My mouth fell open.
Roane poured himself a drink, his shoulders tense. "You wanted a hiatus away from this world. I gave that to you. I dealt with the things you didn't want to think about. And your best friend signed up for this gig. She wanted to spy on Blue. She wanted to find Lucan. Unlike you, Kates won't sit back and let things happen to you. She wants to help stop it. Your best friend was looking out for you."
I was about to argue when someone knocked on the door. Both of us turned, but when Gregory looked inside the concern was evident on his face. Roane set aside his glass. "What is it?"
The Viking vampire's eyes darted between us. "We've encountered a scout."
The air in the room shifted. Roane was no longer annoyed. Gregory seemed apologetic and I was stupefied. Roane was out the door before I could think anything else. "I need to deal with this. We'll talk tonight."
The door closed on the last of his message. Okay, it slammed. And I was the irritated one now. Always keeping stuff from me. Before there had been an incoming of Roane warriors, now there was a scout. It all meant the same thing, something that I hadn't had the time to share. The Roane army was close. When I'd zapped in and out from Tracey, my senses knew that they were close. I'd heard the university's tower bell chime in the distance, but I'd been distracted by Talia's ghost and the bag.
A part of me wanted to zap myself to follow Roane, but he would've sensed me. It didn't matter. Lucas didn't want me there and I couldn't do anything to raise further suspicion. So I perused my bedroom once again, but alone this time. The bed was enormous. That wasn't surprising. Roane kept the best for those closest to him and a goliath-sized bed didn't shock me anymore. The silk sheets, the chiffon curtains. All of it set the mood. The image of me with Roane entangled together on those sheets popped in my head. It was so vivid, I had to take a breath and cool down.
"Whatcha thinking, best friend?" Kates drawled. She was propped against the doorframe.
I rolled my eyes and looked for the bathroom. "I'm thinking that it's going to get ugly real soon."
Kates narrowed her eyes and straightened. "You're different. Why are you different?"
Because I was sick and tired of the lies. And because Roane was right. I had no one else to blame. I'd wanted to turn a blind eye. I hadn't wanted to deal with a lot of things. My best friend was one of them and I knew her better than anyone.
"So." I took a deep breath and sat on the bed. When I raised my eyes, I went inside of her. Kates could feel me, but I didn't care. I wanted her to be uncomfortable. "Are you on his side?"
Her green eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?"
"You know."
"I don't."
I knew she was trying to shake me out. It didn't work. "You went to Lucan. You're back. Whose side are you on?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"I think you might be kidding us. You still love Lucan. It's why you went to him. I know it. You know it. I'm not sure if Lucas remembers it. Did you come back to work for him now?"
We stared at each other. Neither of us blinked.
And then Kates threw her arms in the air. "Are you kidding me? You're my best friend. I betrayed the man I loved for you. What do you think? That I'd double cross you this time?"
"Yes."
She drew back. "You think I would betray you?"
"Knowing that I can't die? Yes. Knowing that whatever he has planned probably won't work. Yes. I think you would promise him the moon to get him to take you back."
"I can't believe you." She shook her head. "You think that I'd hand you over?"
"Is that why he sent you back?" My eyes narrowed and I felt how calm her heart was. The beat was steady, on rhythm. There was no erratic pulse. It didn't speed up or panic. And I wasn't sure what that told me, but I knew Kates. I knew what she was capable of. "Or why he allowed you to come back?"
She froze and I had my answer. The guilt was there. It felt like my question had been a key and it slid into the lock. A perfect fit.
Kates knew it too. The fight left her the next moment. "I never had any intentions of actually going against you. If I had to choose between you two, I would choose you. I always have."
"You didn't before."
She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her forehead. "You were never, it was never you or him. I thought you were on the sidelines. But then I realized who you were and that it was you Lucan wanted. I made my choice. I made the same choice when I walked back into here."
"But Lucan thinks—"
"Yes." The admission ripped out of her. "He thinks that you trust me and I can convince you to go back with me."
"Were you intending to tell Roane this?"
Kates shuddered and shook her head. "Do you know what he would do to me? If he thought that there was a chance I'd turn on you? You and I both know he'd slaughter me. And he'd do it with a grin on his smug face."
"You love that same smug face."
"As do you!" She surged to her feet.
I gritted my teeth. "Lucas doesn't want to kill me. He's not some psycho who tried to start a civil war to overthrow some decree."
She laughed and threw her arms wide in the air. "Are you listening to yourself? Have you looked around? I've been here five minutes and it already feels like old times."
"What do you mean?"
"Another war's been declared. It's just not from the smug face I like to kiss." Then she quieted. "Lucas might have different intentions, but he's doing the same thing Lucan did. They're brothers, Davy. They're not that different."
My eyes bulged out and my heart started to race. I felt the anger rise in me. "Lucas is nothing like Lucan."
Kates laughed to herself. "Look at us. 'My boyfriend's better than yours.' Really? That's what we've been reduced to?"
I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. No matter what she did, I always knew Kates wouldn't want me hurt. She'd push the limits and betray me, but not if it meant that I'd get hurt. That was the final straw with her and I knew it. I still didn't trust her when it came to Lucan. If she could find a way to do what he wanted and be with him where I wouldn't get hurt then she'd do that first. My saving grace was that Lucan did want to kill me, or at least take the thread from me and that would kill me.
Would it? Sireenia had the thread forced out of her. It had killed her, but I was the Immortal. What would happen if someone tried that with me?
"Who are you?"
