Thirty-Four Cameron

Moans filled the air. Whoever was behind the wall sounded as if they’d gotten their organs rearranged, but I didn’t care as long as it drowned out what I was doing. I stood up, his body at my feet. I took a deep breath and wiped a hand across my face.

My eyes adjusted to the dark room, and I inhaled deeply, filling my nostrils with the smell of sex, smoke, and booze before the scent of death coated the air. I slid my fingers through my hair, the short strands sticking up from the blood I had just wiped on myself. I looked at the bodies scattered around me and couldn’t stop the sick laugh that exploded from my lips or how my eyes welled with tears.

I had done that. I had killed them because I was so fucking hungry.

My pocket vibrated again. I knew who was calling. That damn mirror was worse than a phone. I ignored it as I had several times before and stared out over the dark water, unable to look at what I had done. I had jumped on board this ship when it docked at River Bend a week ago, tracking down a lead. Only I was stupid and hadn’t realized it was headed to another major port and was filled with too many rich drunk aristocrats that wanted to fuck their way back to wherever the hell they’d come from. The man at my feet was the one I had come to see. He claimed to have seen a toruk flying south across the evening sky.

I blew out a breath, frustrated at information that made no sense and pointed me in too many directions.

My pocket buzzed once more. I reached in and grabbed the obsidian stone, throwing it at the wall with all my might. It didn’t smash against the wood as I so desperately wanted it to. Instead, a fist closed around it, stopping its forward momentum.

“So you have been ignoring it,” Kaden said, his voice filled with anger.

“What a massacre,” Isaiah said, stepping out of the shadows. Imogen followed him, and my breath died in my lungs.

“What are you doing with her?” I hadn’t realized I was in Isaiah’s face until Kaden placed a hand on my chest.

Isaiah laughed. “Get your bitch in line, Kaden, before I rip him to pieces.”

“Both of you,” Kaden said, pushing me back, “calm the fuck down.”

“Why do you have her?” I asked again, unable to look away from Imogen. She just stared straight ahead, her blue eyes so far away it broke my fucking heart. I had been avoiding her because I couldn’t look at her, couldn’t see her, without needing to take her away from this, to save her. If I did that, I knew I’d be locked up somewhere and skinned alive. Then, I’d never be able to save them. I had to find Dianna.

“I’m the only thing keeping her safe,” Isaiah said.

“Bullshit!” I spat. “You, like him, only give a shit about what you can own or use. There isn’t an ounce of care in you.”

Kaden’s fist connected with my face, and I stumbled back. I caught myself and spat dark blood on the deck. “Oh, my mistake. I guess you do care about one brother.”

“I’ve been calling you.”

I rubbed my jaw as it healed. “Yeah? Well, go fuck yourself. I haven’t found anything.”

“I don’t believe that,” Kaden said, stepping closer to me. “I think you have, and you’re chasing it. So I’m going to ask you once, then I’m going to take something you love very much.”

My chest heaved because I knew the evil bastard would.

“Someone said they saw her on the back of a toruk headed east again. I was following that.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, just twisted enough that he wouldn’t sense it.

“A toruk?” Isaiah said. “Wasn’t that a gift for Mera?”

Kaden nodded. “It was.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Kaden looked at his brother and then back at me. “It means that fate is keeping Dianna one step ahead of us all.”

“Mera has to know, Kaden.”

My blood chilled. I had lied to save her, but I may have damned her.

“I know, but we will worry about that later. It’s time to go home.” Kaden slapped me on the back before raising a hand and opening a portal. Before we stepped through, he said, “Clean that up, Isaiah.”

Isaiah scoffed, but I watched him raise his hand. The blood on the floor seeped back into the bodies before they rose, their eyes swirling red. I had a second to process what Isaiah was capable of and what he was going to make them do before Kaden pushed me through the portal, and it closed behind us.

WE ARRIVED BACK AT NISMERA’S PALACE, PASSING A FEW GUARDS before Kaden pushed me into an alcove.

I smacked his hands off me and fixed the front of my shirt, adjusting the buckles across my chest. “Hey, I get it. I’m even hotter as an Ig’Morruthen, but this isn’t going to happen,” I said to him.

His face darkened, and I wondered if he was about to split my head in two. “Shut up,” he snarled and slapped me across the head.

I felt my eyes flare red, but I just chuckled. “Listen, all I’m saying is everyone is a little gay. We’ve all sucked dick before. We’re immortal. It’s normal, but I won’t be your willing sex slave like Dianna.”

“Cameron, if you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you here and now.” He held his hands close to my face in half-clenched fists, his claws extending.

I put my hands up in mock surrender. “Well, what’s the secret meeting in a dark part of the castle for then?”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he sneered, too damn close to me.

“About which part?” I smiled back. “You have to be more specific.”

“You leave bodies across every fucking world you touch. You think I wouldn’t know? Wouldn’t smell it on your fucking breath?”

“Then I suggest backing up,” I said, not backing down for a second. My blood thrummed in my ears, my pulse quickening. Kaden took a step back.

“How careless are you trying to be? Ig’Morruthen or not, she will have your head. She is too close to a summit and will not tolerate any fuck ups.”

“Oh, it’s so sweet you care.” I threw him a closed smile. “Since you showed me how to feed once and left.”

His brows furrowed, his lips turning upwards. “I thought the instructions were pretty clear. Feed, erase their memories, and be gone. Not drain.”

“I’m starving,” I practically yelled. Kaden slapped a hand over my mouth, pushing me back further.

“Shut up,” he hissed.

I just waited. He dropped his hand when he realized I wasn’t saying anything back. “I’m starving. I can’t even change forms. Did you know that? I have zero idea how to do it. That’s what took me so long to even get to River Bend.”

Kaden shook his head, rubbing a hand across his brow. “It’s not my fault you’re defective.”

“You’re a dick,” I snapped. “And a terrible maker. No wonder Dianna left the second she had a chance.”

His eyes bled red before he punched me square in the gut. I didn’t even have time to breathe before he grabbed me by the back of my neck and shoved me out of the alcove. He dragged me down the hall, the guards watching. He stopped in front of Nismera’s war room, and his hand tightened on my collar as he leaned in close to whisper, “I’d suggest you tell her the truth. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to Xavier.”

He didn’t give me time to respond before opening the door and shoving me through. Every eye turned toward us. Nismera stood with Vincent at her side, the members of The Order looking more than stressed.

“Cameron here has a lead, my king, and I think you will want to hear it.”

Nismera glared at me and said, “Well, let’s hear it then.”

The war room doors closed behind us, and I was reminded again that Kaden wasn’t the worst thing in the world, not compared to her.