Page 46

KIAN

I made my way down the steep hill towards the camp below us, light on my feet. Meanwhile the shifters had transformed back into wolves, blending into the rocks and vegetation to keep hidden just in case the guards looked beyond the walls.

This world still baffled me at every new sensation. My hand grazed a plant that curled a leafy tendril around my finger in response. Flowers sighed—sighed—as we passed, releasing fragrant puffs of perfume in the air.

Even the dirt was different. Lighter and fluffier, which made walking barefoot almost seem appealing.

When we reached the small copse, Camden and Julian shifted back quickly and crouched down behind a large bush.

“Alright, so from us we just want to know where the alphas are, and if they have any information on Marlowe. Anything else you want to ask, about vamps or whatever, is completely up to you.”

“And if you hear any screaming…”

I started.

Julian winked. “I got you.”

I nodded, trying to psych myself up to sneak into this shifter prison run by fae. That was definitely not a sentence I’d ever thought I’d be able to say before.

But ever since my father called me into his office ten days ago, demanding I drink his blood, everything I’d known about my kind and shifters had been turned on its head.

I twisted the ring on my finger and sent a silent message of love to Aisha and Jasmin. Maybe we didn’t have telepathic bonds like shifters, but it was nice to pretend they might receive it, in some form or another.

Aisha was my Lunessa, and Jasmin my second, but they were both my everything. My father insisted I have a large servaglio like him, allowing for dalliances on the side, and loved to go on and on about how weak vampyrs were getting as we more closely followed human customs. But after discovering the truth about the Great War, it seemed like our powers had less to do with tradition and more to do with access to this place, our ancestral homeland.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that both shifters and vampyrs had begun to lose their magical abilities once we’d closed all the portals between our two realms. But not being able to fly was a small price to pay to escape genocide.

The real question now, though, was why the cover up? Why pit our two species against each other in the aftermath and erase the proof?

Summoning my shadows, I bathed myself in darkness, creeping closer and closer to the wall. It hummed with magic and touching it directly would likely either hurt me or trigger some sort of alarm. Even the plants gave the border a wide berth, so I kept my distance as I floated over, holding my breath.

As predicted, the guards were mainly focused on those inside the camp, so they didn’t even notice the black void landing along the inner edge.

An acrid smell assaulted my senses, a mixture of wet dog, burning wood, and something fouler—despair. I had to cover my nose to keep from coughing, sliding between dilapidated shacks in search of a spot hidden from the guards’ vantage points. Somewhere to wait until I could find a shifter willing to speak to me.

The cover of night was convenient for secrecy, but not so much for finding willing conversationalists. I had no idea what time it was here, or how they even measured time, but it must have been late, because it appeared that most people were sleeping. I could hear a few shifters still milling about, but hardly any walked alone or my way.

I would have to think of a new strategy.

Crouching low, still covered in shadow, I watched a male leave someone’s home, bidding him good night. He headed towards a collection of small, darkened huts. Given the various sizes of the broken-down homes I’d seen, it looked like the type of place assigned to those without families.

I followed him through the small pathways between buildings, ducking around a corner as he paused, sniffing the air curiously.

Shit. Shadows couldn’t mask my scent, and I was downwind. I held my breath and willed my heart to a slow, steady beat, counting to ten before I dared look to where he’d been.

Thank the Moon he hadn’t investigated further, and I continued following him until he entered and closed the door behind him.

No latch.

I waited another few seconds before I went in after him.

His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to scream, but I slammed my hand across it and whispered loudly with compulsion, “I’m not here to hurt you, I swear it. Please show me you understand and promise not to alert the guards.”

He breathed heavily and nodded, his eyes wide with fear. I slowly removed my hand, backing up and hitting the door behind me so he couldn’t try to run.

The small, one room hut was shabby but well kept, clearly taken care of by someone with pride. The few meager belongings all had a space, and the floor was swept and free of dust or debris.

The beta instinctively grabbed his throat. “Are you here to feed?”

I dismissed him casually with a wave of my hand. “No, I am here for answers.”

His head tilted quizzically, and I bit back my laugh. He reminded me of the Labrador I’d had as a kid. “Answers? To what?”

“Questions.”

I pointed to his chair. “Please, sit.”

He kept his eyes on me as he lowered himself, and I could see the pulse in his neck throbbing wildly. Poor male was terrified.

“Calm down,”

I compelled him. His eyes fluttered closed and with one deep breath, his heart rate began to slow.

“Wow,”

he replied, wiping a bead of sweat away from his temple. “Vampyr magic truly is powerful. What are you called?”

