A Tangle of Hearts (A Shade of Vampire #44)(2)

“But when you’d look down, there was nothing?” Vita asked.

I nodded and waited for her reaction.

She bent down and looked at my shoulder where it wasn’t covered by my camisole. She studied my back and pulled my arms out to check them as well. She didn’t speak for a full minute. In these circumstances, maybe silence was a good answer.

“It’s weird,” Vita murmured eventually. She passed a hand through her hair. “There definitely aren’t any runes on your skin now.”

“But when I looked in the mirror—”

“Wait.” Vita grabbed a hand mirror from the old vanity in the corner and held it to my skin to check my reflection. I tilted my head in order to see in the mirror as well.

Nothing. Even in the mirror, my skin was clear. Relief coursed through me in hot and cold waves. I let out a tortured sigh.

Vita watched me intently. Her face said more than her words ever could; she understood.

Before I could say anything else, she hugged me tight. I hugged back. I would do anything for this girl.

“Right, so for now, let’s just keep this to ourselves,” Vita said. She grabbed her clothes and headed for the shower. “No need to worry the others yet. And let’s be vigilant and keep an eye on each other from now on, okay?”

Her question hung in the air. She disappeared into the bathroom without waiting for my response.

I straightened my back and got out of bed. Whatever last night had been, I pushed it to the back of my head.

If any of us wanted to get out of here alive, we had our work cut out for us. There was so much still to be done.





Phoenix





[Hazel & Tejus’s son]





I tried to wash off the previous night’s event with a cold shower, but it didn’t do much good. Giving up, I went down to breakfast. The warm morning was hard on all of us judging by how late everyone else was.

Seeing the Daughters of Eritopia in my sleep was one of the strangest experiences of my life. And their gift to me, asking me to sacrifice myself so that the last Daughter could wake up and save us all… I’d brushed it off as just a dream, until I’d found their stone knife next to me in bed.

I sat at the breakfast table, staring at the food with unfocused eyes. My hand touched the right pocket of my pants, where the stone blade rested coldly.

I glanced up when Jovi entered the room. He didn’t look great either. His fun-loving side was buried beneath a layer of grumpiness, as he grunted his way to the coffee pot. A few gulps later, he seemed to look at me with newfound interest, the color back in his cheeks.

“We need to move,” he said matter-of-factly, looking at me.

“By move you mean take a peaceful stroll in the garden, or beat each other up until we feel strong again?”

I knew where he was going with this, and I needed it as much as he did. The Daughters’ violet eyes, golden masks, and shivering touch couldn’t be washed down with a cold shower and coffee. I needed some action. I needed to move, like Jovi said.

“I mean me beating you up.” Jovi smirked and sipped loudly from his frilly porcelain cup, like a true alpha male. We didn’t have much to work with in terms of dinnerware in this place, but for once it made me smile.

I stood. “Bring it on, sassy-mouth. I can’t wait to watch you fall flat on your ass again.”

We clinked our coffee cups as if toasting a good game and headed outside.



We chose a strip of bare garden farther away from the plantation house. The house quietly watched over us with its French windows, aged columns, and pink magnolia trees surrounding it. Even the crows watched from branches high above as we took our positions.

Jovi and I tumbled around for a while. He kicked; I blocked. He swept my legs; I swiftly rebounded and came at him with extra fire in my heels. He seemed surprisingly rested and calm in his defense, his every move almost effortlessly blocking my hits.

I, on the other hand, felt heavy and irritated. I usually had the upper hand on the guy, and now I looked like I was trying too hard, like every move I made came back to bite me.

An hour into our training, I had yet to knock him out. I threw him down a couple of times, but Jovi got up and retaliated in kind. Then again, his mind wasn’t wandering off to a perfect woman, with iridescent skin and hair that seemed to be made of fire, hidden in a shell beneath a magnolia tree. He didn’t have to spill his own blood in order to bring her to consciousness.

His leg caught me in the solar plexus, pushing the air from my lungs and knocking me back. At least the grass was soft and still sprinkled with cool morning dew. It felt so nice that I didn’t feel like getting back up.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Sighing at Jovi’s question, I rose to my feet. I brushed some of the dirt and grass off and straightened my back. My muscles were getting tired, and my joints had begun their muffled protests. I resumed my fighting stance, my right foot behind me ready to act as a spring board.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I replied. I lifted my arms slowly, preparing for another attack. My breathing was a little heavy and irregular, and beads of sweat trickled down my temples.

Jovi gave me his don’t-give-me-crap look and raised his hands in a peaceful gesture to pause our training.

“Seriously, what’s up? You’re way off your game,” he said.