A Rip of Realms (A Shade of Vampire #39)(9)

“I will take all points into account, and reach a decision this evening. In the meantime, I want everyone available to research the nature of these stones—I want to know exactly what the jinn locked in them.”

At his announcement, I looked over at Caleb. His expression was one of sheer frustration. I knew exactly how he felt – we’d gotten so close to opening the portal, and now we had to wait even longer for a final decision to be made. I could only hope that whatever we found out about the stones, Dad would still put his family first.





Hazel





Syphoning off the minister was strange. It felt weirdly intimate to me—I had never even had a conversation with the woman who offered up her energy, yet she had borne the pain of my unpracticed mind-suck without complaint. We sat side by side on the outskirts of the castle when I had finished, both looking out over the collapsed trees of the forest that faced the castle.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “That must have been…unpleasant.”

She turned to face me, her hair half-falling out of a bun and a large slash across her face that looked as if it had only recently stopped bleeding.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve had children, it was much the same with them when they were first born. You will learn, in time, how to control it.”

“Where are your children now?” I asked, hoping that they weren’t among the sentries still trapped inside the castle.

“They moved to the kingdoms of Memenion and Hadalix long ago,” she replied. “I hope they are safe now…I suppose I can only wait and see.”

It seemed quite a measured, rational response from a mother, but then sentries—and especially ministers—had always seemed cold to me. Their parenting practices were more hands off than was the norm where I came from.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” I smiled weakly.

“As am I.”

They felt like empty words to offer, but I didn’t know what else to say. I leaned back against the rock behind me, grateful for the energy that I could feel coursing through me, but also trying to calm some of it down—I felt like I’d just drunk about ten espressos at once, and it made me kind of jittery. I started drumming my fingers against my legs.

The minister smirked.

“You will also learn how much you need to take. I suspect your body has a surplus right now…it will fade, eventually.”

I grimaced at her, embarrassed that she’d noticed.

“Sorry again.”

“Don’t be.” She shrugged. “Really. I suppose we will all need to be of service to one another in the days ahead. Perhaps it is time that we ministers were of genuine use.” She lowered her head, staring at the ground.

“Excuse me,” she continued after a moment, “I need to speak with someone.”

The woman rose to her feet and smiled briefly at me. I watched her walk away in surprise. Perhaps the devastation of Nevertide was the one thing that might bring about its salvation. If all the ministers were like her, and had begun to realize the error of their ways, perhaps there was hope. Well, if the entity didn’t finish what it had started, anyway.

Tejus approached from the portcullis. All the ministers, guards and servants were gathered there. Some lay in the grass in front of the castle, wounded and unable to stand, but most who had managed to escape seemed okay: bloodied, covered in soot and dust, but okay.

Without saying a word, he came and sat down a few feet from me, his body sinking gratefully to the ground with feline grace. He was no longer wearing his robes, just the habitual black uniform of silk pants and shirt, which had escaped relatively intact. His expression was pensive. Looking out at the destroyed forest, he sighed, rubbing at his temples.

“Did any more manage to escape?” I asked hopefully.

“Some.”

Some wasn’t enough.

“I’m sorry,” I replied. He shrugged, stoic as ever.

“You survived. That’s what matters,” he muttered. “We’re going to move out in a couple of moments, to another palace that belongs to the Hellswan family. Are you ready to travel?”

“What palace?” I asked. I hadn’t been aware that he owned another home.

“One that belonged to my mother, not far from here.”

“I’m ready.” I smiled. “I actually feel quite good. The minister really…helped.”

He nodded, smirking.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t know if I will,” I grumbled. “It wasn’t a very fair exchange.”

“It will be, with me.”

He moved closer, and then, turning toward me, he reached out his hand and traced the line of my jaw with his thumb—slowly drawing my face closer to his.

“Are you feeling better?” I swallowed.

“A bit.” He smiled down at me hungrily and my breath caught in my throat. He studied my lips, either to drive me insane or to prolong his gratification—I didn’t know which, but when he finally brushed his mouth against mine, I breathed him in like oxygen. As the kiss deepened, I clung to his frame, elated that I didn’t feel the need to syphon off him, and overwhelmed by the feelings I did have rushing through me—acute lust and desire, more intense than I’d ever experienced them, even the night I’d spent in Tejus’s bed.