SEBASTIAN
“This isn’t a good idea,” I warned Luna for the third time as I summoned my wings out of the darkness.
We had been having the same discussion for the past twenty minutes. I glared at the human daring to argue with me, my shadows thrumming in my veins as they begged to be let out.
Luna was incredibly persistent. She crossed her arms, mimicking my posture. “You said Julieta’s body has been sent home, right?”
“Yes.”
Humans in the nearby village had taken care of the cremation of the maid’s remains, and yesterday, Estrella shadowed them back to Ipotha. The elf’s family didn’t need to know what she looked like in her final moments.
“And the room has been… cleaned, right?” Luna asked. “Fleur said it was.”
I groaned. Of course, the new maid had said that. She was human, so she didn’t know that no matter how “clean” the room was, the stink of blood and death would never go away.
“Yes, but—”
“Then we’re going,” she insisted.
“Luna—“
“No, Sebastian. We’re going.” Her eyes widened, and she reached out, placing her hand on my arm. “I need to do this. I can’t just move on as if Julieta never existed. Please.”
It wasn’t as if I didn’t already have people looking into this. During those seventy-two hours when Luna was in that dreadful state of numbness, I sent four of my trusted guards out to search for information. They were still crawling through the castle looking for clues, but they hadn’t found anything yet. I doubted we would either.
But if doing what she asked would keep Luna out of that numb state, then I would give in. For her, I would do anything. Give her anything. I was already starving myself. A little expedition that would probably prove fruitless didn’t seem to be such a big deal in comparison.
“Fine,” I said as my shadows slithered out of me like snakes. “But if I sense anything off, we’re leaving.”
Luna bit her lip, fighting back a smile. “All right.”
She walked toward me, threading her fingers through mine willingly as the shadows came for us both.
* * *
The two red-headedvampires guarding the murder scene, Valerian and Draven, were twins. Loyal to me and no one else, the twins were part of a small, trusted group of vampires that I knew I could rely on.
Gareth, the head commander of the guards at Castle Sanguis, had been less than pleased when I insisted he station the twins outside the empty room to guard it, but he did what he was told.
“Why don’t the two of you get something to eat?” I said to them, wrapping my arm protectively around Luna’s shoulder. She hadn’t said a word since we shadowed here, and I knew this would be hard on her.
I had brought us to the hallway, thinking that if I gave her time, Luna might back out. Now that we were here, I was beginning to realize she probably wouldn’t.
The twins grinned. One of them—I couldn’t tell which one—tilted his head. “Let’s go find Winnie,” he said suggestively, waggling his brows in his brother’s direction.
I wasn’t sure of the story of their Makings—vampire siblings were rare, let alone twins—but the two tended to stick to themselves. They’d proven themselves to me, though, and that was all that mattered.
The other twin made a sound of appreciation. “I do love the way her blood tastes.”
“That’s not the only thing about Winnie that tastes good,” the first twin said, laughing crudely.
I tensed. This conversation was the last thing I wanted to hear right now. Already, my stomach was curling in on itself. The hunger pains were getting worse, and I knew I couldn’t continue to subsist solely on deer’s blood forever.
Blood fed my power, and without it… I didn’t want to know what would happen.
“Go,” I snapped impatiently, waving a hand in the air. “Get out of here.”
The twins gulped, disappearing in a blur as they ran down the hall. When we were alone, I squeezed Luna’s hand. She still hadn’t said anything. “Are you all right?”