Marius removed his hand from his sister’s, taking in their surroundings. They hadn’t shadowed directly to the trading post but rather to a nearby forest where Sebastian had previously been.
At first, it looked like any other Eleytan forest. Towering pines wore white coats, snow was piled beneath their feet, and a bitter breeze blew past.
But the longer Marius stood there, the more he realized something was wrong. The forest was unnaturally silent. There were no hooting owls, no singing birds, no howling wolves. There was nothing at all.
The hairs on the back of Marius’s neck stood on end, and he shivered.
Luna and Sebastian glanced at each other, and the king clenched his fist.
Marius inhaled, and the full wrongness of the situation hit him as the scent of death slammed into him. He would never forget the First’s putrid aroma. The fact that the ancient creature’s scent was here, in the absolute middle of nowhere, meant nothing good.
A sense of unease settled upon him, and awhooshingof wind came from his left as both vampires released their wings. The dark appendages spread out behind the powerful duo.
Sebastian drew in a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he turned in a slow circle. The royal vampire exuded strength every day, but a violent, predatory aura rippled off him right now. He was in his element, one with the night, a king of the land, and nothing would stand in his way.
“Death has been here.” Sebastian glanced at his wife, his brows furrowed. “I suppose it would be out of the question for me to ask you to stay as far back as possible and let me handle this on my own?”
Luna snorted and shook her head. “You could always ask, but we both know how that would turn out.”
The king sighed as though he was upset, but there was no mistaking the look of affection in his eyes as he bent and kissed her cheek. “I had to ask.”
“You did.” The queen smiled up at him. “I appreciate your efforts to keep me safe, even though they’re futile.”
“It’s a good thing I love you,” Sebastian grumbled.
“A very good thing,” she agreed.
The king grumbled affectionately as he took the lead, plowing a path through the snow. Marius followed him, and Luna trailed them both.
Once, Marius would’ve been insulted by the way they kept him in the middle, clearly wanting to protect him from both sides, but he’d accepted long ago that his sister was far more powerful than he’d ever be.
Between her actions the night Queen Marguerite died and during the Battle of Balance, there was no doubt in Marius’s mind that his sister would go down in history as one of the strongest vampires to ever exist in the Four Kingdoms.
He was incredibly proud of her.
The scent of death intensified as they walked through the woods, and Marius’s mind trailed back to Vivienne. He wished she were here.
His bodyguard would’ve been angrily stomping beside him, glaring at him, and constantly reminding him that this was a bad idea. He would’ve laughed, she would’ve chided him, and hours would’ve felt like minutes.
Gods, he missed her. Was it possible to miss someone he’d only known for such a short time?
A few weeks ago, he would’ve said no. But now…
Now, there was a spot at his side for Vivienne, and her absence was ahole he needed to repair. And he would fix it—the moment they returned to Castle Sanguis.
They hikedfor nearly an hour before the wooden walls of a small, one-story log cabin came into view. A chimney protruded from the roof, but there wasn’t any smoke. Blinds were drawn over the windows, and the front door was shut.
A deep sense of wrongness thickened the air. The scent of death was stronger than ever, and each step felt heavier than the last.
Sebastian halted at the edge of the clearing, his shoulders tense. He held up a hand, the signal clear.
Marius and Luna immediately stopped. She pulled shadows from her hands, and he drew his dagger, his magic thrumming a steady beat in his veins. A warning.
Death lay ahead of them.
Dark wisps streamed from the king’s hands like snakes. They slithered across the snow and slipped inside the building. They weren’t gone for long before they returned to the king.
“Something is wrong,” Sebastian declared, rolling his shoulders. “I’m entering first.”