He’s rising from the bed when he notices her bare breasts and stops, groaning.
“This better be fucking good, Jelani,” he shouts, steel-gray eyes on Astrid.
“It’s Simone,” says Jelani.
Concern creases his face. He lifts the covers back up over Astrid and kisses her before getting out of bed and pulling his pants on. It’s still early, dawn only just beginning to creep in, and Astrid feels cold suddenly, a sense of dread stealing through her.
Today. The duel is today.
Zryan doesn’t bother with a top as he strides through to another room Astrid didn’t see last night. She hears theclickof a door closing and then Jelani’s voice.
“I’m sorry it’s early, Z, but this is bad.” “Z,” he calls the prince. She remembers now, Zryan said he was close to this particular Dreki.
“Is Simone alive?” She can hear the urgency in his voice.
“She is, they’re all alive, but I’m not sure for how long.”
What the Hel is going on? Astrid stumbles out of bed, looking for her dress. She glances around and finds his shirt on the floor instead. Putting it on, the smell of him wrapping around her, she walks to the other room, which turns out to be his very messy living area. Books, papers, and clothes are strewn everywhere. There’s a teapot, various cups and mugs, a lemon smell permeates the room. Mint leaves, too. Her favorite.
“Minor injuries, and almost all of them were captured,” Jelani is saying, but he stops short when he sees Astrid, his mouth forming a comical O of surprise.
Zryan looks around at her and does a double take at Astrid wearing his shirt.
“Eyes on me, Jelani,” Zryan demands, and the Dreki’s gaze snaps to Zryan. Jelani clears his throat but keeps his mouth shut. “Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of the princess. Where’s Simone? The rest of them?”
“We don’t know where they’ve taken everyone they arrested, we lost them—probably wherever they’re taking all those missing Blooded.” Jelani puts his helmet on the writing desk by the window, runs a hand over his shaven head. “But they’ve brought Simone back here—she’s down in the cells. No doubt they’ll interrogate her soon. We need to get her out.”
“What’s going on?” Astrid interrupts. “What happened last night and why is Simone in the dungeons?”
Zryan goes to her and takes her hand. “Last night we learned about a mass transportation of Blooded who had been conscripted—the largest yet. We think it might be something to do with the duel today, as we’ve never known such a big convoy—”
“It was a fucking trap,” Jelani cuts in. “They wanted us to attack the convoy, and when we got there, the carriages were filled with Arach-damned Dreki.”
Zryan’s entire body tenses next to her, and Astrid feels a wave of anxiety rise. Is this because of what she did the other night, at the warrens? Placing the trackers on the carriages?
“It was a trap?” Zryan’s voice is low, dangerous.
Jelani nods. “Omari managed to escape. Shifted into his bat form and woke me up, told me everything, then we watched as the bastards brought Simone in just now. I came straight here.”
“She was in her humanoid form?”
“When we saw her, yeah.”
“Fuck,” Zryan mutters.
“But apparently she’d been in her animal form when they captured her. Must have a Nullifier.”
Zryan shakes his head. “There’s no Nullifier that powerful.”
“That we know of, but they’ve been building, Z, you know this. And now they’re looking to cut us off at the neck—when they saw Simone, all Vaar broke loose. They’re panicking about how deep this goes, wondering who else at The Rok is part of it.”
“It isn’t just you,” Astrid says to Zryan, reeling. “There are more of you here who are part of this rebel movement?”
“He’s not a part of it, Princess, heisit,” Jelani says. “He started the whole damn thing.” Astrid’s mouth goes slack.
“Jelani,” Zryan mutters, “we hadn’t quite got to that part yet.”
“Stars, Zryan, when were we going to get to that part? Before or after I dueled? We’re not exactly spoiled for time.” Astrid tries to pull away, but Zryan holds tight to her.
