The strength of Irina’s response would give Lorelai valuable information about the queen’s current state of health. Information that would help the princess decide if she should continue attacks from outside the capital or make her move against the castle itself.
It’s a good plan, Kol said as she glanced out the window and considered her options, but maybe you should eat first. Rest a little.
Every second I rest is a second I give Irina to rest too.
True. But you had dragon’s fire inside you today. And you barely slept last night. He held up a hand when she turned on him, her thoughts blazing into his mind. I’m not saying I don’t trust you to know what you’re capable of doing. I’m just saying maybe some beans would be a good idea. Not just for your sake but for Gabril’s. Whatever you do tonight, all of us have to be ready to respond.
He was right. It had been a long, hard day for all of them, and if she provoked a response from Irina now, they would have to fight. They would have to run.
They had a much better chance of surviving if they’d eaten and rested for a while.
I admire the way you think. Kol smiled at her as he stacked the extra wood he’d gathered beside the fireplace and took a seat at the rickety kitchen table.
She gave him a look as she took a chair for herself. What is that supposed to mean?
He raised a brow as Gabril set the pot of beans down in the center of the table. Are you always suspicious of compliments? I meant that I like the way you constantly analyze the situation, decide on a course of action that makes the most sense to you, and then just . . . do it. You want to go after Irina now, and if you had no one but yourself to consider, you would. But you don’t do what’s best for you. You do what’s best for those you’re trying to protect.
So you’re saying you and I are alike. Minus the fact that I’ve yet to try to kill you.
And I’ve yet to call you fetching,
And I’d never lock my headmaster in his toilet closet.
And I don’t have magic. But otherwise, yes. We are a lot alike. He grinned at her, and she smiled back until Gabril slapped a spoon against the table.
“Mind telling me what’s so funny?” he asked as he spooned beans onto their plates.
“Nothing.” Lorelai avoided looking at Kol.
“Then if nothing is funny, you two can stop grinning at each other like village idiots and start eating your dinner. I imagine tomorrow will be another difficult day.”
And here I thought I was winning him over.
It would be easier if he could see into your thoughts like I can.
Oh, skies, no. That would be a disaster. A flurry of images raced through his head—Kol kissing girls in spacious bronze hallways, the wound his father’s disappointment had left in him, and the night he’d stared at Lorelai’s face while she was asleep. Lorelai’s cheeks warmed as he said, Don’t look at those.
Gabril gave them a look that said he knew something was going on and was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Lorelai shoved a spoonful of beans into her mouth. They were hot and tasteless. She swallowed quickly, and said, “Actually, I want to destroy the communication towers tonight. I can use the ground here to get to the ones in the capital and the surrounding area. Irina’s response will tell us a lot about her current state of health, and it will help me decide if I should enter the capital tomorrow or keep battling her from afar for a few more days.”
Gabril looked from her to Kol and back again before saying, “That’s a good idea. How much rest do you want to take before we leave the shack and try it?”
She almost asked how much rest he needed, but swallowed the words before they could pass her lips. He’d tell her he didn’t need any, and she wasn’t going to argue with him.
“A few hours,” she said, though the restless energy that filled her sent magic to her palms and made it hard to sit still.
Gabril nodded and kept a close eye on the two of them as they finished their dinner and spread their bedrolls out on the cots that lined the shack’s western wall.
Three hours later, Lorelai was surprised to find that she’d slept, and that she felt more focused as a result. She pulled on her boots, braided her hair, and shrugged into one of Leo’s thick sweaters—the closest thing she had to winter wear since she’d lost her coat in Nordenberg.
The sweater smelled like campfires and mountain air. She hugged her arms across her chest and imagined what Leo would say if he was with her.
He’d tell her they needed costumes before they entered the capital.
And that she needed to prepare a thunderous oration—heaven forbid he call it a simple speech—to deliver once she saw Irina.
And he’d laugh at the risk they were taking, a reckless gleam in his eyes as he stood beside her no matter what.
Her throat ached, and pressure built behind her eyes. For years she’d trained incessantly with one goal—to overthrow Irina and retake the throne. She’d never imagined doing it without Leo.