I puffed up my chest a little bit. Take that, Dad. “I’m Kian. And you are?”

“Albin.”

Clasping my hands in front of me, I told him of my origins, and the pack of alpha shifters I traveled with. He sniffed the air around me again and smiled.

“Oh yeah, five of them, right? They smell strong.”

I arched an eyebrow, surprised he could detect all that just from a whiff. Shifter noses were also quite impressive. “We need to know why there are no alphas in your camp.”

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was a bit on the greasy side, but I couldn’t exactly blame him.

“The Starborne snatch up the alpha and omega pups as soon as they’re designated, and then we never see them again. The alphas are all trained as soldiers.”

“Starborne?” I asked.

His head tilted again. “Yeah, Starborne. The fae like you.”

Now it was my turn to be confused. “I’m sorry, the vampyrs and shifters on our world have forgotten Vespera even exists, so I’ve never heard that term before.”

“Well,”

he held out one hand. “You’ve got your Verdanshades, which includes shifters like myself.”

Then he held out the other. “And the Starborne, like you and the king.”

I had so many questions, but those could wait til later if we had time.

“Thank you. So the alphas are taken as soldiers, but what about the omegas?”

He looked down. “They’re sent to, well, help keep the alphas calm, if you get my drift. A select few the king chooses as his concubines, though.”

From the little I knew about omegas, that seemed like torture for many reasons. Even having one in a servaglio, like Marlowe’s ex had intended, would have been disastrous. But a whole servaglio full of omegas? Moon, imagine them all going into heat at once…

“And you? What are you kept for?”

“Us?”

he asked. “The betas? We’re just labor, whatever His Majesty needs. In the summer months we work in the fields. In the winter, he sends us to the mines.”

What an awful existence. “And you are… happy?”

He burst out a biting laugh. “What the fuck do you think?”

My cheeks heated. I didn’t want to assume—maybe in this world, being a slave was a good thing? But no, that was stupid. “Have you heard of the new omega? The one who will be his queen?”

His laughter died down and his face became solemn. “He’s found them, then? The twins?”

I gave a quick nod.

At this he got up and started rooting around in a small cupboard. He grabbed a labelless bottle, removed the cork with his teeth, and produced two mismatched glasses, pouring a shot in both.

“Here, let’s have a toast,”

he said quietly, handing me a drink. It smelled like turpentine, but I wasn’t about to insult the man’s hospitality.

“A toast to what?”

He clinked his glass with mine, and poured the whole thing in his mouth, wincing and yelping at the burn.

“To the end of the world.”

I choked on the alcohol from a mix of the news and its taste. “I’m sorry, did you say the end of the world?”

He poured himself another shot, downing it quickly. “I did.”

Dawn’s light slowly hit the camp, and I needed to finish our conversation before my shadows couldn’t hide me anymore.

“Why? What’s going to happen?”

He collapsed back in his chair, holding his face in his hands and dropping the glass on the floor. It landed with a hard thud, but thankfully did not shatter. “You know the prophecy, don’t you?”

I’d memorized it before this journey, figuring it would be important, and recited it word for word. “…For their unity binds the realms in peace, or sunders them into eternal war.”

The beta looked at me expectantly. “I don’t have high hopes the king is all that interested in binding the worlds in peace.”

I didn’t really, either. “But isn’t that up to the twins?” I asked.

“With a king like Alaroth controlling them?”

he scoffed. “That male is a monster. He sweet-talked the pack leaders of old, telling them these camps were just supposed to be temporary lodgings for the Day of Designation, so they could search for the twins. But then he forced us all in here permanently, taking away our rights to shift and form packs.”

He pointed to a silver cuff welded on his wrist.

“Alaroth’s the one who killed all the vampyrs, too,”

he added, “when one of his favorite concubines left him to join a servaglio four hundred years ago.”

My throat became dry. “They’re all dead?”

He got up again and poured me another drink. “I’ve heard rumors that a few of them escaped and are still hiding in the mountains.”

He pointed towards a range I could barely make out through the cloudy glass of his window.

The sun had almost reached the horizon. I needed to leave before it got too light.

I quickly drank the second shot and handed him the glass with both of my hands, bobbing my head in thanks. “You’ve helped us tremendously. I need to get back to the alphas.”

“Wait, you still haven’t told me what you’re all doing here?”

With my hand on the doorknob, I turned around, my canines growing as I smiled.

“Well, I guess we’re going to save the wor—”

The door whipped open behind, a fae guard standing on the other side.