Chapter 6

SIX

COLLINS

I needed to move. To go back to my bed.

But it was so damn cold in the infirmary, or maybe it was just my body was still weak, so I was cold. Either way I’d never been able to handle being chilled. I’d tried sleeping on my twin-sized bed as long as I could before I climbed onto Bash’s bed next to mine and curled into his side. He was so warm. I was furious with him, wanted to slap him all over again, but I still loved him. He was my soulmate. I had no idea what our deal was, why we were at each other’s throats. Probably stress and trauma. We’d get through this. I just needed to be warm. Luckily, he hadn’t woken up to find me snuggled into him yet. We’d all been asleep for hours in here, each of us on a different bed with healing potions and such tending to us while we slept. We’d been still too long. Tephine wouldn’t be down long. We needed to move.

Maybe just another few minutes. I nestled into the space between his chest and arm, relishing the heat radiating off his skin even through his shirt.With every second I held him while he slept, the less I remembered why I was mad at him in the first place. His pulse was calm and steady beneath my ear and that made me smile. I slid my arm on top of his body to rest my palm against his chest. Those gnarly puncture wounds his mother had given him were healed up nicely already, it always amazed me just how fast his body recovered from injuries. Still, I wanted him to be his strongest, so I summoned a small pile of crystals for strength to sit on the bare skin just below his collarbones.

His hand landed on top of mine, his fingers tangling with mine. All of my anger with him turned to dust in that moment. I gripped his hand and squeezed as hard as I could as emotions rushed to the surface. I felt his other arm move behind me and I tensed, waiting for him to touch my back, but then his fingers ran through my hair. I sighed and nestled in closer. I didn’t know if he was awake or not, but I was going to savor every moment of this stolen peace.

I took a deep breath, and I drew a heart shape on his skin with my fingertip. Half a beat later, his thumb slid over my jaw and traced a heart back. My whole body warmed. Goosebumps spread across my skin and butterflies danced in my stomach. A giddy smile spread across my face.

The air pulsed, sending sharp tingles down my spine. Bash’s body tensed beneath me. He’d felt that too. Neither of us moved. A second later, the infirmary doors slammed into the walls with a thud. I sucked in a deep breath and wrapped my arm around Bash’s waist.

“Rise and shine, children."

Lexington Prescott. I sighed in relief. My heart skipped a few beats, then hammered in my chest. Bash exhaled roughly.

“WAKE UP!” Lexington shouted.

We all jumped to our feet. Well, Bash jumped to his feet and took me with him. Jada and Nickel landed in fighting stances. Stellan threw himself off the bed so fast he actually stumbled backward into the bed Shylock was slowly climbing off of. The two of them tripped over each other to remain upright. Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head as she stood up straight. Mom was the only one who didn’t look to the vampire. She turned right to the bed I had been in. Her eyes widened until she spotted me with Bash, then she relaxed.

Savina just sat up in her bed, laughing at her brother who was adjusting his clothes. “You enjoyed that too much, Prescott.”

Lexington smirked. “Don’t judge an immortal by mortal standards.”

I licked my lips and stood up straight, holding my chin high. “Mr. Prescott, hello, what did they say?”

“You will be stating your case to the angels, not me, Stone Keeper.” His voice was firm but not unkind. “But I do not have time to waste. Please, let’s get moving.”

Bash stepped around me and moved toward him. “We are ready.”

“Just those of you I spoke with earlier,” Lexington grumbled. “Too many of you will not help your odds with Araqiel.”

“We understand.” Bash took my hand and led me over to stand in front of Lexington.

Did we? I guess so. It wasn’t that I needed them all, but I was quickly realizing I liked having them all by my side. It was a comfort thing. It was a Tephine is the most terrifying person in the world thing. When Lexington had sent us all to take a nap, we’d all just snagged an empty bed in the infirmary so we’d all be in the same place whenever he returned. Nickel and Jada sat back down on their beds. Savina closed her eyes and lay back down. She hadn’t even gotten off the bed.

