“Did you need something, Lady Decima?” Keegan asked softly.
The lady inclined her head, her gaze on Thalia. “I know this isn’t an ideal time”—Cassius snarled, and Lady Decima continued undeterred—“but I must share before I head back to Perden.”
“What is it?” Cassius snapped.
“The Mages have had setbacks,” Lady Decima said.
Cassius stiffened, some of his rage leaving. “By how long?”
“Months.”
Camilla sucked in a sharp breath, and Keegan cursed.
Cassius finally looked at Thalia. He seemed to have gotten his transformation under control, although his face still rippled, turning ashy, then full of color.
His wariness set her anger spiking. He didn’t trust her with whatever information Lady Decima wanted to share. Cassius’s face darkened as he looked away. “Thank you, Lady Decima. I’ll be in touch shortly.”
The leader of House Olvectus inclined her head, then she left.
Thalia glanced around at the remaining members of the prince’s inner circle. “What did you ask of her?” She directed her question at Cassius, wariness be damned.
He flicked his gaze to her, his blue eyes iced over. The rage was back, but this time it was aimed at her. “Do you want to tell me what the fuck you were doing listening in?”
Thalia lifted her chin, ignoring the twinge in her shoulder as she sheathed her blade. “I heard the council meeting had been moved up, and I knew the courts wouldn’t share anything if I was in the room.”
“You could have gotten killed,” he said lowly.
“And I could have gotten killed when I faced that crazed Vampyr,” Thalia countered. “What the hell was that thing? And don’t you dare tell me that it was just sick. There’s something else going on. Something that has to do with the forest and … and some creature?”
The four of them glanced at each other but said nothing.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just go into the forest and figure it out myself,” Thalia hissed.
“You do that, and you really have a death wish,” Cassius growled.
Thalia lifted her chin, refusing to back down.
“Cass,” Keegan said softly. “We should tell her.”
“I agree,” Lord Damien said, sinking into one of the chairs. It was the first time the pale Vampyr seemed almost tired. “Whether you like it or not, she’s part of this world now. To keep her in the dark further could only endanger her more.”
“Tell me what?” Thalia looked around.
Cassius finally met her gaze. “There’s a reason you were able to track me through Agripa.”
Thalia stared at him, unsure why he was bringing it up now. “What was the reason?”
“I was hunting those who’d turned.”
Thalia couldn’t interpret his words. “You were hunting other Vampyrs?”
Cassius shook his head, his auburn hair sliding with the movement. “Those things are not Vampyrs. Not anymore.”
“What are they?”
“They’ve been turned by something else. A half-crazed animal whose hunger is insatiable. They are the ones who have been causing the Scarecrows in Agripa.”
Thalia’s throat bobbed, her mind flashing to the cellar and the Vampyr who was eating lambs and skinning them. “What is turning them?”
