Alexander looked between Boaz and Manlius, stunned. He had known something was still wrong with him, but he hadn’t thought it was contagious.
“How did that happen?” Blade asked.
“There was an explosion…” Manlius began, but Alexander barely heard the rest.
He was reeling.
He stared down at his hands as if he could see the claws at his fingertips.
A monster lived inside him.
“Will they be okay?” he heard Blade ask. He came to stand next to Alexander, taking his hand.
“We don’t know,” Manlius said. “We have to wait and see. His Majesty healed himself. Maybe they can do the same.”
“Except I didn’t heal myself,” Alexander said. “What’s going to happen now? Their families will probably want me dead.”
“Don’t say that,” Boaz said, his voice soft and sad.
Would it hurt him if he died?
Alexander stared at the werewolf, his heart in his throat. They had only just begun to know each other, but he liked the thought of Boaz caring, of worrying about him.
He stepped closer, drawn in by something he could not control.
“They will,” Manlius said, shattering the moment. “Maybe if we figure out how to heal them, we could appease their families.”
“We need to do it soon. It seems the demons have already started to make their move.”
“What are you talking about?” Boaz asked.
“I had a vision,” Blade said.
“Fuck me,” Manlius muttered, pacing toward the coffin. “This is not a coincidence.”
“No,” Blade said.
The room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at him. Alexander had been dreading this moment. He knew that the second Blade shared his vision, everything would start to unravel.
“Shit,” Manlius muttered. “What did you see?”
“I saw the veil. It had a small opening, like it hadn’t been fully closed, and it was pulling in the blood that dripped from the stake you used to subdue Alexander until it turned to ash. As it did, the opening grew wider, as if the blood was feeding it.”
“Fuck,” Boaz said. He turned and ran up the stairs.
Alexander followed, concern tightening in his chest. He found him in the courtyard, standing still, staring into space as if searching for something.
Alexander stepped toward him but stopped when he heard Manlius and Blade approaching behind them.
“Can you see it now?” Manlius asked.
“No,” Blade said, stepping forward. “I can only see it when I’m having a vision. And I need a strong surge of sexual energy to trigger one.”
Manlius sighed. He turned to Boaz. “We should gather everyone. They need to know what’s going on so they can prepare.”
Then he turned to Blade. “Is there anything else we need to know?”
Blade looked at him, and Alexander gave a small nod.