After I helped Skylar, I’d have to find a new lead to follow. There wasn’t anything I could do about losing Vincent’s information now. I would have killed him after he talked anyway. Even if the Queen hadn’t given me the authority to execute these monsters, I’d probably take them out either way. I suspected that’s why she agreed to work with me.
While I didn’t need the Queen’s permission, it made my work easier and provided resources like this room. I was in her territory and in her realm. I could get by on my own just fine, but I avoided political tension by playing the game mostly by her rules.
Time passed quickly in the dark as I went over my case in my head. There was another lead I could follow as soon as I finished helping Skylar.
Skylar whined in her sleep, a scared little moan that made me think she was having a bad dream. I peeked at my watch. We’d been here about three hours. I was hoping she’d get a few more hours before she woke.
I wondered if she’d sleep through whatever her nightmares were. I could see well enough in the dark to make out her silver hair fanned out on the pillow. Her eyes were closed and her soft, full lips were parted.
She cried again, the sound enough to make my heart ache. She was still asleep, but I didn’t like the idea of her being afraid, even in her sleep. That overwhelming urge to protect her still roared to life inside me, even though I knew I couldn’t do anything to keep her safe in her dreams.
I walked over to the other bed and pulled the top blanket from it. Maybe she was cold. I threw the blanket over Skylar and then sat back down.
It was quiet for a while, then Skylar’s noises returned. Soft at first, little muted cries. But as they grew increasingly louder, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge.
Something wasn’t right.
Quickly, I moved to Skylar’s side and gently shook her awake. “Skylar, wake up.”
She sat up with a gasp, her eyes bursting open. She looked wild and terrified.
“What is it?” I asked.
She looked around for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out where she was or what had happened. Then she turned to me. “Someone’s here.”
“That’s impossible, nobody should be able to find us here,” I said.
“Unless they’re tracking your car,” she said. “We didn’t exactly try to cover our tracks.”
I had been so caught up with following the breadcrumbs of Lola’s case, that I didn’t stop to think about the details and I’d made a rookie mistake. “We should go.”
“They’re outside,” Skylar said.
“How could you know that?” I asked.
“I can feel magic,” she said. “Even through these wards.”
I didn’t have time to question her. I knew she had talents beyond what she should. “What else can you feel?”
She tossed the blankets aside and tiptoed in her socks over to the door. Reaching out her hands, she stood in silence for a moment before padding back over to me. “There’s at least three of them out there. I can feel two shifters and a third that has a strange signature.” She stopped in front of her boots and stepped into them one at a time. Then she froze.
“What is it?” I could sense the fear rising in her. I couldn’t feel magic the way she could, but I could feel her emotional shifts. I hadn’t felt a spike of fear like this from her since she ran from me. “You’re not going to run again, are you?”
She looked up at me and I could make out the serious expression on her face even in the dark. “That third person feels a lot like how you feel. I don’t know what that means because I don’t know what you are but I sure as hell don’t want to come across another one of you.”
I tensed. There was only one other being with magic like mine who’d be anywhere near me. And he was supposed to be dead.Fuck. This wasn’t about Lola. The creatures waiting for us on the other side of that ward were here for me.
“We don’t have much time,” I said. “They’re not here for you. These guys are here for me and we can’t beat them.”
“Well, that sounds promising,” she hissed.
“I have a plan and if we’re lucky, it just might get us out of this alive,” I said.