“What do you see?” she asks, refusing to let me go.
I see her healing body, skin reforming, scorched wounds sealing over, new hair flowing down her sides, and a flush rising to her cheeks.
Peyton is gone again.
I think.
Maybe in the shadows of her crimson eyes, there’s a hint of the woman I knew, but I can’t deny her true nature.
“I see you, Fury,” I say.
Her lips curve as if I’ve pleased her. “It is good to be seen.”
She turns with a growing snarl toward Vanguard, where Slade has driven him to his knees on the ground.
Slade’s wings are extended, and the burning scent of his killing power fills the air, but I’m certain he won’t use it to its full effect.
Peyton rises and paces across the snow toward Vanguard, her burned suit slapping the backs of her legs in the thickening silence.
Even Slade seems wary of her while Vanguard watches her approach with a clenched jaw and tight lips.
She bends to him and takes his chin in her hand. “James Vanguard,” she says, “I sense your lies. What game are you playing?”
20. PEYTON PRICE
And how can I let him continue breathing?
Vanguard’s gaze doesn’t waver from mine as I press my fingers so tightly into his jaw that my claws draw pinpricks of blood.
Even while my body was consumed with fire, I was aware that Vanguard didn’t call on his serpent power to fight back against Slade. He didn’t shift his form into that of a snake. He relied on a mere sword.
It’s clear to me that hewantedto lose.
Now that I’m certain Jonah is a creature of old magic, I’m also certain that Vanguard must be one, too. Where humans and shifters are easy to read, Vanguard and Jonah are much harder.
And—dammit—I have very little practice in breaking through a guarded mind because so few supernaturals can shield themselves like this.
Even so, I’m able to detect truth from lies in his speech, and what he says next is true.
“I needed a realm,” Vanguard gasps. “It wasn’t safe to speak openly in the field. We could be overheard.”
Slade’s brow furrows, and his grip around Vanguard’s neck increases. “You wanted me to create a realm?”
“Everything I do is observed and reported back to my master,” the serpent replies. “This is the only way I could speak freely.” He raises his eyes to mine. “Jonah fought me on this. He didn’t want to hurt you, Fury. But it was the only way we could think to trigger Slade to create a realm.”
“Jonah is old magic,” I say.
Vanguard grunts. “As am I. We are thousands of years old and have lost too many loved ones. If I had any other choice?—”
I don’t need his platitudes.
“What do you want?” I snap. “Speak clearly, or I will end you.”
His response chills me. “I have the bones.”
What?I knew he was looking for them, but to have found them already?
I draw a sharp breath but force myself to focus on Slade for a moment. “Please release him so he can speak freely.”