I pulled away from my thoughts and saw Gavin in the doorway. A mask of contempt was on his face, mixed with hostility. My heart sank. He had heard every word we said.
Gavin narrowed his eyes. I felt the disgust in his voice. "Roane called. He wanted you to know that he won't be back till morning." He raked his eyes over Kates with a sneer on his face. "Something came up."
My best friend smirked and stretched. Her arms stretched wide and lifted her chest up. The entire movement was provocative. "You're new. Whose bed are you staying in tonight?"
"Kates!"
She snorted. "Like he didn't expect some slutty remark from me. From the first word he overheard, he labeled me a whore. Right, whoever you are?"
"This is Roane's best friend."
"I'm Gavin." There was nothing on his face. It was void of emotion now.
"Well la di da." Kates sounded bored. Her eyes flashed at him. "You can go back to your best buddy and report my lie to him. I'm sure he'll be even more indebted to you."
With a growl, Gavin was across the room in a flash. I blinked once and saw him holding Kates against the wall with a hand to her throat. She stared at him in a heated challenge, but no snippy comments passed her lips. They continued to glare at the other.
I cleared my throat. "Put her down?"
My best friend smirked. "He would, but he's enjoying it. Aren't you? You didn't expect to be turned on? And by a vampire slayer too?" Then she grunted and slammed an elbow into his face. The positions were reversed in the next second, but Gavin didn't fight back. He wasn't lifted in the air as she had been, but he stood there. His eyes never left hers.
I felt Kates' surprise as she let go and stepped back.
Then Gavin looked at me. "If you need anything, lift the receiver and speak into it. They'll get whatever you need. Roane wanted you to be comfortable."
As Gavin left, I glanced at Kates and saw a look that I'd never seen on her face. Perplexion.
I grinned as I sat on the bed. "That was fun to watch."
"What?" She rolled her shoulders back, but her eyes were lost.
"Maybe Lucan's not the one for you after all?"
Kates crossed to the bar and poured herself a drink. She downed it in one swallow. "Don't go all fairytale romantic on me. That vampire is definitely not 'the one' for me. He's not 'the one' for anyone. Don't you feel it from him?"
"Feel what?"
She poured another drink. "He's cold to the bone, Davy. He might look pretty on the outside and seem flashy, but he's dark. If I were to choose between him and Lucan, I'll always go Lucan. He's not as dangerous as that one."
I'd never seen Kates this rattled so I slipped inside of her and felt her confusion. She was frozen to the bone and I retreated out of her. It gave me the chills.
"I'm going to go." Kates moved to the door.
"Where are you going?"
She lifted haunted eyes to me. "I'll be back. He's right or Roane's right. Sleep. He'll draw the army away. That's what he's doing right now. You and I go back to Benshire University tomorrow." She flashed me a wolfish grin. "I wonder how Emily's going to welcome me back?"
The joke fell flat. "Where are you going?"
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Kates, where are you going? I know that you're going to do something not-good right now. What is it?"
With a hand already on the doorknob, she smiled at me. An odd ray of honesty shone bright from her. I blinked back tears from the power of it.
Her smile turned down at the ends. "I know that I'm not a great person, but I will always be a good friend to you. I will never let you get hurt. Ever. But right now, I have to go do my own thing. I'll be back in the morning. I'm your cover story, Davy. You were gone to help me. I'm sure Roane will have everything in place by tomorrow morning so our story will check out."
She left before I could respond and I was left to sit by myself. I felt more alone at that moment than I'd ever felt my whole life.
Wren emerged from the forest behind him and scanned the horizon before them. They were ten miles from town. Lights glimmered behind them and a vast darkness spread out before them. A sneer formed at her lips when she drew beside him. "Tracey's two miles away. I can smell her."
Roane already knew where they were. He couldn't smell a past lover, but he felt them. Their army was intense, built on fury and lies. Some of them were confused. Those vampires followed their leader because they'd been told to, but a majority believed in finding the Immortal and destroying her. He could smell their fear, though many of them weren't aware how deep their terror lay inside of them.
"Jacith is behind this. He's not with them, but his influence is strong over them."
Wren glanced at him. "You think he knows?"
"No." Roane was void of any emotion. "He doesn't know what she is, but he fears it anyways. He knows something has happened. He's stirred something in them, made them fear for their lives if she lives. I don't know if it's from words or magic, but I can feel him among them."
"He's powerful. Maybe he's seen into her already?"
The sword felt heavy slung across his back, but it was where Roane wanted it. Close at hand and ready for when it would be used to kill. He just wasn't ready to kill thousands of what used to be his army.
"Lucas."
Wren surprised him when she spoke his first name. He felt into her, an ability that he'd developed from being intimate with Davy. The vampiress was also scared, but she was in longing. "Go to Tracey. I want her on my side."
"I don't think she'll be converted."
"She will. Tell her that Talia is trying to communicate with the new thread-holder. Tracey will come then."
He felt her shock.
He added, "If she knows that her sister is with us, she'll know that she fights for the wrong side. She can help us."
"And if she doesn't? If she turns on me?"
"She won't with you. If she chooses the Roane Family, she'll send you away, but she'll make sure you're safe."
Wren nodded and left. She moved with a grace that made her invisible and one of the best warriors he had trained. There'd been a moment when he had thought she would've chosen to be at Tracey's side, not his, but now as he watched her vanish into the forest, he was grateful for her loyalty. She was one of his best warriors.
She hadn't been gone long before he felt another's approach. Before Gavin spoke, Roane knew he'd seen Kates.