It felt like someone else was speaking as I continued to give the report. “The battle spilled out into the perimeter, but the foot soldiers secured the valley—to our knowledge, no infected escaped. A map of the realm was retrieved from the battle. It does not contain coordinates, but shows there are three more compounds in the realm. The angels will use it as their guide.”
“Good,” Dick said casually like we were talking about the weather. “Was there anything else on the map?”
He gestured at the screen, and the projection warped around his wrist and revealed a gold cuff, but when he went still, the skin on his wrist was bare.
Great, now I was seeing things.
“The map? Was there anything else on it?” Dick repeated with a harsher tone, and I realized he was waiting for me to answer.
I squinted.
There was a spot on the map that had been suspicious, but why would the High Court know that? And if they did, why would they ask about it like they didn’t have knowledge?
A tension migraine throbbed behind my eyes.
“Yes.” I chose my words carefully. “There are strange words written across the settlement located farthest north. It appears to be some type of foreign language.”
Dick’s expression remained blank as he ordered, “Scan the map on the tablet. We’ll have our linguists look into it.”
I pointed out, “It might be nothing, but there are Xs over the mountains outside the valley.”
Dick looked annoyed. “An artistic choice most likely. Let’s focus on strategizing in helpful ways.”
Agitation skittered down my spine at his dismissive tone.
“Yes, sir,” I said through gritted teeth as I lowered my head and stared at the floor.
Annoyance melted into exhaustion.
“Overall, this is excellent work.” Dick’s patronizing tone grated on my nerves. “It looks like you’re a fourth of the way done with winning the war. Congrats. Focus on eradicating the next three settlements and we will be done with the ungodly. Keep us updated on your progress.”
“Yes, sir!” we chorused.
The tablet turned off.
Lothaire frowned just before he disappeared.
Knox, the person who had found the map, carried it over to the tablet and scanned it over to the High Court.
John threw his arm across my shoulder, and I slumped against him grateful for his support.
“Finally, let’s all go eat. I’m starving.” Sadie rubbed her hands together and led the group out the door as the shifters fell into a protective formation around her.
The thought of food made me sick, but I followed her lead. It was the first time the angels didn’t bristle about a grounder telling them what to do.
They followed silently.
Everyone was withdrawn after the battle.
Time distorted.
Fatigue crushed me downward as I slumped at the table and stared at my full plate. My fork was frozen in ice and stuck to it.
The diamond bracelet on my wrist vibrated with warmth, and I barely felt it.
Conversation buzzed like white noise.
Everything was cool-toned, and I drowned in shades of blue-gray, shivering because there was no warmth.
I was a revenant.
All the lines had blurred.
Two days ago, I’d taken an enchanted sword to the stomach. One day ago, I’d woken up from a healing coma with smooth, unblemished skin and an unrelenting urge to cry.
Frost had covered my pillow. Five men had waited in various positions around my bedside.
The twins had hugged me, Malum had glared, and Scorpius had scoffed while Orion had stared at me with unblinking eyes.
I’d ignored the kings.
I still avoided them as I slumped forward at the table.
A woman’s sad eyes before she stabbed me had unlocked a new version of the haze.
I curled my arms around my stomach like I was protecting an invisible injury and I inhaled enchanted smoke, but my heart wasn’t in it as I twirled my pipe between my numb lips.
Someone swore softly, but I didn’t bother to look up.
Dejection was in the air.
Soldiers chatted and ate, but there was a new sullen tension in the cafeteria. Anticipation for war had twisted into gloom, and conversations were more hushed.
People startled easier.
Murdering thousands would do that.
Monsters had that effect.
Before the battle, we’d agreed to give everyone two weeks off to recover before the angels used the map to find the coordinates of the nearest compound.
In the meantime, a combat room was open to practice sparring, the cafeteria was open for meals, and the strategy room was waiting for us.
Just thinking about the windowless room made me sick.
I didn’t want to ruminate on the war because I needed time to pretend I wasn’t a killer. A part of me recognized there would never be enough time.
Muscles spasmed in my stomach as I remembered I was the last thing people saw before ungodly ripped them apart.
No.
Two weeks wasn’t enough.
To my right, Sadie rubbed circles on my back as she chatted with her mates about something.
To my left, John held my hand while Luka had his arm slung across his shoulder, his fingers playing with my curls.
Three points of contact.
Three people tethered me to reality, and without them I’d have floated away.
Across the table, Malum and Orion stared at me while Scorpius clenched his jaw with annoyance. Malum had his arms draped over both his mates protectively.
To test a theory, I held my breath.
Scorpius’s upper lip pulled back into a snarl as I watched three minutes pass on the clock.
I gasped for air, and the blind king slumped with relief.
He was listening.
Always.
I held my breath and started again because I had nothing better to do than torment men.
Time folded in on itself.
I blinked, and everyone was putting their trays away. The twins took my uneaten meal, and I looked up to find Jinx focused on me.
Black sunglasses blocked her eyes, but I still winced.
She sat with her shoulders back, ramrod straight, and there was something startlingly different about her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was she getting taller?
“We need to talk,” Jinx said coldly.
I looked down at the tabletop. “Talk.”
“As we’ve discussed, I’m your guardian. I was trying to speak to you during the battle, but our mental connection is—” She paused like she was searching for the right word. “—unreliable.”
Jinx’s voice in my head.
A monster.
The screams of the dying.
I stopped fighting.
An enchanted blade thrust into my stomach.
I shoved my chair back with a loud scrape. “We’ll talk later,” I lied and walked away.
A deserter’s retreat.
Cowardice was my favorite character trait. At least, that was what Mother had said after she’d kidnapped me from the shifter realm.
I shivered harder as John and Luka slung their arms over my shoulders and led me from the cafeteria, out into the chilly air.
Without their support, I never would have made it back to our barracks.
I would have collapsed among the trees and closed my eyes. I would have laid down on the fog-covered ground and let snow gather atop me. I would have— I was startled awake by someone shaking my shoulder.
It took me a second to process my surroundings.
It was nighttime, and the room was quiet as everyone slept. I was lying in my bunk bed, tucked under the covers. Wind howled aggressively outside, and it sounded like the flurries had become a snowstorm.