.
“I should wait to see if Ry returns,” I say to Meg, who frowns.
I’m a terrible date.
We burstinto a room down the hall from Leigh’s grandfather’s study. Jax and Soter are already there, along with Commander Wendy Detzer, who immediately thrusts her digital tablet into my hands.
“Your Majesty, Madam President, Commander Dunn, thank you for coming so quickly. I hate to interrupt your party, but this information can’t wait.”
We stand side by side in the castle’s sitting room, a place where Leigh’s family has traditionally celebrated Yule. It’s an expansive room where twin leather sofas in a rich red wine color face each other before a large stone fireplace. Soft rugs add warmth, and thick tartan drapes block the windows. Leigh and I haven’t spoken a word since I confronted her. I don’t understand why she does it; I always find out.
“What the hell is going on?” I look at Soter, whose lips are pursed, then at Jax. His posture is stiff, and he’s turned away from Soter, like they’re in some childish pissing match.
“Wendy insisted that we wait for you so we can all watch the footage together,” Jax said, his tone clipped. “We would have alerted you about this new breach sooner, but I couldn’t find Soter.”
Soter’s jaw clenches.
“What’s this about an apocalypse?” I ask Wendy.
“Rest assured, sir, we have things somewhat under control,” Wendy says. “But you need to see this for yourself—some things can’t be explained.”
Chills run through me as I press play on the digital device. The CCTV footage showcases a hooded horseman galloping through downtown Glaucus with a small, crying child tucked under its armored arm. Unease twists my stomach as the horseman carries the child over the pedestrian bridge and into the wooded forest, disappearing.
Replaying the footage, I ask, “This is a daemon?” It’s unlike any I’ve seen before.
“Yes, sir. We believe it is,” Wendy replies. “Its genetic makeup is similar to that of the Harborym or any other greater daemon. It’s just unrecognizable.”
The figure on Wendy’s screen differs from the other daemons they’ve killed in recent months. Those were smaller and more animal-like than man. This creature might be eight feet tall.
A heavy hood hides its face, but thick armor covers its chest, arms, hands, legs, and feet. The horse it rides is larger than any I’ve ever seen, with a coat as black as midnight, looking sticky, as if it were bathed in blood. And its eyes… I shiver. I’ll never forget them. They are red—redder than Desiree’s—and they fuckingglow.
“It’s a Dullahan,” Leigh whispers.
We all turn to her. “A what?” Soter asks.
“A ranger of death. They belong to Mictlan, the realm where lost souls go. Dullahan serve Kosac, the Reaper of Death.” She protectively folds her arms over her chest. “I don’t expect any of you to know, having just learned about them myself, but death is drawn to life, and there’s nothing more vibrant and purer than a child…”
A hush falls over us.
“Please give that to me.” Janus points to the tablet. I hand it over to her.
She hits replay, her eyes fixed on the screen as Jaxson tries to get a better look at the footage over her shoulder.
