Page 27 of Brimstone

How thefuckwere we going to kill them?

Would there bemore?

I knew the same worries plagued Fisher. He did a beautiful job of hiding it, though. A part of me resented that we were playing this game of pretend, but what I’d just said was true. Wedidneed some kind of respite.

“Okay, then. If you’re sure—”

“Fisher!” I laughed. “Just open the door!”

He hid a smirk as he turned the handle and swung open the dining room door for me. I seized hold of the image, capturing it quickly; a smile from the Lord of Cahlish was a rare thing. I’d started capturing each moment it happened on an imaginary vellum, filing the memories away in my mind to keep forever. The sight of his upturned mouth and the tentative laughter in his eyes made a nice addition to my collection.

“I told them you were coming,” he confessed, the admission shyly made. Had I ever seen him like this before? Nope. It was unbearably sweet. There was no time to savor this new side of Fisher, though, because as soon as the door swung open, a wave of excitement and cheering exploded inside the dining room.

Renfis stood, raising a glass of whiskey in the air.

Te Léna and a handsome male with dark brown skin—her mate, I assumed—grinned, crying out their welcomes.

Joining them were Lorreth and Archer, Danya and Iseabail . . . . . . and over the top of the warm welcome came the excited squeal of a small white fox.

“Onyx!”

As soon as we’d arrived back at Cahlish, the fox had darted off—to go hunting, I’d assumed—but apparently he’d sneaked into the dining room before us and reacquainted himself with our friends. He leaped out of Iseabail’s lap and darted across the dining room in a streak of white and black. I barely had time to get my hands out in front of me before he launched himself into my arms and began licking my face and neck. “Oh—Oh my goodness. Hey, buddy. Hi, hi, hi. Yes, I’m happy to see you, too.” He chittered, squirming all over the place. Anyone would have thought he hadn’t seen me in a year.

Fisher made a show of looking grumpy about it, but there was that shadow of a smile again, hovering at the corners of his mouth as the little fox twisted in my arms and rained affection down on him as well.

“I should probably take him to Ballard,” Fisher said. “Wendy could look after him. Just until all of this blows over.”

I pretended to scowl at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Fisher winked surreptitiously, letting me know that he was joking. “Far be it from me to come between a female and her fox.”

It had only been a couple of days, but Onyx seemed completely recovered from his ordeal, crossing the mountain range and being chased by the feeders. His paws were fine. His coat was pure white, thick and full. The limp that had been troubling him was gone now, too. I buried my face in his fur and inhaled deeply, using the action to hide the fact that I was taking a moment.

This was a lot. I hadn’t expected to feel so overwhelmed. I looked up, beaming at my mate. “I didn’t realize this was such an official gathering.”

“Of course it is!” Ren cried. “The last time most of us saw you, we were shoving you up into a shadow gate in the library. Having you back here at Cahlish in one piece is something to be celebrated!”

Their expressions bore no animosity, but something squeezed unpleasantly in my chest. “In one piece” was a bit of a stretch. I wasn’t the same person I had been when Ren and Lorreth had shoved me through that shadow gate. Not even remotely. What was I to them now? Their friend? Theirenemy?

Fisher still loved me, but our souls had been bound by the gods. No matter what, we were fated to be together. There were no invisible ties binding me to any of the people before me. Lorreth, Ren, and Danya had spent centuries fighting against Malcolm’s horde. They’d lost scores of people, people they’d loved, in the pursuit of protecting Yvelia from the evil that inhabited Sanasroth. And now here I was, half vampire, half the thing they hated most in the world, and they were rushing to greet me.

I hadn’t had friends in Zilvaren. Friends were expensive. In the end, they always cost you. Your food. Your water. Your money. Your safety. Yourlife. Connections with others taxed your resources in a place like the Third, and I never had enough of anything to begin with. I’d told myself, when I’d woken up in Ammontraíeth and discovered what I’d become, that it didn’t matter to me if I lost the people in this room because of it. But now that they were all smiling warmly at me and coming forward to hug me, a part of me cracked and broke inside.

It would have mattered.

It would have mattereda lot.

Ren was first to hug me. It was his reaction I’d worried most about. He hadn’t come to visit me in Sanasroth like Lorreth had. When I’d asked Fisher if I should expect him, he’d apologized and said he’d left him in charge of Irrín and that he wasn’t able to leave the camp, but I’d seen through his reasoning. I’d known it for what it was: an excuse. I hadn’t pushed, though. I hadn’t wanted to have my suspicions confirmed. But there was no disgust or fear on the general’s face as he drew me to him tight. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you,” he said into my hair.

“All right, that’s enough,” Fisher grumbled.

Renfis pulled back, laughing. “I’m not going to say it outright, but you know how you’re behaving, right?” he said.

Fisher made a show of scowling, but he shoved his friend playfully. Lorreth threw his arm around my shoulder, which didn’t seem to make Fisher any happier, but he bore his brothers showing their affection for me withsomegrace, at least. Lorreth’s grin fell when Iseabail, the auburn-haired witch, stepped forward to greet me. He muttered something about treacherous blood, and when she reached out to take my hand in hers, he made a sound of disgust and retracted his arm, stalking away to take his seat at the dining table.

“It’s nice to meet again under less stressful circumstances,” she said, in her lilting cadence. Now that I came to think about it, her accent was fairly similar to Renfis’s. I would have to ask him if they hailed from the same part of Yvelia. The witch was stunning in a loose, dark blue blouse; a leather belt; and a long, flowing black skirt that swirled around her heeled boots. Her thick, wavy hair was unbound and red as a blazing sunset. “I hope you don’t mind that I’ve invaded your welcome-back dinner? Te Léna invited me. I would have returned home a week ago, but I’ve been put to work here. I’m surprised to find that I’m enjoying some time away from the clan.”

She spoke as if she was overstaying her welcome in my home. Cahlish wasKingfisher’sancestral seat. It had been in his family for as long as it had stood. It was strange to have anyone act as if it belonged to me. It didn’t. Or . . . sinners, maybe it did now? Just a little bit. It was all so confusing. Fuck, I hadn’t hadnearlyenough time to wrap my head around all of this.