Page 66 of Wicked Thirst
“Awake.” Tucker finished for me. “My sources tell me he’s awake. We have to go now.”
“Good. Now leave me here to die with this madness.” Morpheus threw his arm over his face with all the drama of a 1950’s actress.
“Greeks can’t die . . . can they?” I couldn’t remember if anyone had told me that little fact or not.
“No.” Tucker turned for the door. “But one can dream.”
“I can hear you, asshole,” Morpheus bellowed, yet still he didn’t get out of the bed.
“I meant for you to hear me, prick,” Tuck called back.
The rest of us followed him out, leaving Morpheus to groan and recover on his own. “You love me, really”
Tuck looked to the sky and groaned. “No, no I really don’t.”
Zinnia still hadn’t dropped my arm. “Now, tell me, what do we need?”
“I really hate to say it, but I think I need Kylian.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THEON
“And this is where I find you?” Marius strolled up to me, motioning to me as I sat here. I didn’t have the energy or patience to even look at him. What he’d done would affect us all from now on. Our lives would forever be changed because of him. The Night Spawn would live at the razor’s edge, and if he kept on going with this treachery, it would be war—a war we did not want or need. He glanced around with a heavy sigh, looking as if finding me here was such a boring disappointment to him. “Not surprising. You always were rather . . . emotional.”
I turned my face away from him and gazed out over the graveyard where I’d buried my family so long ago. My parents had loved me, my brother had loved me, and yet my maker, whom I spent over a century with, never had. I’d spent years devoted to him, thinking we were working together to help the Night Spawn. Now I could see his selfishness and it disgusted me. I shifted my weight away from him, debating if I wanted to leave now or give him a moment to explain himself. Not that any explanation could justify his actions. If I left, there was nowhere else for me to go to find a moment of clarity.
I’d always found this place to soothe me in times of trouble. It was the only place I could be close to my family, and now I really could use their wisdom and guidance. The wooden bench I perched on now was dilapidated and falling apart, yet I stayed there gazing out over the stillness of the cemetery, searching for solace. It’d been years since they’d buried anyone this far out in the country, and I liked the quiet of how undisturbed it now was. The moon shined down with bright light that lit the headstones with different hues of blue. Clouds passed over the moon, casting large shadows throughout the open space.
“Are we not speaking then?” Marius stood beside me with that stupid leather coat of his billowing out and dragging over the frozen grass.
“Of all the things to have happened, why did you not speak of the attack with me?” I rested my arms across the back of the bench and slouched down.
He took the space beside me and spread out in a similar position. The wooden bench creaked under his weight. “Because I am aware of how your mind works.”
I didn’t turn to look at him. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m aware you don’t have the wherewithal to do what needs to be done.” He turned to face me. “You are weak.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I’d never shown an ounce of weakness until I ran from the castle after the attack. “Because attacking at a ball shows strength? Half those vampires were Night Spawn. Many were injured or even killed in that attack.”
He waved my words away. “They were not loyal to the cause.”
“Loyalty.” I shook my head. “And where is your so-called loyalty?”
“Do not question things you know nothing about,” he hissed toward me, and I pressed my lips together. Silence hung between us, and I wasn’t going to be the one to break it. He was the first to speak, and he continued in his condescending tone. “The House of Shade must fall, and this is the first step among many.”
I rose to my feet and began walking away from him. This wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of. There was no place I was safe after being so close to Marius, and there was no way that I wouldn’t be labeled a traitor, or worse, sentenced to death. He put me here. He’d ruined the life I’d built. His actions would take me down with him, and I hadn’t even gotten a choice in the matter. The bitterness I felt toward him tasted stale on my tongue. I didn’t make it three steps before Marius was in front of me.
He pressed his hand to my chest, stopping me. “And where are you going?”
“Somewhere I won’t be killed for your bloody actions.” I shoved his hand away from my chest and tried to step around him, but he blocked my way.
“Join us.” When I didn’t answer, he ran his hand through his hair and turned away from me. “I will not beg of you.”
“Beg of me?” My anger flared. “How about consult with me before you ruin us all?”
“Ruin?” He whirled around and shoved both his hands into my chest, pushing me back. “I have brought greatness to our door, and you insult it?”