“Collins.” Mom’s sharp voice made me turn to look at her. When I did, she arched one eyebrow and pointed at me. “Don’t leave this building without me. Understand?”

“I understand, Mom. I won’t.” I looked to the others and gave them a small smile. “We’re just going upstairs. We’ll be right back.”

“Let’s do this." Stellan threw his arm around Ellie’s shoulders and yawned. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned. “Shylock?”

“I’m in front of you, Stellan.” Shylock was literally standing beside Lexington. He just shook his head. “Lexington, please, lead the way.”

Without another word, Lexington spun and led us down the hall with us following like baby ducks behind mama duck. But I needed just a moment, so I tugged Bash’s hand and pulled him to a stop.

He frowned down at me. “Collins?”

“ I’m sorry for slapping you ,” I whispered.

He smiled and tipped my chin back with one finger, then pressed his lips to mine for a split-second. “ I’m sorry for locking you in there .”

I smiled back at him, feeling pressure easing off my chest. My face warmed like I was blushing. “Thank you.”

“Come, let’s catch up.” He pulled me into a quick pace to catch up with the others down the hall. But his gaze stayed locked on me. “How are you feeling now?”

I frowned and rolled my shoulders. My muscles were super tight and sore, but I didn’t have any shooting pains. “Not too bad. Sore. But I’m kind of afraid to take this magic healing super-suit off.”

His smirk turned crooked. “I suppose we shall leave you in it for a while longer then.”

My pulse skipped and my whole body warmed. I looked down to distract myself from the heat in his stare. Ellie had braided my hair into pigtails so the hair wouldn’t keep hitting the wounds on my back that were still super tender to touch. I was healing but not all the way yet, and where my wings should have been was still the most sensitive.

“I like the braids,” Bash said softly as we stopped behind the others at the end of the hall. “What style is that called again?”

“French braids,” Ellie answered. She glanced over her shoulder to us. “Though I’ve been working on my fishtail braids. We’ll try that next.”

The hidden elevator in the wall opened up. Lexington stepped to the side and gestured for us to enter. It wasn’t a big elevator. We were all practically on top of each other in the back to avoid cramping Lexington.

He glanced back at us, then shook his head and faced forward. “Do you think I’ll bite?”

“I’ve read Hansel and Gretel,” Stellan grumbled.

Lexington chuckled. “But she was a witch. Perhaps I should worry that you will bite.”

“I definitely bite,” Ellie said with a smile.

Shylock shook his head. “We’re still in the socializing phase with our puppy. Not many vampires at the dog parks we take Stellan to.”

Stellan rolled his eyes. “It’s not my fault all the normal, friendly vampires live on the Island you’d never let me visit.”

Shylock sighed. “You’ve been there before?—”

“Yes, but you and Weston would go out of your way to avoid it?—”

“Yeah, because Savina was there hiding.”

Stellan’s eyes widened. “ That’s why we stopped going there?”

“Yes. We thought it would be too difficult to prevent people from mentioning to you that she was there.”

Stellan nodded with pursed lips. Then he punched his best friend in the shoulder. “Wanker. Still mad at you for that secret.”

“ See. ” Lexington chuckled again. “Vampires are peaceful creatures.”

Bash snorted.

Lexington shrugged one shoulder. “At least in First Realm.”

Stellan shuddered. “Yeah, well, the ones that live in Manhattan give me the creeps. Always lurking in the shadows and acting like statues. Like, blink or something. Bloody hell.”

Lexington threw his head back and laughed. He looked like he was surprised to be laughing. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. He was still chuckling as he stepped out and moved to the side for us to exit. “Thank you for that laugh, little prince. I think I needed that.”

I squeezed Bash’s hand and pulled him after me as I stepped out of the secret elevator. Then we stopped on the side of the hall to wait for the others. I wasn’t about to march my happy ass to Araqiel’s office without an escort. Lexington waited for the mages to get out, then he watched to ensure the secret elevator closed back up and out of sight.

With a nod, he marched down the hall. “Let’s do this, kids.”

