19 Zinnar

I cannot find my father, but the threat is still in the building because the royal guards have locked it down.

Twelve guard teams hunt the castle for the invisible traitors who look to steal more of our precious metals by the way they’re tossing the place. I know what swords and vases should be in each area. Anything made of Palladium is missing.

I pull the goggles from a pocket between my pleats and join the search, hoping that my father has gone into hiding and not been taken by the Nebs.

My bedroom is trashed like all the others. I panic and check my nightstand. The snow globe still sits upright by the lamp, but I take it, wrap it in a blanket from the bed, and hide it. It will remind me now of two women I have loved—my mother and Rosalynn.

We search for an hour, maybe more, and find nothing but more broken items. No Nebulous soldiers show on my goggles. And my father is still nowhere to be found.

Voices leave a nearby room.

“Do you have any grenade launchers in this armory?” It sounds like Elix.

“Second drawer down on the left. What is that thing?” Joltas asks.

What are they doing here?

“A weapon of mass destruction. I am going to burn out some retinas or at least scorch some nasal passages, I hope.”

Rosalynn?

I start back toward the armory as she charges out, goggles over her eyes, and firing canisters of smoke into the shadows.

Elix, Aryssa, Bai’rin, and Joltas have formed their own team and light up the halls with colorful smoke bombs that reek of cologne.

My eyes burn and I suddenly understand what Rosa was saying. The team scatters through the hallways, joining up with other guard forces.

“They’re here!” she calls out. “I can smell them! Burnt toast!”

Coughs echo through the room. Castle guards cover their faces and charge into the darkness. Flashlights bounce wild beams through the arches. And my guards start to take down the enemy one-by-one.

Then blue rocket fire dives up the corridor, blasting pottery to pieces and scorching stone walls.

Rorlin returns fire with Bai’rin and the others. But Rosa, who’s appeared out of nowhere—something I’m still in shock over—is completely vulnerable.

I sprint to her and pull emergency panels off of the walls, forming them up into a makeshift shield. I curl around her and summon the panels to us.

The metal forms a dome just in time to take a string of bullets.

An acrid scent of Neb weapons stings my nostrils and I cover my nose with my cloak. Beneath me, Rosa’s wearing a gas mask and grinning like she’s never been happier.

“What are you doing here?”

The mask muffles her response. “Helping you!”

We huddle under my makeshift shield as the gunfire cuts through the colonnade.

“It’s definitely Nebulous soldiers,” Bai’rin says. “But I don’t see the killer here.”

When he grunts in pain, I peek out. His eyes are watering. “Stars in Hannah what is that shit?”

Rosalynn cackles and gets to her feet. She’s not bothered by the rancid and burnt mixture in the air when she takes her mask off. “It’s a combination of Rising Celestial Musk and Sandalwood Seduction, probably the two worst scents ever created. In combination, they’re basically deadly—to a soul.”

Bai’rin nods. “I can feel my ghost leaving my body. Thanks for that.”

Rosa grins and looks over at Elix and Aryssa who’ve joined us with guns in hand but still choke a little on the fumes. “Told you I’d gas them out. You didn’t heed the warning.”

I chuckle at her sass.

“Nice shield magnetism trick, by the way.” She leans against me like she’s tired. “I didn’t want to leave you behind. I don’t want to be royalty and all that formal stuff. But I know you don’t either. And as pushy as your guards were, they couldn’t keep me from you. I didn’t want you to be here alone, in this place, hunting a killer.”

“It’s personal.”

“It’s a deadly decision to not have backup. I never left a coworker to walk home alone,” she says. “And they always did the same for me. I cannot count the times that has saved my ass or theirs from being robbed or randomly punched, raped, or worse.”

She hands off a few canisters to the others who gather around us. “Just a heads up, there’s paint in that, so their ghostcloaks won’t be able to hide them.”

“You’re saying, you came back for me? Even with our pact dissolved?”

“When I first saw you standing over me, felt your hand in mine, I was in love. A sexy hunk like you? Who wouldn’t be?” She shrugs. “Then I saw the other girl and realized you were just being nice. And that made me love you even more. And despite the interest in your eyes, you stuck with the one you picked, and I respected you for that.”

“Why were you so hesitant then when I came for you?”

“Because I was really turned around,” she says. “I’d fallen for you hard in the briefest of moments, then was crushed by this rejection, chased after, shot at, and then you found me and turned my emotions back around again. I was just spinning in circles.”

A thunder of gun blasts lights up a corridor. Smoke wafts out as we turn to look. Azir and Odren peek out along with Bai’rin.

“Hallways are clear,” Bai’rin says. “Rorlin has your father. He’s alright, but he’s relinquishing command. He’s in the medical wing.”

I draw Rosa under an arm. “Ready to meet the king?”

“I’ll follow you anywhere.” She motions for me to lead. As we start walking, I feel a warmth slide over my ass.

Rosa growls and gives it a squeeze. “Just promise we get time alone after this.”

My heart races at the idea of her wanting me. “Definitely.”