Page 33 of Queen of the Crimson Throne (Queen of Blood and Stardust #2)

33

LENNOX

“Where are you going?”

Luka’s voice from behind stopped me, my foot stilling mid-air on the stairs. I cringed, my hopes of escaping the palace walls quickly dissipating.

“Nowhere.”

Luka’s steps moved closer. “Dressed in your leathers? I have a hard time believing that.”

Fuck, I was screwed now. I had been able to avoid Luka for the last day after the ball, having kept to my room, but I was going stir-crazy. I had too much energy built up that I needed to get out. I had planned on wandering around the city looking for any signs of the Vanir. If I happened to shed some blood while I was exploring it would be an unexpected bonus.

“Tell me where you’re going, Lennox.”

I thought I’d be able to sneak out undetected, but it appears I was wrong. I took a deep breath, still refusing to turn around and face him. “There’s no way you’re letting me get out of here alone, are you?”

“Nope, not unless you’re going to your room, which happens to be in the opposite direction.” I finally let myself turn around, keeping my gaze on the ground instead of the vampire before me in an attempt to keep everything he had said to me at the ball out of my mind. I was trying to get out of here to distract myself from those thoughts in the first place. And now here he was.

“I was going out to explore Cel Nox this evening. I haven’t had a chance to explore the city much.” The lie rolled off my tongue easily. It was a partial truth after all.

“I’m sure you won’t mind if I join you, I can be your tour guide.”

I gave him a fake smile. “I would love that,” I bit out.

He sighed. “Don’t lie to me, Lennox. If you’re going to get yourself into trouble, I’d like to be there to help you if I can.” His tone turned serious.

“You sure you can handle me all by yourself?” I knocked my elbow against his.

He put his hand to his heart dramatically. “You wound me, Lennox. You know perfectly well how well I can handle you alone. Or do you need a reminder?”

“No.” I stammered. Fuck. One of his infuriating smirks pulled at the corners of his mouth. I needed to get out of here. Away from him .

“But I like what you’re thinking, Sweetheart, let’s see what Nico and Declan are up to. Maybe they want to come along.” Well, there goes my plans. There’s no way I’d accomplish my goals with those two in tow. “And Luce and Kara are still here for another couple of days, aren’t they? Maybe they’d want to join us, too.”

“The more the merrier,” I said with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.

A while later the entire gang was gathered at the front door, cloaks slung over our shoulders as we exited the palace. It hadn’t taken long to convince everyone to join us according to Luka. It looked like we were truly going to have a night out.

“Where are we headed?” Nico’s arms were slung over mine and Luce’s shoulders as we walked.

“I was thinking of going to Yalla. They have decent ale and there’s sure to be some kind of entertainment,” Luka offered.

“To Yalla, we go!” Nico bellowed, earning a laugh from the group.

My leathers kept the chill away on the long walk to the tavern, but I welcomed the heat of Nico’s arm on my shoulder, the wolf was practically a living furnace.

When we finally arrived at Yalla, the tavern was packed. There didn’t appear to be an empty table in sight, the tavern was bustling with people talking, dancing, drinking, and indulging in whatever they desired.

Nico and Luce volunteered to grab us all a round of drinks while the rest of us searched for a table, finally settling for a rounded booth in the far corner.

We all squished in around the horseshoe-shaped table. Somehow I ended up between Nico and Luka.

I tried my best to ignore the feeling of Luka’s thigh pressed up against mine as we passed the ale around the table.

I wished it was something far stronger.

“So, Lennox, what made you want to come out tonight?” There was a mischievous twinkle in Luce’s eye.

“I wanted to explore the city, that's all.” I took a sip of my drink.

“C'mon, L,” Nico elbowed me in the side, “we all know that’s a lie.” I was not about to reveal my intention to spend the evening hunting Vanir in a crowded Cel Nox bar crawling with vampires.

“You’re right, I wanted some piss-poor ale,” I said instead.

Nico barked out a laugh but held up his glass to mine. “Cheers to that.”

We all laughed, but it was lined with tension.

“I know what she was up to.” Kara sipped innocently from her drink.

