I’d heard that newly mated couples had an insatiable need for one another, and given how easily Kole grew hard for me each time and how readily my body opened to him, I knew it wasn’t all due to my vampiric lust.
I took some heart in that, that at the end of the day, I was stillmebeneath all of the vampire magic, but as the night wore on, and the end of Kole’s shift came, my focus drifted elsewhere, to what we’d planned to do tonight.
Kole kissed me one last time as his replacement waited in the hallway. “Do you remember where we’re meeting at midnight?”
I nodded, and I had no doubt if I’d still been fae, my breaths would have been thready at what was to come. “Near the clock tower in the Baefim District.”
“Yes.” He gave me one last kiss, but I was reluctant to let him go.
“Are you sure we can get away with this?” I whispered. “And that he won’t somehow escape?”
His sword gleamed in the fairy lights. “Definitely, Princess. Your uncle’s life ends tonight, and if it’s not by my bare hands, it’ll be by my blade.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Since sleep definitely wasn’t happening in the next few hours, I spent my time pacing in my chambers, feeling practically sick at the thought of what was to come. Even worse, I kept worrying a dillemsill would suddenly appear to demand that I venture to my uncle’s estate for another one of his assignments, which would only mean he was awake and expecting me. If that happened, Kole and I would never be able to sneak up on him, and we would have to refigure our plans.
But even though a dillemsill never came, my pacing didn’t relent.
It was only as the clock neared midnight that the flash of something by my wardrobe caught my attention. Light gleamed off a mirror, and with a start, I realized my father had made good on his promise to deliver his looking glass.
I picked it up. The small handheld mirror appeared entirely harmless, yet when its magic was activated, it not only created a link between two fae from across vast distances—if the recipient also held a looking glass—but it could also be used to record events that one wanted to remember.
Looking glasses were expensive, so not all fae owned them, but those that did often used them to not only communicate withothers, but to record special family gatherings or bear witness to something they wanted to prove. Such devices were also used in hearings at the Supernatural Courts.
My grip tightened around the looking glass’s smooth handle.Bear witness to something one wanted to prove.
My thoughts turned, and I slipped the looking glass into my pocket, just in case it was needed. With that, I eyed the clock, and in a blast of mistphasing magic, I left to join Kole.
The warrior was already waitingat the clock tower in the Baefim District. Not many fae were about, only a few walking along the intersecting streets since the hour was so late. I didn’t spot any kingsfae either, which was probably for the best. Kole’s aura was pounding with malevolent energy, and I had a feeling that would have garnered unwanted attention from his fellow law enforcers.
“You look positively excited about what’s to come,” I commented as Kole’s aura strummed higher. My attention swept over his attire. Battle gear covered him.
My eyebrows rose. “Armor? I’ve never seen you in that before.”
He shrugged. “I don’t often wear it, but since it’ll just be me, and I won’t have my fellow warrior brothers beside me, I took the extra precautions.” He grinned, and despite being used to his facial expressions now, the beauty of that gesture still made my chest tighten. “It’s not every day that a male gets to avenge his fated love. I’ve been looking forward to this all evening.”
A shrill laugh escaped me, and even though I now possessed vampire strength and speed, Kole was not someone I would everwant to face on the battlefield. The power streaming off him was practically brimming with malice.
The warrior stepped closer to me, and in the moonlight blazing across the galaxy from the three moons, his lips curved. At his back, his huge sword rose behind him. Several daggers were also strapped to his waist.
Unlike the warrior’s armor, I wore pants and a top that were easy to move in, my attire similar to what I’d worn when I’d been hunting the Wishing Stone. Not that I would be much help in a fight compared to what Kole was capable of, but I’d slipped blades into my boot and along my thigh, just in case my uncle had other fae in his employment who we weren’t aware of and if things took a turn for the worse.
“I suppose we should get going.” I eyed the sky. Stars sparkled everywhere.
Kole held out his hand, which I readily accepted. We’d already discussed that we would mistphase into the Wood just outside of my uncle’s estate, and since Kole had never been to Arnel’s estate before, I would be the one mistphasing us.
I called upon Matron Olsander’s instructions and untangled my magic, then my power rose up inside me, and the realm dropped out from beneath our feet.
We traveled through the kingdom in a blast of mist and shadows, air and wind. Only seconds later, we materialized among the trees. Kole and I immediately lowered ourselves. Leaves brushed against my cheeks, and through the foliage, my uncle’s estate was visible. So was the stone temple he’d erected within this forest.
I might not have been in Arnel’s castle long, but I’d seen enough of the second floor to know where he slept. And since no lights illuminated the library, his favorite area of study, I had a feeling he was already retired for the night.
I prayed with everything I had that we would be able to sneak in quickly and stealthily to encounter his sleeping form, and one slice from Kole’s blade would put any future nightmarish control from my uncle behind me.
“His boundary line is just ahead. Follow me.” I crept along the soil, Kole at my back. The moonlight barely pierced the canopy, but with my enhanced eyesight, I was able to see clearly.
When we reached the border, I stopped just shy of it. It was now or never. If Kole couldn’t get through the wards, we would have to come up with a different plan.
