45. Adrianna

45

ADRIANNA

D espite the loss of Pearl—that pain still burns in my heart like a hot poker—I feel like there’s a positive outcome for the evening. Cassian is back in the fold. I’m sure it won’t be quite as simple as that, but the fact that he’s back at my side makes me feel complete again. We’re ready to face all of the destruction as a team and defeat the woman that continues to rain hell on me and my people.

Clementine.

Her time is coming. Her end is near.

I can feel it with every breath I take. Her demise will be mine. In honor of Pearl and everyone else she’s hurt along the way. Nobody dies in vain because of that woman. I refuse.

“She’s ready to see you now.” The doctor appears in the doorway, an easy smile on her face, and I rush to my feet.

“Thank you so much,” I hurry to reply, but when I draw closer, I recognize her. She’s one of the women that was seated around the table the night at Janie’s when I attempted to mingle. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you sooner, I?—”

“Girl, you were dealing with the aftermath of the frenzied vampires, the fact that your sister was passed out, and that grumpy asshole. It’s forgivable,” she interjects with a grin, worming a smile from me too.

“I heard that,” Cassian grumbles, and she rolls her eyes.

“The quicker you get him out of here, the better off we’ll all be. Moping doesn’t suit him. At. All. Am I right, Janie?”

“So fucking right, it’s embarrassing,” Janie sings, and I turn to find Cassian wearing an exasperated look as he glances around the room, hoping for someone to come to his defense, but no one does.

“I’m still standing right here,” he grunts, waving his hands around in irritation.

“I’m going to go and check on Nora,” I offer, not getting involved in their teasing. Instead, I hurry down the corridor to where Kryll is standing outside of a room.

His tired eyes meet mine, a warmth spreading between us before he envelops me in his arms. I only get to bask in his glow for a moment before I hear my sister call out my name. Squeezing his arm, I enter the small room to find Nora resting on a hospital bed with a huge grin spread across her cheeks.

“Was I awesome or was I awesome?” she beams, and I shake my head at her.

Before I can say a single word, movement to my right distracts us as Raiden enters the room in a flurry. “That was more than fucking awesome and we both know it,” he insists, eliminating the distance between the two of them as he offers his hand out for her to high-five. Which they do, with a resounding slap.

“I can’t decide if I prefer you two more when you don’t like each other,” I state, amusement teasing the corner of my lips as I try to bite back my smile, but fail miserably.

“Please, you love it about as much as he loves being the joint favorite,” Nora retorts with a snort, making Raiden scoff.

“Joint? That’s not what you said back at the castle. You said new favorite. You can’t backtrack on me now,” he insists, wagging a finger at her while I continue to stand awkwardly at the door like the third wheel.

“I can say what I like. Did you see what I did? I killed it. Well, them. I killed them, and it was epic,” Nora insists, basking in the afterglow of her magic.

“What even happened? I can’t wrap my head around it,” I ask, moving around the other side of the bed so I can lace my fingers with hers.

“Raiden just told me to focus, and Flora held my hand. She was trying to explain how she used her defensive magic, and I gave it a try, it was just… intense. Then I was exhausted, and now I’m here. That’s about all I’ve got for you.”

“Well, I don’t think you need to be aiming to drain yourself like that every time there’s an attack, Nora.” Her mouth parts, ready to interject, and I raise my hand. “The part you played today was immense, and you’re right, you’re both right, I need to accept that you’re grown and can make your own decisions. But we can’t act recklessly because of that. If you want to defend the kingdom, we have to figure out what your magic actually entails, where your limits are, and what we can teach you physically. None of that is going to happen overnight, but if you want to pursue this, those are the measures we need to take first.”

Silence descends over the room as they both stare at me, blinking as they process my words.

“Are you saying I can do this again?” Nora asks slowly, and I nod.

“But you need training first. Today was monumental for sure, but you still exhausted yourself enough to knock yourself out and that’s something I would prefer to avoid going forward.”

Her eyes well with unshed tears as she squeezes my hand tight. “Thank you, Addi. Thank you for hearing me, not just listening, but actually hearing. I won’t let you down.”

I shake my head. “It’s not about letting me down. It’s never going to be about that. I just want you safe. More than that, I want you happy. If this is what that looks like, I can figure it out.”

“When are you going to thank me? I risked your sister's wrath for this. I deserve a pat on the back,” Raiden interjects with a pointed look, and Nora snickers.

“You were awesome, Fangs. Thank you.”

“You’re—”

Brody appears in the room, face pale as he looks from Nora to Raiden, to me, back to Raiden, before finally settling on me.

“What’s wrong?” I blurt, panic seeping into my bloodstream as I watch his pupils turn to pin pricks.

“I ran the blood.”

“You have the results already?” Raiden asks, eyebrows raised in surprise as Brody nods. “If you tell me it’s your father, I’m going to be stunned because there’s no way in hell the vampires would?—”

“It’s you, Raiden. Their blood is linked to you.”