“Mr. Prescott, how old are you?” I frowned. “You keep referring to us as children?—”

“Four hundred and seventy-six, Ms. Elliott.” He didn’t even slow his pace or look back at me. “After a few centuries, everyone under one hundred feel like children to you. I mean no disrespect by it.”

“That’s so weird to me. Immortality, I mean. Like I can’t imagine being nearly five hundred years old.”

Bash’s grip on my hand squeezed.

Lexington stopped in front of a set of double doors. He looked down at me and gave me a sad smile. “It won’t always be an imaginary concept to you, Ms. Elliott.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. That was when it hit me. I was immortal. I would live centuries and centuries like Lexington . . . like Prince Riven . . . like Tephine. I shuddered and Bash pulled me to his side.

“When does it . . . when will it not be weird?”

Lexington pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. “I’d say about one-fifty? Unless everyone you surround yourself with is mortal, then probably much sooner. When your friends all start to get gray and wrinkly and you remain as you are now, it is an avalanche of emotions.”

I didn’t miss that hint. I looked to my mortal friends and sighed. “We’re gonna have to turn y’all to vampires. I won’t be able to cope otherwise.”

All three of them laughed. But I was serious.

Bash shook his head. “Once we kill my mother, we’ll have to start working on making immortal friends. That way them being old will be easier for us.”

“I really shouldn’t be offended by that . . .” Stellan scowled at the ground. “And yet . . .”

Lexington knocked on the doors but said nothing.

I had no idea what was making me ask him all these questions, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Maybe it was a distraction. Maybe it was stumbling into a deep-rooted fear I hadn’t yet processed. Or maybe I just found Lexington fascinating. “Does your wife work in The Emerald too? I’d like to get a woman’s perspective on immortality.”

He arched one eyebrow. “I am not married. Not attached to anyone romantically.”

My jaw dropped. “You’re almost five hundred and you’re single? That sounds lonely.”

He smirked. “Zuriel is ancient and he’s single.”

“ Why? ”

He shrugged. “Somehow I doubt Zuriel would do well on the Neverland dating app.”

The double doors opened and bright light filled the hallway. A tall figure dressed in all black sliced through the light. Zuriel. He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, then crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced at each of us standing there, then nodded once. “This will be good.”

The terrifying angel disappeared into the room, but the rest of us froze in place and looked to Lexington.

He sighed. “Enter.”

“He didn’t say come in?—”

“ COME IN, ” Zuriel shouted from out of sight.

My face burned with heat. “He heard me.”

“He hears everything.” Lexington walked into the office, gesturing for us to follow and turning to the two occupants. “They’re not used to you two.”

“Only you are,” Zuriel grumbled as the rest of us followed Lex in like baby ducks. His sapphire-blue eyes inspected all five of us closely. “For good reason.”

I stepped to the side of Bash and my jaw dropped. It was a normal office. Well, perhaps not normal since normal offices weren’t half this big and they definitely didn’t have French doorways on the back wall that stood open to a rooftop terrace with white drapes made of chiffon blowing in the breeze. At least not any office I’d ever seen. I wasn’t sure what I expected of an angel’s office. I wasn’t sure I had put much thought into it at all. As I glanced around and found every piece of furniture white, I thought that probably made since. Zuriel was the only thing in color in the whole room, and that was if black counted as a color.

Lexington sat in a white leather chair in front of a desk. His blue eyes met mine. “Go ahead, Stone Keeper. Tell them what you request.” He gestured in front of him.

“ He means you, ” Ellie whispered and gave me two thumbs up.

I followed his hand, then did a double take. Araqiel sat across from Lexington with both of his elbows on the desk and a taco in each hand, yet his dark eyes were locked on something in the distance. Actually, it kind of looked like he had brain freeze. He frowned and pursed his lips.

My eyes widened. I looked to Lexington, then back to Araqiel. This angel was the angel. The main one. The big dog. The angel who was in charge of all the other angels on Earth. I wasn’t about to speak unless he asked me to . . . or at least gestured for me to . . . or made eye contact with me.