I kicked her under the table. “Ow!” My sister threw me a dirty look.

All eyes turned in my direction. “How does she know what you were planning?” Luce demanded.

I threw Kara a pleading look, begging her not to give me away… I knew not including her initially would come back to bite me in the ass.

“Because she was doing the same thing back home up until the night she left. I figured it was only a matter of time before she continued her hunting here.”

“Hunting?” There was a steely undercurrent to Luka’s voice that made me sit up straight.

“This is not the place to discuss this,” I seethed, lowering my voice. “There are too many prying ears.”

“Well, that’s an easy fix.” With the snap of her fingers, I felt Luce’s magic washing over me, sealing our voices in her bubble. “Now talk, Lennox.”

“Fine.” I knew they wouldn’t drop it. “I’ve been hunting Vanir in my spare time.”

The table stilled. “You’ve been doing what?” Declan’s voice was lined with icy rage.

“By yourself?” Luka asked quietly.

“Yes, by myself!” I snapped. I looked at him, surprised to find his face etched with concern.

“How’d you find them?” Declan pressed.

I took another sip of my drink. “I blended in. I listened. Earned contacts. When they were least expecting it I killed them when they outlived their usefulness.”

“Impressive.” Nico leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“Did you ever gain any significant information from them?” Declan asked.

“No,” I let my frustration leak into my voice. “None of them knew anything I didn’t already know. So all I accomplished was ridding my city of their filth.”

“Vicious creature,” Luka mumbled.

“So that’s what you were planning to do tonight? Hunt down Vanir?” Declan pressed. I could see the cogs turning in his brain as he took it all in.

“Caspian told us they are all over the city and I figured they might have more information than any I came across in Alethens. And when I get stir crazy, I like to shed blood.”

Luka shuttered beside me. His hand balled into a fist on his thigh.

“And you were going to go have all the fun without us, Sweetheart?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to be included.”

“Did you forget watching you draw blood is one of my favorite pastimes?” I let my eyes meet his, the fire in his blue gaze sending a shiver through me.

“I mean I don’t share the same fucked up sentiments as Luka, but I also love a good fight,” Nico added, but I didn’t take my gaze from Luka’s. He would truly follow me anywhere, wouldn’t he? And he didn’t say he’d try to stop me—I finally tore my gaze away from his, turning my attention back to the rest of the group.

“Well how about this, we enjoy our fun night tonight, but another night we can all go out and hunt Vanir together,” Nico proposed.

“Sounds like fun to me” Luce sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Planning murder with three of the monarchs of our continent, can’t say that’s anything I ever imagined I’d participated in,” Declan muttered before finishing off his ale.

Luka raised a brow at me. “You in, Sweetheart?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

Luka looked at me, placing a hand on my thigh as he did, his face serious as he spoke. “You always have a choice, Lennox.”

“If we’re going to be bathed in blood, I guess we might as well be bathed in blood together,” I said in return.

The table erupted in cheers as they raised their glasses, signaling a toast. I tried and failed to hide my growing smile as I clinked my glass with theirs.

What a bunch of fucked up idiots we were.

The ale never stopped flowing as we all sat around the table.

As we sat, talked, and laughed, I realized I didn’t think I’d ever had a group of friends. I had my siblings and Luce growing up—and they were who I spent the majority of my time with. But they were my family—not friends I made outside of the palace. I didn’t have any friends outside the palace walls. Not unless barmen counted.

I had acquaintances. I participated in idle chit-chat with visiting males and females, but once we returned to our perspective homes we didn’t talk to one another. We did our duty and returned to our perspective lives. And it wasn’t on them. It was on me too. I didn’t try to pursue those relationships—or any relationships. Platonic or romantic. Any romantic relationship I pursued ended before they or I could get attached.

Maybe my issues were more deep-rooted than I had thought.

I had never felt left out—I had never craved those relationships since I had my siblings.

But now, after sitting around this table tonight laughing and drinking with my friends—I thought for the first time I might have been missing out on something all this time.

These people—they all knew me to various degrees—and yet they were still here. They knew me and still wanted to be my friend and spend time with me.

