He lets out a soft, low laugh. “It’s good to see you, too, Princess.”
“Cut to the point, vampire.”
He watches me carefully, all amusement fading.
“Something’s stirring in the south. I’ve heard whispers coming out of Elowen’s court. Spells older than language, talk of relics being unearthed. Things even my kind avoid.”
I cross my arms, unimpressed. “Let me guess. You want us to join hands and play nice. Work together again.”
“Serenya, you need to listen,” Dimitri says, stepping closer. I take a step back, and he freezes. Something like hurt flashes in his eyes before he quickly masks it. “There’s something rotten moving beneath her kingdom. You think your court is safe? That because there’s no war right now, you’ve won? Well, you haven’t. None of us has.”
“So what do you expect me to do? March into Elowen’s palace and ask if she’s planning something sinister?”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Well, first, I’d like you to stop pretending that the only danger is in your memories and take this seriously.”
My spine stiffens, and I look away.
“You think I don’t remember the way you looked that night and the things you said to my father?” he asks, quieter now. “The night you killed him?”
My eyes snap back to his, burning. “You let me.”
“I didn’t stop you,” he corrects. “And I never told anyone. You could’ve prolonged the war, but I took the blame. For you.”
My jaw clenches. My voice comes out sharp as a blade. “Don’t make it sound like kindness, Dimitri. You hated him almost as much as I did.”
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “But I never took it as far as you did.”
“Maybe you should have,” I sneer. “So much pain could have been avoided if you had.”
The words hang there. Only he had seen what I had done that night—the brutal private battle between a heartbroken princess and an evil king that ended the war.
Not for my people.
Not for peace.
Just for Kallan.
For a lost love, and a vengeance that blackened my soul. I should have killed Dimitri, too. I almost tried, but something stopped me. Ever since, I’ve regretted not following through with it. Why should he get to live when he helped take Kallan’s life?
“You didn’t summon me to reminisce,” I say coldly. “Say what you need to say, and I’ll be on my way.”
He hesitates, then speaks. “Elowen’s gathering power. I don’t think it’s just political or magical. I think it may bedivinepower. I don’t know what she’s doing with it, but she’s preparing for something big. Something dangerous.”
My eyes narrow. “And what? You think this is going to affect you?”
“It already is. The winds carry sickness. My people are having visions. Blood turning to ash. I’ve even felt something in the earth itself. That means whatever Elowen is doing, it reaches farther than just her forest.”
Shaking my head, I say, “I’m not getting involved in your vampire paranoia. Or Araluen’s politics.”
“It’s not just politics. Serenya, this isserious.”
I turn and start walking away. “Then let the gods handle it, Dimitri,” I call over my shoulder.
“They won’t,” he says to my back. “And when this touches your court, and itwill, don’t pretend I didn’t warn you.”
I stop, just for a moment. “If you ever try to use what I did that night against me—”
“You know I never would,” Dimitri says in a gentle voice that only makes me angrier. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
