I shivered. Why hadn’t I questioned the mass amounts of blood that woman needed?
“Do you think Kalama’s the last one left? Or are the others still in the cliffs?” Justice asked.
I recoiled at the thought and then raised my chin to look at my brother. “There could be more. Didn’t Liv say there were? Or maybe I made that up. I don’t remember. But I do know Kalama couldn’t have left the island when Kirkland was killed on Dark Row, so…” I cleared my throat.
Justice finished my thought: “There must be more.”
I shook my head. “I have no idea what Declan was doing or what kinds of deals he had going on. I knew he was shady, but this … this isunforgivable.”
Justice nodded. “Like how many of our people did he allow to be drained as a blood payment and then lie to us that they’d died under different circumstances?”
I growled and then shoved away the thought before it could enrage me.
My gaze landed on the new clock, and I started at the time. How was it late afternoon already? Yesterday I’d said if Nai wasn’t back by morning, I was going to raise hell.
I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes, debating my options. Iwantedto believe something was keeping her from me and her grandfather would make sure she was safe. I had to believe it because that was my only hope.
“Tomorrow,” I breathed. “One more day, and if Nai isn’t here, I’m calling a meeting with the High Mage Council, consequences be damned.”
Justice nodded. “I think that’s fair.”
“What if they don’t come?” I asked, sitting up suddenly. “What if the shifters like being away? I don’t think we can take on vampires or blood mages and whatever other threats may come our way. Like, what if the mages—”
“Selkies will come,” Justice said. “Bears may not, considering. Foxes will come, and I suspect the hawks and falcons will too. They’ve long made their desire to return home a public affair.”
“Panthers probably won’t,” I offered. “Uncle Declan betrayed them even worse than the bears.” The memory of my mother telling us about Declan killing the panther kingin front of his own childrenstill made me sick. All because he wouldn’t vacate the island. That story had made me fear Declan even more. Only now did I understand why she’d told us so many awful things about him; she was doing all she could so we wouldn’t become like him. Somehow, I’d missed that message for a while … until Nai. She’d helped me see the truth.
‘Nai…’I called, wanting but no longer hopeful.
But even though I didn’t expect a response, the silence still hurt.
The rest of the day passed quickly. By evening, we’d received word from the selkie king, fox queen, and tiger queen, graciously accepting the invitation to return. Over the coming weeks, they’d return to Shifter Island. The fox and lion queens asked for supplies to help rebuild their communities as well as boats and some crap that I wasn’t even sure whether we had.
Noble, with administrative prowess, handled all of the logistics.
As for the bear, panther, and hawk leaders … we’d yet to hear from the bear king or panther queen, but the hawks said they needed more time to think about it.
Finally, my head and body couldn’t handle any more. After a long shower, I lay down in my bed … for the first time since I was king. I’d been hesitant to change quarters just in case Nai came looking for me, but Justice put a note on my old Midnight dorm door and sent me to my new rooms in the castle, just off of the main dining hall. These had been guest quarters before, so they held no bad memories for me.
Of course, as soon as the lights were off, my mind started to spin. I sighed, stroking the black satin sheets as I wished for sleep and ran through various to-dos in my head. I needed to get the other kings and queens up to speed on the situation concerning the blood mages, aka vampires. More shifters here would allow for turns patrolling the island and Dark Row. Trust would take time, and working together again would probably have some hiccups, but I’d do whatever was necessary. We were stronger together. My father believed that, and so did I.
As for Nai…?
Anger and hurt coursed through me when I thought about her.
I almost hoped she was kidnapped because the idea that she might have left willingly hurt more.
Eventually, the exhaustion of the past few days caught up. Like a hundred-pound boulder tied to my consciousness, I sank deeply into the abyss of nothingness.
Chapter Eight
The creakingof my bedroom door yanked me awake. Still sluggish with fatigue, I glanced to the clock to see I’d only been asleep twenty minutes.
Noble better have a damn good reason…
“Someone better be dead,” I growled as I sat up, looking to the doorway … and my heart stopped beating in my chest—
“Nai?” I gasped, recognizing her backlit silhouette.
