Page 88 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

“There will be plenty more opportunities for that, Sweetheart. I promise.” I looked over my shoulder to see if the rest were following. I laughed at the sight of Declan herding them toward the door like animals.

My head was feeling light, I was buzzing—we all were. Turns out shedding blood wasn’t the only thing that could ease my tensions.

I had fun tonight, we all had.

Nico walked in front of me now, his arms slung loosely over Luce and Kara’s shoulders while Declan walked beside them.

Luka and I fell behind. Both of us shaking our heads at Nico as he sang an out-of-tune song as he swung between Luce and Kara.

“Has he always been like that?”

“Loud? Obnoxious?” Luka offered.

“I was going to say happy, but those work too.”

Luka sighed. “He’s been like this to a degree, but don’t let him fool you. Nico has a lot going on you don’t know about. That even I don’t fully know about. He uses his personality to distract others—to distract himself from what’s going on inside.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I can understand that,” I mumbled.

“I bet you wish you had more of a sunshine disposition to hide your feelings?” Luka nudged me with his elbow.

“Hey.” I nudged him right back. “Not everyone is meant to be sunshine and rainbows.”

“I know. You know how much I love your vicious,angry side.”

“Oh, I know.”

His hand brushed against mine, sending my nerves tingling up my arm.

“Luka—”

A crash came from the alley beside us, sending us all careening. Luka’s hand pressed against the small of my back as my hand closed around my blade.

“What was that?” Declan’s voice was serious as he approached the alley—hand rested on the daggers sheathed at his side.

“The last time I was in an alley it didn’t end well.” Luka moved his hand from my back and reached for his sword.

“You don’t think it’s one of those creatures do you?” Kara’s brows pulled together.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Nico took a step into the dark alley.

“You can’t be serious?” Luce stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“What? Are you scared, Lucy?”

She scoffed. “Not scared—I have a sense of self-preservation, unlike someone.” She swatted him on the back of the head. “We’re not heavily armed and you’re drunk. If it is one of those creatures Luka saw before, we’re not properly prepared.”

“She’s right,” Luka spoke up. “Those creatures were deadly. Kara, do you even have a dagger on you?”

“Of course I do—I am an Adair after all.” She pulled two knives from beneath her dress. “But unlike Lennox, I don’t love fighting if I can avoid it.”

“We should go,” I said quietly.

I hated running from a fight, but they had a point. I wouldn’t risk others because I didn’t want to back down from a fight. If it was a Vanir, I would be confident we could take them, but whatever was in that alley felt wrong. Every instinct made me believe it was the creature Luka had encountered.

Another sound came from the alley, like nails scraping on the stones, drawing our attention back as a shadow emerged.

“We might not have much of a choice, now,” Luka muttered, his hand flexing on his sword.

---