Silver Flame (Vampire Girl #3)(17)

There is a booming sound and the air rips open around us, revealing a new scene. It is the past, the recent past. It is me, in bed. Everything plays out as it happened, only I'm seeing it from an omniscient point of view.

The attacker shakes from fear, or maybe blood loss. Sly stalks over to him and pulls off his mask. He's a ruddy man with a bulbous nose and a mean mouth. No one I recognize. "Who sent you?"

"The Prince of Envy," he says without hesitation. He is clearly scared out of his mind. What kind of reputation does Sly have, I wonder? I fear I'm about to find out.

"Toward what end?" Sly asks.

"To kill her. Then capture him," he says, pointing to me then Fen.

"You know the penalty for harming anyone under my protection at The Black Lotus?"

The man lowers his head.

"They never learn," Sly says as he waves his wand.

Nothing happens for a moment, and the man looks almost relieved despite missing his hand.

But then…

Oh God.

I've never seen anything so awful.

The man screams again, and this time it's a gut-wrenching sound that tears out of his throat. His body begins to convulse, as his skin peels off bones and muscles essentially turning him inside out.

It seems an eternity before the man finally lays silent in a pool of his own insides.

I'm still standing in stunned shock as blood spreads across the hardwood floors, staining my bare feet red.

Sly puts his wand away and sighs. "I'll have another room prepared for you. Please accept my apologies. It's rare for anyone to risk my ire by breaking the rules, but it does happen on occasion. The Prince of Envy must be truly desperate."

"He doesn't like me very much," I say.

"Sounds like he likes you too much, but realizes he will never have you," Sly says.

"No, he covets me. There's a difference."

Sly nods. "You've spoken truly, Princess." Sly turns to Fen. "There will be no punishments levied against you since you were defending yourself and another guest."

Fen nods.

Then collapses to the floor unconscious.





Chapter 4


TAVIAN GRAY


Kayla Windhelm


"You cannot make too many enemies and still rule."

—Kayla



The messenger came early that morning, before our raiding party had risen from slumber, before we'd broken camp and headed out. It was a short note, sent from Levi—excuse me, Prince Levi—demanding we return. Saying we were needed for war. Saying Fen and Ari were scheduled to be executed—I mentally tick off the days, and my heart stops. Today. They are scheduled for execution at sunrise, today.

I look up into a sky just starting to lighten, casting long purple shadows into the twilight. I frown and chew a lip in frustration. There's no way I'll make it back in time. I'm at least two day's ride from Stonehill, and that's if I don't care if my steed survives or not.

I'm already too late. But I have to do something. I crumble the letter in my fist and look around for Salzar, snow crunching beneath my fur boots. He's not in his tent. I head to the rear of our party and find the section I know he'll be in.

Here, there are many awake. They belong to the night in their scantily clad costumes as they use all their charms to lure the desperate into their arms. I disturb a few outraged "couples" before I find him. He's laying there with his eyes closed as a young woman… services him.

I pull the girl off of him and toss the crumbled letter at his naked lap. "We've got to go back. Now. Ready the troops."

"It's the middle of the bloody night," he screams, spittle flying from his mouth as he scrambles for something to cover himself. "I'll do no such thing. Now get back to your tent, Mistress Kayla Windhelm. And remember your place. You're not a princess here."

"I was never a princess," I hiss. "And when I outrank you, it will not be because of my birth. It will be because I'm not a lecherous * with zero ability to lead a crowd of vampires to blood, let alone a troop to raid villages of Fae. This is dangerous work. Deadly. And they need someone who will protect them. Not someone like you. We leave tonight, with or without you."

I storm out, my heart pounding frantically in my chest. I can taste the rage on my lips, like it's a poison soaking through me. For the last fortnight I have suffered the abuse of this vile man in an effort to keep our troop undivided and effective. But I am done placating that ass.

What I do next can be considered treachery, turning on my superior. But I am the one following an order from a prince of hell, and Salzar is not.

The company bell stands in the middle of the sleeping quarters, and it rings throughout the makeshift village. Tired bodies pitch out of their tents to see what the emergency is.

I summarize quickly, then give my commands. "We leave now. Pack only what is necessary to make it to Stonehill safely. Leave everything else. We have no time."

Not all follow. Some are still more loyal to greed and rage than fairness and justice. But many—most—do. I release a long held breath. For all I knew, every soldier could have decided to stay with Salzar, decided to continue raiding village after village. It was easy work. Full of reward. I had gone on two raids myself, and though at first I was driven with thoughts of vengeance for Daison, they soon turned to thoughts of shame. These weren’t soldiers we were fighting, but innocent men, women and children who could barely hold a sword. I argued with Salzar to turn our attention to military strongholds. He said we didn’t have a force big enough. I think he grew too fond of the slaughter and spoils.