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“It’ll be like a year from now,” Louis said. “Why wait?”

“Killian doesn’t want to get married too soon.”

Louis smirked knowingly. “Of course. He wants to fuck as many women as he can before he gets tied down.”

“Actually, he can’t,” Cade said. “I heard that she’s bonded him.”

Don’t worry, Sy offered, sensing my dark mood. We can still fuck him. We aren’t like others. Rules don’t apply to us.

Stop, Sy! I hissed inwardly. What kind of person are you, thinking like that?

One of a kind? she answered. I’m not a dreamer like you. I’m pragmatic.

I’m not a dreamer! I nearly yelled at her. We wouldn’t have survived this long if I’d been a dreamer!

Cool your tits, she said. You’re only upset because the chaos prince has other love interests.

Distracted by Sy, I missed out on a few key points the princes had discussed and caught the last question, “You think Queen Lilith is really his true mate?”

Cade shrugged. “Who knows. It doesn’t matter. Females still drool over him in droves. Who doesn’t want to taste forbidden fruit?”

“Fuck forbidden fruit if I ain’t it.” Louis yawned. “Can we not gossip about Killian all the time? That arrogant fucker doesn’t even bother to show his ass here anymore. Anyway, where is our good fae Rowan?”

Rowan must be the prince of the House of Fae. Cade, the redhead, must be the prince heir from the House of Mages. Silas was the heir from the House of Shifters. Louis seemed to get along with the mage prince just fine. From their body language, he and Silas weren’t each other’s fanboys. Vampires and shifters were natural enemies.

“Perhaps you should go out more often instead of indulging in blood orgies,” Silas offered, “then you’d hear the most current news.”

Louis glared at the shifter prince. “You have firsthand intel because you and your goons have been sniffing everywhere where your noses don’t belong.”

“Like your minions don’t sneak around my backyard,” Silas snorted.

“Guys, guys, let’s not get into another pissing match,” Cade said and lifted a hand to show the Hawaiian Aloha sign. “If one more war breaks out in the realm, we’ll all be done. There was a reason that the five of us grew up together. We should be bros. Well, here’s what happened with Rowan. A fae was murdered outside the Veil, probably a week ago. The body was found yesterday. Rowan has been leading the investigation.”

My heart skipped a beat.

It fit the timeline when I escaped the Shriekers. When I fled into Mist of Cinder, I hadn’t encountered anyone on the other side of the Veil. The Shriekers must have chased me to the portal, but they couldn’t see through the glamour. If they realized that there was a portal there and I’d gone through, Ruin would send an army to come after me, and the realm would no longer be safe since Ruin and his agents would eventually find a way to breach the Veil.

Icy fear sank its claw into my chest and seized my heart. My mouth suddenly felt as dry as the desert sand.

“What was a fae doing outside the Veil?” Louis frowned. “It’s been a backup door that no one has been allowed to use for centuries.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Cade said tensely. “There was a sighting of monsters in the forest outside the academy.”

I swallowed the bile at the back of my throat. I couldn’t allow the Shriekers to get in. I needed a plan.

I wiped cold sweat from my palms on my pants. Nothing could rile me up like Ruin and his Shriekers. It was a conditioned fear coming from a decade of being tormented and seeing no hope.

My heart was pounding wildly. Prince Louis would hear it, and I bet the shifter prince’s hearing was superior too. They’d turn their attention to me.

If I didn’t leave the scene now, I was going to bring suspicions my way.

“I need a bathroom break, like right now,” I whispered urgently to Gunnar.

I was courteous to inform him, but he didn’t seem to appreciate it, as he bared his fangs at me. I doubted he’d ever dealt with his fellow vampire sentinels needing to poop.

“Hold it in!” he ordered, as if it were a piece of cake.

He wasn’t even my direct superior, but he’d taken it upon himself to boss me around.