Zuriel cleared his throat.

Araqiel shook his head. “But how would you do on the Neverland dating app, Z?”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re thinking about while your tacos get cold?”

Araqiel flinched and looked to his tacos in panic. He took a massive bite out of one and some of the ingredients spilled onto the plate on the desk in front of him. He licked his lips and chewed. “Still hot.”

Zuriel just sighed and looked to the ceiling. “Thanks, Lex.”

Lexington snorted. “Sorry?—”

“You will be.” Zuriel aimed daggers with his eyes at the vampire. “When he makes me use that damned app, I’m going to make you do it too.”

Lex grimaced.

“I go down swinging, Prescott.”

“I’m sure there are females on the app that would be into that,” Shylock said with a grin.

Zuriel rolled his eyes and shook his head again. “What have you done to my day, Lex? Why did you bring the infants here?”

Lex rolled his eyes back and I realized he and Zuriel didn’t look that much different from each other. Both had jet-black hair. Both had sapphire eyes. Their jawlines were similar. Both wore black and were kind of grumpy.

“Are you two related?” I heard myself ask before I could keep my mouth shut. Then I slammed my hand over my mouth before more came out.

“No,” Lex answered fast.

“We have no proof. Pemberley is a beautiful woman.” Zuriel winked at him.

A loud crunch echoed around the room, distracting all of us from whatever insult Lex was about to throw at Zuriel. We all turned to watch Araqiel crunching on a massive taco— no wait —that was two tacos stacked on top of each other.

How does he not get stains on his white clothes?

“Ms. Elliott?”

I jumped. “What—yes?”

“While these two are well aware of why you’re here, you are obligated to ask them out loud.” Lex gestured to Araqiel with a disgusted grimace. “This will only get worse if you stall any longer.”

“Oh, ok. Right.” I took a deep breath, then took a step closer to Araqiel’s desk, pulling Bash along with me. “Mr. Araqiel, sir, as I’m sure you are aware, we are in a bit of a predicament with Tephine having binded herself to Third Realm. We know we have to sever that first or we risk killing all of the innocent lives within the realm, which we really, really don’t want to do. However, the only lead we’ve discovered led us to Prince Riven?—”

“I love that Bregan sold her out like that.” Araqiel laughed and then licked his finger so he could pick up every last crumb on his plate and eat it. “I mean, two hundred years and he’s still petty over his lost playground.”

“Real highlight of my day it was,” Zuriel added with a chuckle.

My eyes widened. They really did know what was going on. We hadn’t told them about King Bregan’s words, yet they knew. I glanced to Lexington who just shrugged. You are obligated to ask them out loud, Lexington had said. So, I cleared my throat to get their attention.

“Prince Riven has refused to help us. We tried King Ailwin’s blood. We tried Jimbo’s blood. We even tried Prince Riven’s blood that Sal gave us. None of it worked. We are desperate for Prince Riven’s help here, but we need something he desperately wants to bargain with.” I took another deep breath, then gestured to Lex. “Mr. Prescott has told us of a journal owned by his late father that Prince Riven has been wanting, so we are here to get your permission to trade it for the information we need.”

Araqiel looked to Lexington. “How many times in the last ten years has he asked you for it?”

Lexington sighed. “I’ve lost track. It’s been a long ten years.”

Araqiel grinned. “Riven’s wanted that journal for two thousand years, not ten.”

Lexington’s eyes darkened. “That does not make me feel better about handing it over to him.”

The two angels looked at each other, and I knew they were communicating silently. Though probably just for show. They probably knew what we wanted before we asked and had prepared their answer. This was to make us work for it.

Finally, Zuriel turned to look at me. “You’re not taking that journal out of this room. If you want to trade it with Riven, you must summon him to this terrace.”

Ellie stepped forward and raised her hand. “But we had to go to the club before?”

Zuriel arched one black eyebrow. “I don’t recall that club having anything to do with how Collins summoned him.”

We all gasped.

Lexington chuckled. “Look how young they are. They still think you don’t know everything.”