They would follow me into darkened allies and kill the enemy without question.

Who did that?

Friends, I guess.

“Let’s play a game,” Nico suggested as Luka appeared with another round of drinks. This time another tray of shots along with our ale.

“What game?” Kara finished off her glass and reached for another.

“It has to be something simple,” Declan amended. “None of you have the wherewithal for anything else right now.”

I laughed. He had a point, I didn’t think any of us could handle anything too serious right now. Declan on the other hand had hardly touched his second drink.

“Hey.” Kara shoved him slightly. “Are you saying I’ve had too much to drink?”

“No. But if I take your money in this situation it would feel like stealing.”

“Let’s bet on something else,” Luce suggested. “We play a simple game of whoever has the highest card wins and the lowest card loses. If you lose the draw you either have to answer a question from the winner of the round or take a shot.”

“I’m in,” Nico said immediately, shuffling the cards before placing one in front of each of us, not giving us a chance to argue.

I picked up my card. A six. Not too bad, but not enough to make me feel comfortable about my odds.

“Flip your cards in three, two, one…”

We all flipped our cards and I looked around the table eagerly.

“Dammit,” Nico swore while Luce clapped eagerly. “Looks like I get to ask you a question.”

Nico leaned back. “Bring it on, Lucy.”

Luce debated for a minute before asking her question, “What’s hidden in your bedside table? ”

Nico’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open. “How do you know about that?”

Luce grinned widely. “I walked in on you one morning and you were in an awful big rush to hide whatever’s in there from me.”

We all looked at Nico expectantly. “You’re no longer my favorite.” He pointed a finger at Luce. “But I am no quitter. So if you all must know, I sleep with a stuffed wolf every night, that’s what I was hiding in my drawer.”

Luka choked on his drink as I failed to stifle a laugh. “How is this the first I’m hearing of this?”

“Awe, how cute,” Declan added, a small smirk pulling up one side of his mouth.

“Adorable,” Kara cooed.

“One question. That was the rule.” Nico picked up a shot and drained it. “If you want another you’ll have to earn it.”

“Fine.” Luka picked up the cards, shuffling them before dealing out another round.

We all flipped our cards again, this time Kara was the winner.

Kara looked around the table assessing until they landed on Luka’s two placed in front of him. “Luka.” Her smile was vicious, one borrowed from my own book. “Have you ever been in love?”

The table quieted. Apparently we weren’t playing around.

“Yes.” He said without hesitation. His gaze locked with mine. “Once,” he admitted.

The breath in my lungs stilled as we continued to stare at one another.

Nico coughed into his arm. “Next round.”

Kara dealt the cards again.

“Fuck.” I laid down my three and looked around the table. Declan smirked at me, his card displaying a twelve flipped in front of him.

“Lennox, what’s something you regret? ”

Did I have regrets?

I wasn’t one that regretted much. Everything happens for a reason. My eyes itched to look towards Luka.

He might have been my biggest regret. Letting him go. Refusing to let him back in.

I reached for a shot. Not hesitating before I slung back the alcohol. It burned as it went down. Almost as much as the regret of not answering the question.

I guess I had plenty of regrets now.

I ignored everyone’s stares as I set the glass back on the table, harder than necessary.

“Next round.” I shuffled the cards.

Luce won again.

“Nico, have you ever had more than one partner at the same time?”

He smiled like a wolf. “On several occasions.” He leaned forward, taking one of Luce’s braids between his fingers. “But if you want to know about my sexual exploits all you had to do was ask, Lucy.”

She swatted at his hand and leaned away. “It’s only a game, Nico, don’t work your pretty little brain too hard.”

“You think I’m pretty.” He beamed.

“I think it’s time to go,” Delcan declared.

“Yeah if we stay too much longer we might see one of Nico’s sexual exploits,” Kara remarked.

“Kara!” Luce screeched.

“What?” My sister shrugged. “I’m only saying if you two are going to fuck, I’d rather it not be on this table in front of us.”

“Little Kara Adair.” Nico beamed at her before placing a hand on each of her cheeks. “I love you.” He planted a kiss on her forehead and let her go.

