Twenty-Six Cameron

The boat rocked to the side as it stalled near the dock. The captain waved me forward. I placed a handful of gold coins in his hand, and he gasped.

“Keep it.” I waved him away and jumped off.

River Bend smelled exactly how I thought it would, a blend of sweat from working in the sun and fish, a shit ton of fish. I moved past a few workers and fishermen, heading toward the main boardwalk. A handful of shops were open, their barkers screaming about prices or sales as I made my way through the crowd. I adjusted the front of my shirt as I spotted a small shop selling handmade bracelets. I pretended to shop, tilting my head a fraction higher, letting the scents and sounds wash over me.

The smell of cooking meats hit me first, followed closely by the scent of the river, then sweat and the musk of trash and piss. I closed my eyes, pretending to rub them as I concentrated harder. My eyes snapped open when I caught the tiniest aroma of cinnamon. Choosing a small pink bracelet, I slipped it onto my wrist and placed another gold coin on the rack. I thanked the woman selling them, picked out the thread of that scent, and began tracking that smell. It led me past rows of shops and stalls selling everything from fruits to weapons. I stopped abruptly before a woman selling small purple fruits. There was the faintest scent in the center where one was missing.

“Would you like one?”

My head tipped, and I inhaled deeply again until I could almost taste that scent. Excitement shivered through me. I was almost positive I was right. Maybe my search was coming to an end. “Have you sold a lot today?”

She shook her head. “No. Someone stole one, and then the city was frenzied for a while. People just slowly started coming out of their homes again.”

“Frenzied?” I asked.

She nodded. “A woman with fire on her hands ran through the streets earlier.”

“She did?” My interest piqued. “Where did she go?”

The vendor pointed behind me. “She ran that way, down the back alleys.”

I handed her a few coins and stepped away. She called her thanks and insisted I take some fruit, but I ignored her, heading toward the alleyways. Her scent hit me as I turned the corner. I followed it past another line of sellers until I ended up staring down a dead-end alley. My eyes were drawn to a perfectly round, burned smudge on the back wall.

I hadn’t realized I’d moved until my fingers rubbed across the dark spot. My heart thumped once, twice, with a loud, thunderous beat as my eyes burned. I didn’t smell anyone else here, just her and the lingering smell of smoke from that burned spot. I wondered if she had taken her anger out over something, or was she just broken without Samkiel? I dropped my hand to my side, sadness gripping my throat in a vise grip as I remembered the last time we were all together at that dinner party. How we’d laughed and joked and how it was over. It was all now burned to ash. Nothing but smudges of memory like the spot on the wall.

“Are you looking for the dark-haired one?”

I turned to see a small woman standing at the end of the alleyway. She carried a bunch of rags and clothes on her hip.

“Do you know her?”

She shook her head before glancing nervously behind her and nodding at me to follow her. She led me further into town, leaving the shops behind. We wove through streets lined with small houses until we reached one I assumed was hers. My guide moved a long, beige tarp away from the door and ducked inside.

“You missed her by a day or so,” she said, placing her basket down and turning to me. She removed her hat, allowing her long brown hair to spill down her back.

“She was here then. What did you see?”

She skirted around a dirty table and started a pot of tea, the aroma filling the small, unkempt place with a measure of warmth.

“I know you’re one of Nismera’s soldiers.”

My brows furrowed. “And how do you know that?”

She peeked at me over her shoulder, studying my face. “Your eyes. You don’t look like that unless you’ve been through something traumatic.”

I said nothing.

“And, of course, you can barely hide the muscles beneath the clothes we wear here. Our fishermen don’t look like that.”

“Where did you see her last?” I asked, brushing off the compliment as she poured a cup of tea and took a sip. I watched her throat work the liquid down, and my heart thudded for a different reason. Fuck. When was the last time I’d fed?

“She was in the main square after the fire,” she said, placing her cup on the table. I saw the vein in her neck throb. I felt the room pulse, but it wasn’t the room. It was the sound of her heart, strong, steady, and full of life. I felt my gums prickle and ran my tongue over the sharpness of my fangs as they emerged. My stomach growled. Or was it me?

“Are you hungry?” she asked, turning back to me. “I’m assuming it’s a long trip here, especially by boat.”

