27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ruya

" H ello, your majesty." The man's voice was familiar, but I couldn't place where I had heard it before. "Snazzy place you've got here. Good to see you weren't joking about having a court."

Robin let out a dry laugh.

Cicely spoke in my head. He's talking to you, Ruya. He thinks you're the leader.

"Oh! Sorry," the man continued. Living up to my dickhead nickname. I forgot you're blind, little snack. It's me, Richard? The useless dhampir?"

I shot to my feet in surprise, sudden recollection putting a name to the voice. "Richard! What are you doing here?" Then my brain caught up to my mouth. "Did Acacia send you?"

"Acacia? Fuck no. I'm just out… running errands." He was trying for flippant and empty-headed, the way he always had when he was in the public spaces of the vampire coven. But he was being cagey. I knew there was more to him. More to this .

"Richard," I said, rounding the coffee table and holding my hands out toward the sound of his voice. "I told you before that you would have a friend if you ever managed to escape that place. Is that what this is? Are you free?"

He huffed a laugh, but it sounded more nervous than dismissive. Cool hands took mine and I felt everyone in the room lean closer, on high alert lest the scary vampiric stranger try to harm me while surrounded by all these clearly powerful paranormals. I refrained from rolling my eyes at my court.

"I won't really be free until The Bitch Queen is dead," he said flatly. And it amused me to hear him use Martina's favorite name for the vampire. "But no one notices what I get up to during the day. I'm nobody important—just the way I like it. As long as I'm there to do my work and serve them when called, I may as well be invisible. But yes, I remember what you said about finding you if I ever managed to escape. Which is why I thought I should share some information, in the spirit of friendship."

Robin moved closer, her powerful aura wrapping around me as she spoke from beside me. "Ruya, darling, care to introduce us to your new fangy friend?"

I could feel Sadavir at my back, a looming alpha presence. And Martina stood at my other side. I had no doubt the others had closed ranks around us, trapping Richard. Always on guard.

"Of course," I said, keeping my voice light and even. "This is Richard. He helped Sadavir and Josh escape from the vampires. He's there against his will himself."

Richard scoffed. "I didn't do much. Just took over guard duty when I thought you might be up to something. Then I happened to not notice a couple of people slipping out the gates. You know how dhampirs are. Lazy. Inferior. Especially me."

I shook my head. "You joke, but if it had been anyone but you on watch that night, they would have leapt at the opportunity to gain favor with the queen by outing Sadavir and Josh. They would probably both be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Or worse," Sadavir said, slow and serious, voicing for Richard's benefit. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Richard said easily. "Feeders have it even worse than dhampirs in that place—especially the queen's menagerie. I wouldn't condemn anyone to that if I could help it."

I tugged on Richard's hand, dragging him over to the couch, ignoring the sea of protective auras around us. "How can we help?" I asked as we sat.

Robin followed, and I could sense her nearby, probably taking up a seat on Richard's other side, the better to intimidate him. "No," she said firmly, her husky voice brooking no argument.

I opened my mouth, but she cut me off. "We are not liberating your dhampir and taking in another stray pet, Ruya. This is my court. Not Ruya's home for wayward souls."

I shook my head. "Don't be ridiculous, Robin. Of course we'll help him get free of Acacia. And he's not my dhampir. He's my friend."

She sighed.

Richard squeezed my hand, then released it. Probably realizing that he didn't want to give off the impression that we were too friendly. "I meant what I said," he insisted, sounding more serious now. "I've got info you might want. And I don't want to be adopted into your little… whatever this is. I've spent far too long stuck in one place surrounded by more powerful overlords. If I ever get free, I'll sure as hell remain free. Alone."

"What do you want, then?" Yukio said, voice cool and deceptively soft. "Clearly this information isn't free."

I sighed, but Richard didn't seem offended. "I just want to disappear. I can leave the cathedral pretty much whenever I want now—thanks to my good behavior and all," he said, voice full of resentment. "But they can always find me. Blood bonds and all. I take it that's how they got your human."

Everyone started to object all at once, but Robin silenced them with a growl. "Let the dhampir finish," she said in a soft, deadly voice. "I'm very interested to see what he has to say."

Richard shifted beside me. "Whatever you did, it at least worked for a time. You hid Josh for quite a while. I would ask you to just kill the bitch. But I know that's a big ask. So… I want whatever you did for Josh. It doesn't have to be permanent. Just long enough for me to get far away from here. The blood bond gets weaker with distance. And she won't go to great lengths to find and retrieve one little Dhampir, the way she has for her pet feeders. Probably won't even notice I'm missing. I've been saving up, scrounging tips and stealing. I have enough money to live a decent life on another continent." He huffed a dry laugh. "One day someone will succeed in assassinating Acacia, then I'll really be free. Until then, all I have to do is stay very, very far away."