Zuriel smirked at Lex, who very obviously was his friend judging by their playful demeanor with each other. But when he looked back to me all of that was gone, leaving cold rage in his stare. “You have your answer, Stone Keeper.”

I pointed to the terrace. “Right out there?”

“I do believe you’re familiar with our terrace already.”

I felt my face flush with heat as that memory came crashing back. “Right. Do it right now?”

“You don’t have time to waste.” Zuriel pointed out the open French doors to the terrace.

I swallowed roughly but nodded. When I took a step forward, Bash dropped my hand. I half-spun and threw my arm out. “Come with me.”

He took my hand back and let me lead him onto the terrace. I didn’t want to see the others watching me—well, not my friends, the angels. They were too intimidating. Araqiel acted like he wasn’t paying attention, but it was clear he was. Perhaps the distracted act was a way of being compassionate. Either way, Zuriel gave zero fucks, and I knew without looking those sapphire eyes were focused right on my back.

“Just close your eyes,” Bash said softly, his breath rustling my hair. He took my hand and lifted it up to rest on the moonstone in his chest. “Like you did before.”

My pulse skipped beats. I stared up at him and nodded.

“He’s not going to hurt you.” He glanced back inside, then back to me. “Not with them there. Go ahead.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It took a few seconds to steady my pulse, but I didn’t want to summon him while I was mid-panic. Once I was settled, I pushed my magic out of my hand until I felt it swirl with the coldness of Bash’s. I smiled. Of all the stones I’d connected with, Bash’s felt the most comfortable, though that might’ve been more about the soulmate connection. Focus, Collins.

Then I saw myself standing in front of me with my eyes closed and my hand touching— OH. The stone was asking me what I wanted. I smiled. Hello again, my friend. I am sorry to bother you, but I really need Prince Riven. Can you zap him for me?

I expected to see that same foreign metropolitan city I’d seen through Riven’s ring last time, but instead I saw the vampire-Nephilim Gaston. And I recognized where they were instantly. It was the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine—the same exact place we’d met Gaston at before. Either meeting Gaston there was not a coincidence at all or Riven’s meeting him there was a side effect of us. Not sure which of those possibilities made me less nervous. Through the stone, I saw Gaston speaking, pleading almost. He looked worried. I felt Riven growl through my whole body.

I know you don’t want to be rude, but watching a private conversation isn’t the best idea either, I said to the stone with my mind. Please.

The stone moved. I saw the mid-day sky straight above me, then I moved again and Riven’s face came into view. He snarled down at the ring on his finger, his upper lip curling back to reveal a nasty-looking fang. A cold chill slid down my spine. I shivered.

“ My Lord? ” I suddenly heard Gaston’s voice as if I was standing right next to them.

Riven growled like a caged, furious tiger. “ Petite chuchoteuse. ”

Little whisperer . It sounded more like a threat than an acknowledgement. I gasped. A hot, salty breeze swept around me like a tornado, whipping my hair around Bash’s waist. My eyes flew open just as Prince Riven appeared right in front of me.

“H-hello?—”

“ Did I stutter? I said no—” Riven’s icy, pale-blue eyes glanced over my head and widened. His shoulders dropped, and the animosity vanished from his face. The growl that slipped out of him was nothing like the one I’d gotten through the stone. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Why?”

“Um — we told you? — ”

“Not you, petite chuchoteuse. ” He rolled his eyes and took a step to the side, then he was gone. When I spun, I found him stopping just outside the office with the mid-day sun shining on his back. “You know why I refuse.”

Zuriel stepped out onto the terrace and looked up at the sun, then down at Riven. He arched one black eyebrow and walked around Riven with his arms crossed over his chest. When he stopped directly in front of the Vampire Prince. I noticed they were the same height . . . and that Riven was the only person I’d ever seen not show a single ounce of fear for the angel.

Zuriel looked pointedly at Riven’s body in the sunlight. “ Nice. Rings. ”

Riven growled a string of words in a language I’d never heard but I suspected was full of curses. “I cannot. I will not. You know why.”

