I turn around as she pats my waist with the last secured loop.
“Why is Nerian bothering with all this? Why doesn’t he just attack the Night Kingdom?” she asks, dipping her finger in the perfume on the nearby dressing table and then sweeping it over my collarbone.
I huff. “I’ve been wondering the same. I think he’s bored and playing with his prey first.”
But he’s invited a warrior into his den. And I will dismantle it piece by piece.
Charlotte dresses herself in peacock blue, her eyes setting off against the color.
“Well, let’s keep him distracted and his appetite whet, then,” she purrs, drawing red onto her lips.
I smile at her optimism. “We’re going to need a lot more than a commanding-colored gown.”
CHAPTER 10
KADE
Two Hundred Years Ago — Goreon Kingdom
MASTER HULL AND GRACE lead the procession down the hallway to the Mortifer catacombs, with Lou carried behind us by Rhett and station leaders.
I master a neutral gaze to fight the sorrow in my chest while my memories of Lou spin inside me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sit on my barstool at his tavern anymore, and my gut twists when I think about sipping from a glass he’ll never pour for me again. Such a simple, stupid thing. And I’m going to miss it more than I ever thought I would.
But I have to go back to Lou’s, every night I can, because he wouldn’t want me to stop coming to his place, or Mother Hollie to lose business, or squander the comforting impact of the Captain’s presence amongst the community.
We pass carved stones inscribed with names, ranks, and years along the cavern wall. I don’t know which one is my father’s; I’ve only visited my mother. Grace and I travel every summer to the Sereia Sea, where our Mothers’ asheswere released, the gods sweeping their souls into the wind and carrying them home.
The procession pauses in the wide, spacious cavern beside the opening in the wall, and Rhett slides his father’s body into its resting place with the help of Riot and Brachett.
Hundreds of candles flicker around us as Hunters hold their lit offering, and one by one, we pass the casket, dripping our wax, and saying our final words to Lou.
I’m pissed. I shouldn’t be saying any final words to Lou. If I had just been a few tables over, I could have stopped that bolt with my bare fucking hands and this good man would still be behind his bar, smiling and laughing and bringing us all the joy we so greatly need.
Fuck this king.
I drip my wax and promise Lou, and all the gods, the revenge he deserves.
We bow our heads in silence and then depart from the sacred space to prepare for our attack on Goreon Castle. Usually, we’re tipping back ale all night when a Hunter dies, but it’s all business this morning with steaming coffee and station leaders gathered around the roaring fire in the main chamber.
Riot pulls out a map of Goreon City, splaying it on the table.
“We’ll meet here on the second day. There’s an abandoned underground tunnel system we’ll hide in until nightfall.” Riot indicates the location and then circles the structure next to it. “This tavern is our closest friendly outpost. Owned and operated by Mother Hollie and … Lou. There’s tunnel access through their cellar.”
“We’re going to need to take out every vampire in that castle,” Ned says, eyes pinned to the roaring fire, his jaw tight.
“No one left alive in the stronghold. It’s the only way to change Goreon and get Sam back.”
Riot grins. “I can’t wait to sleep in a royal bedroom in two days.”
Brachett tosses Riot his empty cup. “Fetch me another before your royal ass is too good for it.”
The chair creaks as Riot stands to refill his coffee.
He eyes me and my full mug. “Anyone else?”
My nerves are getting the better of me. All these men. All these lives. Birthright, training, magic, the call—it’s all supposed to numb the stress tied to sending every Hunter into battle on your command. But it doesn’t. My worry is eating me alive like a poison. Ready to consume me with every life lost, every chest that will never expand again, every jaw that won’t tick, eyes that won’t blaze with love, voices that won’t laugh, throats that won’t swallow down the ale in our glasses.
Whether Hunters want to end the rule of this king, avenge Lou, or save Sam, we’re all heading into this with our own reasons, but I’m still the one who has sworn to lead them to the other side.