"And if we refuse to hide you?" Robin said with a purr. "What makes you think we won't just take the information you supposedly bring us, little leech?"

"Robin," I warned.

But I felt Richard shrug, his shoulder bumping mine. "I'll tell you what you want to know regardless. But Ruya said this was the place to go for help. I don't know her well, but she didn't seem like she'd mislead a guy that badly."

I rolled my eyes. "You're both being needlessly difficult."

"By all means, Ruya dear," Robin drawled, "do that thing you do."

I arched a brow. "That thing?"

I could hear the curl of her lips, that wicked smile. "Rescue the pathetic masses. But whatever this information is, remember, we leave in… hmm… one hour and twenty-three minutes now."

I ignored her and turned toward Richard. "No guarantees, but I'm sure Sanka would be happy to try to ward you from Acacia." Tilting my head, I waited for the sorcerer to object. But he only huffed, the way I knew he would. He would act all put-out, but he actually liked helping people. And flexing his magic. "Now, what is it you think we need to know?"

Richard leaned back against the couch, his knee bumping mine, cluing me into the motion. "Well, for one, I know Acacia isn't at the cathedral. Hasn't been for a few days now. She's supposedly off on some important business."

He was right, that was important. Especially since we were planning on storming the place this afternoon to demand answers.

"None of my intel said she was away," Robin said flatly. She was probably livid that they'd missed that little fact. I shuddered to think what would happen to whoever was supposed to be gathering information.

Dusek spoke up to support Robin. "I flitted around there just this morning. Everyone coming out the gate was talking about a big feeding party. About Acacia being sequestered in her suite."

Richard nodded. "She's made some effort to make it look like she's still there. But I saw her leave, and she hasn't come back. Trust me, I keep a close eye on the Queen of Terror's whereabouts so I can avoid her notice—and her wrath. I also may have accidentally overheard a couple of private conversations, some gossip, and a couple of phone calls…."

I laughed, shaking my head at him. He was really good at pretending to be too stupid to notice. To inconsequential to be of concern. And apparently, he was as sneaky as he was flippant. "Of course you did."

"She's not there," he said again. "But I can tell you exactly where she is. An old hunting cabin outside of town that the higher-ups use for rituals and ceremonies. She's there and so are most of her personal guards. And the shiny new sorcerer she hired. I would suspect the sorcerer was coerced, but she's just as nasty as Acacia, so it's probably voluntary."

"Shit," Sanka muttered.

"That certainly would require changing our plans," Robin said evenly. "If it's true. What makes you think she has Josh?"

Richard sighed. "Because I heard her say she had the bait she needed to get her favorite pet back. She also said something about the emperor, though that part I didn't quite understand. It was pretty clear she was talking about Sadavir, though. She went into… details about what she would do once she got him back." I felt his theatrical shudder at my side.

"But what would she be doing out there in the woods for so long?" Martina asked. "Acacia hates nature. She hates being away from her nest of servants and sycophants. Why would she take—"

I didn't hear the rest of what Martina was saying. It was drown out by pain.

I pressed a hand to my solar plexus to try to contain the pressure. A high-pitched, keening wail rose from my lungs, passing through me without my permission, tearing from my throat as I was flooded by images and sensations. A life flashing before my metaphysical eyes.

I understood my banshee powers better now. Could control them to some extent. But I didn't try to shut down this bust of emotion and premonition. Blood. So much blood. Pain. Love. A life of service and devotion. Of caring and supporting. Fear. So much fear.

"Josh!" I screamed, falling to my knees on the floor, pressing my hands to my temples, even as I refused to stop the flow of power. "Josh." Josh was dying, and I didn't dare miss a thing. Anything that could help. That could stop this. Any hint of how long we had. Any hint that we might be able to save him.

But I knew even then, as I curled into a ball, encircled by a strong embrace, surrounded by power. Practicing with the visions when planning the emperor's demise had left me with an ability to sense time and distance. And this death… this death felt close. It was clear, immediate, and inescapable. It wasn't coming in weeks or days. It was happening right now.

Tears flowed unchecked down my cheeks as the vision passed, leaving me trembling and sobbing, compulsively singing his name. Josh. Josh. Josh.

I slowly came back to reality to find myself on the floor, cradled in Sadavir's arms and surrounded by the others. "What the fuck was that?" Richard asked into the charged silence.