Zuriel gestured inside the office. “Ms. Elliott, come inside. Plead your new case to Riven, and let us see if he sings a different tune.”

My eyes widened. Shit. No pressure. Bash squeezed my hand and tugged me forward. Zuriel and Riven were in some kind of silent glare-off, neither of them moving as Bash and I approached the doors to go inside.

Riven growled a low string of words that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall. Then he whispered to Zuriel, but I heard him as I walked by, “ Vengeance comes for angels too. Remember that.”

Zuriel chuckled and scratched the inside of his left forearm, which made Riven growl like that tiger again. I frowned and shook my head as I hurried inside. No one else had moved, so I reclaimed my spot beside Lexington in the pristine white arm chair where he sat with one ankle propped on his other knee and his hands steepled in front of his mouth.

“Zuriel,” Araqiel said with a sigh, “taunting him never helps.”

“It entertains me,” Zuriel said with a cocky smirk as he reclaimed his spot leaning against a cabinet on the right side of the room.

Araqiel grinned. “The Neverland app can also help with that.”

Zuriel crossed his arms over his chest, all humor gone. “Riven, get in here or I’ll let her zap you repeatedly just to piss you off.”

Riven kept growling as he stomped inside Araqiel’s office. “Who led them to believe my refusal could be questioned this quickly?”

“I did,” Lexington said with a mischievous sideways grin. “I believe.”

Riven’s head snapped in Lexington’s direction. He froze, his eyes widening on the other vampire. His face seemed to pale even more than it already was. “Prescott.”

“Marceau.”

Riven turned to face him with narrowed eyes. He put his hands on his hips and licked his lips. “I’ve asked you countless times before? — ”

“Ah, good, so you stopped counting as well? — ”

“Don’t fuck with me, Prescott,” Riven snapped.

I looked back and forth like this was a tennis match. “ What’s happening ?” I whispered to Bash.

“I do believe Prince Riven already knows what we’re about to offer,” Bash whispered back.

“Then why does he look so angry? — ”

“I can hear you , petite chuchoteuse, ” Riven snarled. “Lest you and la jeune femme bleue forget, vampire senses are the strongest.”

“They make a good point, though.” Ellie walked up to stand beside Bash. She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “You look furious, perhaps even a hint of appalled.”

Riven clenched his jaw and his muscles flexed. He balled his hands into fists at his side. “Careful, Violette. ”

“It’s because we have some audacity to present him with something he truly, desperately wants in an effort to manipulate him into giving us what we want, despite his adamant refusal to give such earlier,” Shylock said from behind us.

Lexington chuckled and pointed toward Shylock. “I like that one. When this is all over, little Nephilim, I may have a job for you at Prescott Tech.”

“I may take you up on that,” Shylock said softly.

I groaned loudly and scrubbed my face with my hands. When I dropped them, I found everyone staring at me with varying degrees of shock. With a curse, I marched up to Riven and stopped right in front of him. I may have been about a foot shorter than him, if not more, but I was done playing games. “Listen here, ancient bloodsucker boy, I just had my wings and most of the skin on my back literally peeled off my body by a monster who—from the stories I’ve heard thus far— you failed to help destroy two thousand years ago. I’m done with threats. You don’t scare me. There’s nothing you can do to me that Tephine has not already done, or I should say, that Tephine won’t happily do to me and everyone in all of the realms if we don’t actually kill her this time. Do not think any of us are fucking thrilled to have to ask you for help. I love being snarled at. I just fucking love being deceived and tricked and played with like a fucking toy. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to have been born for the sole purpose of slaying the monster and saving the world. I was basically born to die, unless I get lucky. So let me make myself clear, I do not want your help, I need your help. My choices are to commit genocide and be no better than Tephine herself, because I assure you she thinks she is the hero of her little story, or I ask the grumpy old man to give us something to work with.”

Riven’s eyes widened. His eyebrows shot to the ceiling. Yet he said nothing.