I nodded, forcing a tight-lipped smile that didn’t show my teeth. “What else can you tell me? Where did she go?”

“Oh, yes.” She wiped at her brow. “The others won’t talk, but she left, burst into the sky as a huge, scaled beast. She blocked out the sun for a second, and everyone scrambled. We thought she was circling to burn us all, but she left right before her friends did.”

“Friends?” I asked as she reached for her basket. She nodded, pulling out a sheet and hanging it on a line of wire strung at the back of the room. I stepped closer, crossing my arms across my chest.

“Yeah,” she said, leaning down to gather another sheet, the front of her blouse gaping to expose the top of her breasts. Deep blue veins ran just below the cream of her skin, leading back up to the slender column of her throat. My mouth watered. I clenched my hands and turned my gaze from the temptation. “She had a gentleman with her and a child.”

My head reared back as I absently counted on my fingers. There was no way Samkiel got her pregnant, and if he had, the child would not be walking yet. I shook my head. I already knew the man with her was Reggie. It had to be.

“A child?” I turned back around as she placed a hand on her hip.

“Yeah, cute kid. They seemed like a nice family. The man and girl left on the back of a toruk. I don’t know what direction they went. Like I said, we all went to hide.”

I nodded, placing my hand over my lips and speaking around my fingers. “Thank you.”

“Sure. I’m glad I could help.” She smiled and continued to hang her laundry.

I had to get out of here before I did something I regretted. Maybe I could find something to eat here and travel back before . . . Blood fermented the air right as she cursed.

“Ouch.” She sighed. “I forget to take the pins out sometimes.”

I was in front of her before she moved away from her laundry, gripping her hand in mine.

“What the . . .” Her words died as she saw my face, eyes, and fangs. “No, no, no. You’re one of them!”

A tiny droplet of blood had formed on the pad of her thumb. Her hand hit my arm, trying to get away from me as I placed it in my mouth and sucked. One drop of blood and my entire nervous system went into overdrive. It always reminded me of when Logan and I’d stolen sweets and eaten way too many. My whole body would tingle, only this felt so much better.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, dropping her hand and going for her throat.

“ARE YOU CALLING ME?” I SNEERED, THE REFLECTIVE DISK IN MY HAND shimmering.

“Did you find anything?” Kaden replied.

I glanced at the woman near my feet. The twin puncture marks glared at me, her lifeless eyes staring toward the door as if waiting for help that would never come. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, wishing I didn’t still savor the taste of her blood. I’d found something, all right. I’d found I was just as much a monster as he was.

“Nope,” I lied. “Not a thing.”

“Hmm.” Kaden ran a hand over his face. “She must have gone further north than I thought.”

“Must have.” I absently scratched my head. “I’ll head back now, then.”

“No.” The word was curt, and even without fully seeing him, I could tell he checked around before speaking next. “I need you to keep looking, but also have an ear out.”

“For what?”

“I want to know why Nismera has a vial of Isaiah’s blood and why there is an empty one with my name on it. I want to know what my sister has been up to these last few centuries and what she’s planning.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up, but I covered it with a cough. “Sorry, but you’re telling me the diabolical Kaden doesn’t trust his equally diabolical evil sister? There’s a joke about karma in there somewhere.”

“Cameron.”

I glared at the blood on my sleeve and rubbed at it as if I could erase it. “Can’t you just fuck the hot witch since you can’t have Dianna right now and get answers?”

“Cameron.”

“Hmm?”

“If you become useless to me, I will kill you. Again.”

The line went silent.

I flipped it off before placing it back in my pocket and rolling my eyes. Well, that went great. Sighing, I looked down at the woman crumpled on the ground. Blood no longer flowed from the twin puncture marks on her throat, and still, my stomach rumbled for more. I took a calming breath, then another, before lifting her into my arms.

“Let’s get you a proper burial, love.”

I turned from the house that was more of a shack and snuck out the back toward the woods. Hunger was at the top of my list of problems. I couldn’t tell Kaden, and even if I did, he wouldn’t help. I needed to find Dianna, beg for forgiveness, and hope she’d help me long enough to find Xavier. She could kill me after that. I just needed to find him.