"Josh," I whispered, tears flowing unchecked down my cheeks.

Sadavir squeezed me tighter, and I realized that a heavy serpentine tail was curled around my legs and torso. Oh, goddess, Sadavir. He knew what this meant. He had heard my banshee cries for his beta—for his best friend and lover. His anchor. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and squeezed harder, making it hard to get a full breath. We were leaning against the couch, I thought. The others were close, but Robin's aura was further away, smoke filling the air as she gave us space.

As she did the impossible and allowed Sadavir to cling to the omega in the room to keep himself sane through his grief, even if it killed her to do so. I held out a hand in her direction. "Please."

Smooth, warm fingers wrapped around my own, and she sank down beside us. "How?" she asked softly, her voice a low growl. "When? If we go now—" there was determination in her voice. A flat, cold note that told me she was ready to kill.

"Too late," I said, my voice cracking, swallowing back another wail that had nothing to do with my banshee side. "We're too late. He's… it's… oh, Josh." And then I couldn't speak through my sobs, through the echoes of a stolen life that still swirled inside my head.

Sadavir continued to grip me with arms and tail, wrapping me up tight as if he'd never let me out of his grasp. Cicely stroked my hair, and Sanka gripped my ankle. Martina patted my thigh. Yukio fled, muttering something about tea and sedatives—his own way of showing support.

I expected Robin to struggle with her alpha side, but she didn't show it. She sank down beside us, carefully wrapping an arm around my waist. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Truly."

And I knew she wasn't just talking to me.

Sadavir hissed, but she didn't back off. I felt her move and then she spoke again, and her power flared, hot and demanding. "Stop it, snake. I know you're an alpha. I know you're not mine to order about. But for the moment, desist. Lean on me, damn it." It was only then that I realized she was touching Sadavir, her arm brushing past my head. I freed an arm and reached out to find Robin gripping the back of Sadavir's neck. "Yield," she demanded in a steely voice laced with power.

I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't dare speak up. This was some kind of alpha nonsense that I didn't understand, and I was bound to only make it worse. Sadavir tensed, squeezed me even tighter, and I felt a flare of his power fighting Robin's rising magic. But then, he relaxed. It was as if someone had cut his cords, leaving behind only Robin's fiery aura and my gasping breaths as my ribs were finally able to fully expand.

"What did you do to him?" I asked, worried at how limp the arms around me had suddenly become.

"Shh," Robin murmured, and I belatedly realized she was concentrating, doing something with her magic. Something that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. "He's fine. Sanka."

"Right. On it," Sanka said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head then retreating. "I'll bring blankets and pillows and stuff, and get Yukio to bring up some food."

I shook my head, feeling drained from the vision, and by the grief that was still threatening to suffocate me. "What's going on? I don't understand."

Martina scooped me out of Sadavir's arms and set me on my feet in a smooth show of shifter strength. Her nimble hands ran over my body. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "Of course not."

"Good," she bit out. "He had quite a hold on you. We were afraid he was breaking ribs."

I shrugged. "He wouldn't ever hurt me."

But Martina just huffed. "You never know. Despite our best intentions, Alphas are ruled by emotions. And the naga just had his whole world turned upside down." She patted my shoulder. "Robin's giving him sanctuary. It's… an alpha thing. They can explain later if they want. It's kind of personal, so we usually don't let others know we can do it. But when he wakes up, he's going to need his ma—uh, omega to keep him calm. And he'll probably be a danger to anyone else who comes near."

"Oh," I said numbly.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Ru, but you need to pull it together. If you want to keep the snake, prevent us from having to put him down, you're going to have to use your omega mojo to keep him calm."

Sanka returned and told me about how he was arranging things. Like a little nest on the floor. Then everyone retreated. Robin was the last to leave. "Dusek will be hovering around until we know you're okay," she said, her voice even huskier than usual. She sounded drained by whatever she had just done to knock Sadavir out. No wonder, since she didn't really have access to her full strength, with her birthright missing. "It is killing me to even think of leaving you with the snake, but…." She took a slow, deep breath. "I know it's the right thing to do. Just… if he hurts you, I will kill him."

I believed her. And the weight of my responsibility as an omega settled heavy on my shoulders.

"It will be fine," I whispered. Even though I knew that was a lie. Nothing was fine. It might never be fine again. Not for Sadavir. Maybe not for me, either, even though my connection with Josh wasn't as strong, more tentative and new.

Josh was dead. His warm, quiet presence was gone from the world. And it left behind a hole that could never be filled.