“Okay, now we really need to get out of here.” Luka took me by the elbow and led me toward the door. “When Nico gets like this there’s no predicting what’s going to happen. ”

I let out a small laugh. “I have to admit, I kind of want to see what might happen.”

“There will be plenty more opportunities for that, Sweetheart. I promise.” I looked over my shoulder to see if the rest were following. I laughed at the sight of Declan herding them toward the door like animals.

My head was feeling light, I was buzzing—we all were. Turns out shedding blood wasn’t the only thing that could ease my tensions.

I had fun tonight, we all had.

Nico walked in front of me now, his arms slung loosely over Luce and Kara’s shoulders while Declan walked beside them.

Luka and I fell behind. Both of us shaking our heads at Nico as he sang an out-of-tune song as he swung between Luce and Kara.

“Has he always been like that?”

“Loud? Obnoxious?” Luka offered.

“I was going to say happy, but those work too.”

Luka sighed. “He’s been like this to a degree, but don’t let him fool you. Nico has a lot going on you don’t know about. That even I don’t fully know about. He uses his personality to distract others—to distract himself from what’s going on inside.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I can understand that,” I mumbled.

“I bet you wish you had more of a sunshine disposition to hide your feelings?” Luka nudged me with his elbow.

“Hey.” I nudged him right back. “Not everyone is meant to be sunshine and rainbows.”

“I know. You know how much I love your vicious, angry side.”

“Oh, I know.”

His hand brushed against mine, sending my nerves tingling up my arm.

“Luka—”

A crash came from the alley beside us, sending us all careening. Luka’s hand pressed against the small of my back as my hand closed around my blade.

“What was that?” Declan’s voice was serious as he approached the alley—hand rested on the daggers sheathed at his side.

“The last time I was in an alley it didn’t end well.” Luka moved his hand from my back and reached for his sword.

“You don’t think it’s one of those creatures do you?” Kara’s brows pulled together.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Nico took a step into the dark alley.

“You can’t be serious?” Luce stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“What? Are you scared, Lucy?”

She scoffed. “Not scared—I have a sense of self-preservation, unlike someone.” She swatted him on the back of the head. “We’re not heavily armed and you’re drunk. If it is one of those creatures Luka saw before, we’re not properly prepared.”

“She’s right,” Luka spoke up. “Those creatures were deadly. Kara, do you even have a dagger on you?”

“Of course I do—I am an Adair after all.” She pulled two knives from beneath her dress. “But unlike Lennox, I don’t love fighting if I can avoid it.”

“We should go,” I said quietly.

I hated running from a fight, but they had a point. I wouldn’t risk others because I didn’t want to back down from a fight. If it was a Vanir, I would be confident we could take them, but whatever was in that alley felt wrong. Every instinct made me believe it was the creature Luka had encountered.

Another sound came from the alley, like nails scraping on the stones, drawing our attention back as a shadow emerged .

“We might not have much of a choice, now,” Luka muttered, his hand flexing on his sword.

The creature crawled closer, its feet scraping on the ground. Red eyes glowed from the darkness.

“Run,” Luka gasped. “It’s one of them.” He grabbed my arm, attempting to pull me away, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the creature. It was massive, walking on two legs, but looking far from normal. A low growl fell from its mouth, revealing its foot-long canines, dripping with blood.

“Lennox.” Luka was pulling me along now. “What are you doing? RUN!”

The creature lept, its massive, razor-sharp claws swiping for the air I had occupied a moment ago. That I would have still occupied if Luka hadn’t pulled me out of the way.

We ran down the street as the creature chased us, I looked over my shoulder to find two more creatures emerging from the alley and taking chase.

“Fuck! There’s more.” Luka looked back. “If we keep running they’re going to find someone else in the city to terrorize.”

“You’re right.” I agreed. The rest of our group was already far ahead of us.

Good.

Hopefully, they were safe. Luka and I could handle these creatures alone.

“You ready for a fight, Sweetheart?”

I tore my sword from its sheath, its whine echoing through the street as I stopped and turned toward the approaching monsters.

“Always.”