The cool water hit us like a shock, and I kept my arms around her waist, making sure we surfaced together. She emerged with a gasp, her hair plastered to her face, looking like a drowned kitten. The most adorable drowned kitten in existence.
“Zane Dorian Cimmerian! You areimpossible!” she spluttered, then dissolved into giggles.
“Thank you. I work very hard at it.”
From the dock above us, I could hear Ko’s deep laugh, Cas’ resigned sigh, and an excitedwoofas Brumsy jumped in to join us.
Before long, Kaori, Addison, and Foster had a cannonball contest, and even Mrs. Wentzel sat on the edge of the dock and dangled her feet in the water, a small smile playing on the old girl’s lips. Only Cas and Lucian remained dry, watching our antics with matching expressions of fond exasperation.
All in all, the evening had been a staggering success. I got to go wild, Seri got a beautiful night of recognition, Koa got to stare at her unabashedly for hours, and Cas got to lurk in style. Even Lucian seemed marginally less brooding than usual, which in vampire-speak was practically euphoric.
As I floated on my back, staring up at the star-studded sky, I decided that celebrating Seri was my best creation ever. Let the world know this radiant chaos, this reckless joy, thisherwasours.
“You realize,” Ko said as he swam over, “we’ll have to top this for her birthday.”
I grinned as Brumous floated past us atop a giant swan float. Someone had fixed his top hat, and he looked positively noble with his nose pointed moonward like a dapper little water lord.
“Don’t worry, bro. I’m already planning the volcano.”
25. Flicker of Movement
Koa
Since Sebastian hadn’t been able to leave the vampire court without leadership while a traitor was at large, he’d missed Seri’s party. To make up for it, he’d sent the royal helicopter to whisk her away this afternoon for an evening with him in New York City.
Neither my brothers nor I liked it. It wasn’t because we didn’t trust him; we trusted Seb more than anyone else in the world except each other. But our beloved was out of our sight, out of our range of protection, and out of our arms.
I consoled myself with the knowledge that Seb was more than capable of protecting her. Even more thanwewere, to be honest. Dhampirs were fast and strong and healed most injuries in minutes. Born vampires were faster and stronger and healedinstantly. He could also go in and out of primal state—full vampire mode with red eyes and everything—as easily as I buttoned a shirt. And the prince of bats couldmove. Without making a sound, even when running at high speeds or leaping through buildings. No scuff of boot, no gust of displaced air. He could pass through an entire hallway without rattling a curtain.
So while we missed Seri and hated to be separated from her, we knew she was safe with him. And he’d show her a great time. He knew all the best spots in the city and would probably pamper her with lavish gifts. And she would love it. She’d have the time of her life.
We just wished she was having it withus.
Yes, we were selfish bastards like that, but given that we had her all day every day, I begrudgingly admitted we could spare our lonely eldest brother one evening of her company.
I still moped while she was gone.
To give myself something to do, I went looking for Foster, hoping he’d want to spar or something, and found him in the security room surrounded by holographic projections of our recent hunts. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his eyes tracking something across the multiple displays as he played the same sequence over and over. When he noticed me in the doorway, he didn’t bother with pleasantries.
“You’ve got a spy problem.” He paused the recording and pointed to a shadow at the edge of the frame.
“What am I looking at?” I moved closer.
It seemed Foster had been reviewing footage from our most recent hunts, starting with the ghost of Ondine Filcher in the Pine Barrens to the disaster with the Dark-corrupted shadows at the camp.
“Watch the tree line.” He replayed the Pine Barrens footage. “Ten seconds in. Upper right corner.”
I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the area he indicated. At first, I saw nothing unusual, just foliage and night shadows. Then a flicker of movement caught my attention. Something perched on a branch, its outline too rigid and still to be natural.
“Now watch this.” He switched to the summer camp footage. “Different location, different hunt, same object.”
Again, at the periphery of our vision, the same silhouette lurked, unmistakable now that I knew to look for it.
“What is it?” I leaned closer, now on high alert.
Foster manipulated the controls, zooming in and enhancing the image. The pixelation cleared enough to reveal a taxidermied mechanical raven with cameras where its eyes should be, glowing dull red in the darkness.
“A construct.” I scowled, recognizing the blend of mechanics, organic elements, and magic.
