It was killing me to know that it wasn’t time to go back. I had to be strong enough, trained enough, resourceful enough to actually succeed—instead of dying in the attempt, or worse, getting my sister killed like I had when I’d left Rogue to rot in the Scorched Wastes.
I tore my gaze from the mirror. I couldn’t stand looking at myself.
My pulse spiked in my neck. Someone had entered the penthouse. The vampire prince’s power flared like a match striking in a dark room.
I was still getting used to this ability—sensing magical signatures. The ambient hum of the fortress’spopulation was like the distant sound of surf. But the heirs’ magic lit up like stars in the night sky, each one distinct and impossible to ignore.
My blood raced. Nerves and anticipation wound through me.
With Nikolai’s presence came the smell of food drifting through the bathroom door. My stomach answered with a growl. I dried off quickly, cinched the chest-bind into place, pulled on a set of soft men’s casual wear, and opened the bathroom door.
Nikolai leaned against the back of a loveseat, one ankle crossed over the other, watching the bathroom door like he’d been counting the seconds.
He was still in uniform—oxblood was the vampires’ signature color, with twin gold stripes at the collar and shoulder boards marking his rank as heir and general. The Sagittarius crest caught the low light. He’d been working hard. I could see tension in his shoulders, the slight crease between his dark brows. But fatigue did nothing to diminish him. If anything, it stripped away the polished veneer and left the raw architecture beneath, hard angles and clean lines, the aristocratic nose, those crimson eyes that tracked me with dark fascination. As if he saw something he’d been waiting for, and finding it better than he’d imagined.
“Aren’t you looking fetching, Max?” he purred.
Heat crept up my neck, but I was pleased that I no longer reeked.
“Thank you. Food and a bath can work wonders, sir.”
“Of course.” He smiled and tilted his chin toward the dining table. “Go eat, Max.”
The table was set with several covered plates. I lifted the lids and my mouth went liquid. Seared steak. Coconut cauliflower rice. Greens with garlic bread. And at the end: fresh chunks of mango and two slices of cheesecake.
In the mine, protein was a rumor. Bread was always stale. As a cadet, I ate regular mess: sandwiches, corn, beans, potatoes, but never steak. Never fruit this fresh.
I ate every bite. But this time, I paced myself. Used a knife and fork instead of my hands. Chewed with my mouth closed. Set my utensils down between bites the way I’d learned from Thane and other officers.
Nikolai watched me from the loveseat, and I didn’t mind. Not like last time, when I’d been half-feral with starvation and he’d had the decency to leave the room. Now I wanted him to see that I was civilized. That the miner could learn. That I had potential beyond swinging a pickaxe.
The cheesecake nearly made me moan, but I contained it.
“How are you settling in?” Nikolai asked, crossing to pour himself a glass from a crystal decanter. Wine or blood, I still couldn’t tell.
“Everything’s fine.” I wiped my fingers on a napkin and looked up from the last slice of mango. “I’m catching up.”
I didn’t mention the empty seats at my table in the mess hall. The whispered “warlock” that followed me like a bad scent. No one had attacked me, but shunning was its own kind of bloodless war.
Nikolai studied me over the rim of his glass. He said nothing for a moment, reading whatever I wasn’t saying.
“Anything else you need?”
“I have everything I need, sir. Thank you.”
A pause. Then, softer: “You can call me Nikolai when we’re alone.”
My pulse stuttered. I busied myself with the last bite of mango. “When are the others coming back?”
His lips curved. “Miss them?”
“No!” I winced at my own volume. “Everyone’s concerned about the next attack. Prince Aelindor said there’d be more coming.”
The teasing vanished from his face. For a second, something grim surfaced behind those crimson eyes, the look of a commander carrying intelligence he couldn’t share. Then it was gone.
“They’ll be back soon, but I don’t know when.” He took a slow sip from his glass. “And you’ll be protected, Max. I’ll make sure of it.”
“I don’t need to be protected.” I set my fork down harder than intended. “I’m a cadet. I’m training for battle.”