Page 111 of The Prince's Curse

“Shh,” Misha urged. He tapped his chest, then his ear.

Two heartbeats. They were fine for the moment.

He stared intently, wishing he could hear whatever was going on. Shoshanna’s lips moved without making a sound, and the markings on her arms glowed. But she remained still, and Scarlett looked frozen in time. If not for her heartbeat, Julian would have feared she was dead.

The arcane markings glowed brighter and brighter, almost painful to gaze upon. Finally, Julian nudged Misha and silently put up his hands in a questioning gesture. Misha shrugged, then tapped his chest again before flashing two fingers.

Two heartbeats.

It was agonizing to wait, but he held back his impatience. They were still working at one in the morning, when he received an update from Paris. They’d thoroughly investigated both of the Charlotte safehouses and found no sign of Armina. Having learned from Carrigan Shea, they’d even circled back to Armina’s mansion. Someone had been there since they left, but it was currently empty. Phoebe and Alistair were still on the road to Virginia.

Around two-thirty, Olivia sent him a brusque message.

Olivia

Avery Martin saw this near the Constitution Building. He sent me this about ten minutes ago.

Three pictures and a video followed, clearly taken from above.The red brick building still lay in ruins after their raid on Carrigan Shea’s court. Half a dozen police cars and ambulances were parked nearby, lights flashing. Avery’s voice was quiet on the video. “Dead bodies. Two, maybe three. And I smell vampires. Not us,” he said. “Just heard someone say it looked like they were bitten.”

Julian sighed. This was what they got for being grateful for a quiet night. He called Olivia, who answered quickly.“I told him to stay put and watch. What else?”

“That was the right thing,” he said. With the Nightwatch spread out to investigate Armina’s safehouses, Olivia was acting as a dispatcher for the evening. “Is anyone else available?”

“Dominic is free,” she said. “I’ll send him that way if you want.”

“Tell them to keep their distance from the police. If this is more of those zombied-out vampires, I don’t want them tangling with it, especially Avery,” Julian said.

He was pacing in the hall when he heard Shoshanna gasp, then blurt, “I’m fine. Check on her.”

He nearly ran into the door in his hurry to get back, where he found Shoshanna squirming as Misha held her hands firmly. The glowing marks on her arms were painfully bright, and seemed to be burning her, judging by the way her fingers twisted and clenched in open air.

Kova knelt by Scarlett, who was breathing raggedly, but still lay flat on her back. Fraught with fear, Julian knelt next to her and took her hand. “Is she all right?” Cupping her cheek, he found her skin clammy and cool to the touch. “Scarlett?”

For one awful moment, he remembered the way she felt when she went cold, something he had felt more than any man should ever have done.

“Scarlett,” he said insistently. His voice trembled. “Is she?—”

“She’s breathing,” Kova said gently.

Misha put a hand on his back. “She’s had enough of the pagos to put her to sleep for a while, and magic takes a toll. She’s fine.”

“What did you find?” Julian asked.

Shoshanna was still scrubbing at her arms, covering them in a floral-scented balm. “I need a few minutes to stabilize myself. Why don’t you take her to one of the guest rooms and let her rest? Then we can talk.”

He nodded and carefully lifted her. In her drugged daze, she nestled into his chest. Savoring the rare, unguarded moment, he smiled and crept down the hall to one of the guest rooms.

Maneuvering carefully, he pulled back the covers with one hand, then laid her down and combed her hair away from her face. Her eyes fluttered, but she didn’t wake.

“I can’t lose you again,” he said quietly. With solemn reverence, he bowed his head and kissed her brow, then pulled the quilt up to her shoulders. When he returned to the workshop, he found it empty, but heard the low voices from downstairs.

In the kitchen, Shoshanna sat at the kitchen island while Kova filled a kettle for her. “She’s all right, isn’t she?” she asked.

Julian nodded. “I think so. I hope so. What did you find?”

“I was able to communicate with one of the fati aranaeum,” she said. “My friend Ursula,” she added with a laugh. When Kova gave her a quizzical look, she shook her head and said, “Long story. The spirits are very insistent that they aren’t supposed to meddle with fate; fate flows as it will, and their job is to maintain the web. However, they also have not forgotten that Armina Voss and her apprentices bound them into contracts that corrupted their purpose. And they are very good at finding loopholes to set things right.”

“Shoshanna, please speak plainly for your colleague who knows little about magic,” Julian said.

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