“Are you calling the Highland Reckoning a liar?”
I drew myself up straight. “I suppose I am.”
“Fine. You’re right. It’s creme brulee.”
“French? How shocking.”
“It’s actually English in origin. Created in Cambridge but given a French name because it sounded better. You’ve never had it?”
I shook my head.
“One more question.”
“You seem awfully chatty,” I observed.
“I’d like to get to know you. I’d like to get to know the woman who saved my sister’s life. Is that so unreasonable?”
He had me there. “I guess not,” I mumbled.
“What’s with you and animals?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He gave me an appraising look. “I think you do. The raven. The dragon. You shouldn’t be embarrassed by it. It’s an enviable skill. House Lewis could’ve used you during the latest werewolf uprising.”
My pulse sped up. “There was a werewolf uprising?”
“It was a joke. The wolves are well in hand.”
I wondered whether the wolf pack would agree.
“Is it magic?”
His question took me off-guard. “You think animals can only like me if magic is involved?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never seen anyone have the effect you do. I find it fascinating.” He paused. “I find you fascinating.”
I suppressed all possible responses.
He hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me close. The move was so unexpected that a gasp escaped me.
Even if I wanted to kiss him, I couldn’t. It would be a betrayal of my species. There was also the vague worry that plagued me whenever I killed a vampire—that I might have just murdered a half-sibling without knowing it. It didn’t stop me from doing what was necessary, but the thought was always in the back of my mind. As unlikely as it was that my mother had once knocked boots with Glendon, the Highland king, I couldn’t wholly dismiss the possibility.
My response delighted him. “I take your breath away? Nice to know.”
Callan’s face was so smug right now. It took all my strength not to punch it.
“I’ll take your breath away if you don’t let go of me right now.”
He laughed and released me. “I wish this weren’t so serious. Otherwise I’d be having fun.”
“I think you’re managing to sneak a few chuckles in despite the looming terror.”
A low growl emanated from him. “The looming terror is us.”
A lump formed in my throat. I was glad to be fighting beside him and not opposite him, that was for damn sure.
He looked at me again and the hardness melted away. “We’re about to ride into battle. Any last words?”
There was a momentary pause. “Grab a weapon, Your Highness. You’re going to need it.”
18
Given its location at the northwestern corner of the city, Westerham Heights wasn’t easily accessible. I rode at the front of the top deck of a red double-decker bus that Callan had commandeered. It wasn’t often that the entire banner traveled anywhere together. Fuel was expensive and we didn’t have a suitable mode of transport. Enter one royal vampire with a fierce snarl and we were all set for the night.
The wind blew back my hair as I stared ahead at the black horizon.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” I yelled.
“It’s a bus not a race car,” Callan said. “Relax, we’re nearly there. We’ll get there in time.”
Maybe so, but it wasn’t a matter of being punctual. We actually had to stop him from completing the ritual.
I climbed down the spiral staircase. “Close enough,” I called. I didn’t want to tip off Dashiell that we knew the location. Let him be complacent.
Stevie parked the bus on the side of a dark stretch of road and we filed out with our weapons in hand.
“Sneak attack, my favorite,” Kami said, smiling like a lunatic. Everybody had at least one crazy friend and Kami was mine.
“I thought this would be a steep climb,” Neera said. “This hill is barely perceptible.”
“It’s the highest point in the city,” I said. “It serves the druid’s purpose.”
“I’m disappointed,” Ione said.
Kami groaned. “Fine. Next time we’ll dump you off at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. Have fun with that.”
“Mount Kilimanjaro doesn’t exist anymore,” Ione pointed out. Some mountains failed to survive the Great Eruption.
I shushed the group as we approached a flickering light where no light should be. “He’s there.”
We crept low until we arrived at a clearing. Dashiell was crouched on the ground creating a stone circle. I gripped Callan’s arm when I spotted the stone in the center of the circle. The vampire nodded in acknowledgment.
“Looks like he found a replacement for Davina,” the prince said in a low voice.
I was so intent on locating the stone that I missed the pyre Dashiell had built in the background. I also missed the familiar woman tied to it.
I sucked in a breath at the sight of Mona.
The bastard had taken my landlord?
How? When?
There was no time like the present. Every minute that ticked by was one minute closer to the New Moon.
I charged ahead. “What did you do?” I yelled. “Go to my flat and kidnap the first person you found?”
Dashiell rose to his feet and smiled as though he’d been expecting guests and wanted to welcome them to his party.
“I went looking for you, yes. I thought it would be fitting if you took the place of the princess. An expression of gratitude for your interference.”
“Such manners,” Mona said from the pyre, plainly besotted.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing yet. Miss Mona was kind enough to let me in the building. You weren’t there, of course. We started chatting and discovered common ground.”
“And you decided she’d be peachy keen with being your victim?”
“She volunteered,” Dashiell said. “You’d be surprised how many are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.”
“I don’t see you with your hand up,” I said.
Mona looked directly at me. “If it means the return of the sun and the end of vampire rule, then it’s worth my life. It’s worth a million lives.”