I licked my lips and took a breath, then pointed to Lexington. “You want that journal, don’t you? Araqiel says you’ve wanted it for two thousand years. That means there’s something of extreme value to you inside of it. Stop being a child?—”

“A child ?—”

“ Did. I. Stutter? ” In my peripheral vision, I saw my turquoise magic coiling around my body, but I was so angry I couldn’t rein it in. “Use the brain inside that pretty little skull of yours. I’m not trying to manipulate you. I’m on my knees begging you and willing to pay whatever price I must to get your help. Do you understand the difference?”

He narrowed his eyes into little slits.

But I wasn’t done. “I may be fae, but I do not enjoy mind games and tricks. You have your reasons for why you won’t tell us the answer we need. We all know you know what it is. So now you have a choice to make: either you accept Prescott’s journal as payment for information we can actually use to sever the bond between Tephine and Third Realm or I will embrace every twisted, demented, evil trait in my pointed ears and dig and dig until I find the answer you don’t want to tell us . . . and then I will fucking take it. I do believe this is a prime example of the easy way or the hard way for you. Take your fucking pick.”

Riven just stared at me in stony, tense silence.

I felt everyone else’s eyes on me too.

Part of me had absolutely no idea what had just snapped inside of me to make me threaten a two-thousand-year-old old Vampire Prince. But it was done. I did it. Now it was his turn.

Finally, Riven smirked ever so slightly. He leaned forward slightly. “That feel good?”

I exhaled roughly and shook my arms out. “Yes.”

He nodded and then threw his hand out to the side. “Let me see it.”

“Riven—”

“ Let me see it, ” Riven snarled between clenched teeth without taking his eyes off of me.

Lexington stood, pulling my gaze over to him. He reached into his jacket pocket, then pulled out a small, brown leather-bound notebook with a fancy gold lock. He held it up in the air. “This it?”

Riven narrowed his eyes. “Open it.”

Lexington scowled. “Why?”

“Because he wants to make sure it is legitimately the journal he wants and not a duplicate.” I waved at the book as Zuriel chuckled. “Just a peek though, not enough for those special vampire eyes to read what he needs without a trade.”

“Fine.” Lexington opened the lock, then quickly flipped through the pages that were made of parchment and covered in elegant black scroll and drawings. Then he closed it and re-locked it. “I swear on my life, this is legitimately my father’s journal. You give us some useful information, and I’ll hand this over.”

Riven pursed his lips and stared at Lexington for a long moment before he looked to Zuriel. “You know why?—”

“I do?—”

“I cannot?—”

“I know.” Zuriel nodded. His eyes were serious and solemn. He said something in that weird language again.

Riven sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he stared at the ground and hung his head. “You do not yet understand?—”

“I do?—”

“No, you do not. For if you did, I am not sure you would feel any differently than I do.” Riven’s eyes held mine. “I cannot tell you the answer you seek. Even if I tell you something else that may help you, there will be ramifications.”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get there.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Tell me, petite chuchoteuse, if I come to you and beg for your help because my realm is in danger . . . will you help me?”

I wanted to spit in his face. I wanted to say no. But then I remembered Ellie and Stellan standing behind me. And Savina in the infirmary. And the three mage-Nephilim. And Philip. I wouldn’t be alive without them, so I nodded. “When Fourth Realm is in trouble, we will be here to answer your call. You have my word.”

“And mine,” Bash said softly.

“And ours,” Stellan spoke firmly from behind us.

Riven nodded. “Isolda Ward. You’ll find her in Las Vegas at the Excalibur Hotel. She’ll be inside a little shop called Lady of the Lake. ”

My pulse fluttered with excitement.

Riven held his hand out.

Lexington stepped forward and sat the journal in his open hand. “This meant the world to my father. Treat it well, please.”

Riven pressed the journal to his chest like it was something sacred. His aura radiated with intense emotions. He cleared his throat. “I do not need to keep it forever, and I would not dare harm it in any way. This journal means more to me than it did your father. Even still, I shall return it when I’m done.”

“Thank you, Prince Riven.”

He bowed his head slightly. “Do not make me regret this, Collins.”

And then he was gone.