Page 27 of Dark Embers

My heart thumped in trepidation, my mouth suddenly going dry. I had no idea what I’d said over the past three days. Could I have revealed my true purpose for returning? Had I spilled the beans about Caesar and the school? Was there more about Shea than that scene just now?

That thought somehow frightened me most of all.

“It seems you are still very much attached to your past,” Hadrian said. “Most of what we recorded were conversations with your precious Alice. But Camilla and her parents seemed to make an appearance from time to time.”

Relief slowly crept over me. If I had betrayed anything about Caesar, surely that would’ve been Hadrian’s first words.

“I am curious, though,” Hadrian said, a note to his voice I didn’t like. “Who is this Shea?”

My heart thudded against my chest, and I began to wonder how much the immortal organ could take. If Shea was on his radar, or Marguerite’s, she wouldn’t be safe.

When I didn’t respond, Hadrian tapped the screen of his watch once more. I honed all my senses to the sounds emitting from it, burning with apprehensive curiosity at what horrible secrets I’d betrayed.

At first, I wasn’t sure what I was hearing. The sounds were faint, muffled. And then I heard my own panting.

“Shea,” my voice breathed, the intimacy with which I spoke her name making my cheeks heat. My voice said her name again with more longing, and the heat scorched its way through my chest and down to my groin.

I shuddered, both mortified and aching to know what happened in those hallucinations. Brief flashes sparked in my mind, like memories dulled and fogged by drunken stupor. A graze of her lips against mine. The sweet coo of my name on her lips.

And shameful guilt washed over me as I thought of Alice. I hadn’t so much as wanted someone since she died. I’d thought that part of me was dead, too. But now, I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt to that young witch that night we met. That I apparently still harbored. And it made me feel woefully treacherous.

“So,” Hadrian prompted, dismissing the reply with another tap of his watch. “Who is she?”

I shoved my guilt into a box to deal with later, knowing I needed to give him an answer that would satisfy him. “She’s just my mortal pet. Nothing more.”

Hadrian nodded slowly, a smirk curling his lips. “I suspected as much. You’re lucky Marguerite wasn’t here for that little scene, or I suspect she’d have hunted down the poor girl by now. I, on the other hand, found it very…entertaining.”

His chuckle filled my ears as panic at the thought of Marguerite’s wrathful intervention splashed like boiling water over my face. I hadn’t realized until that moment how protective I was over my little witch—I meant,thelittle witch—notmine. I would have to take whatever measures I could to keep her safe now that I was back in Hadrian’s fold.

If I truly was.

“Fortunately for you, you passed the test,” Hadrian finally said, slipping a key into the lock on my cage. “If you’ve had shifter dealings over the past fifteen years, they haven’t been important enough for you to hallucinate about.”

I slowly exhaled, careful not to let my intense relief show. My dealings with Caesar were pretty damn important, and if nothing else, I was grateful that my lascivious fantasies of Shea had overtaken them. I wasn’t going to worry myself with what that meant at the moment.

The heavy lock clanged to the ground and the door swung open.

“Come along,” Hadrian said, curling a finger at me. “We have much to discuss now that you’ve rejoined us.”

When I got to my feet, I was glad to find that the shakiness was wearing off. I hoped that was an indicator of the hallucinogen levels in my body.

Keeping pace with Hadrian, I walked out of one room of prison cells only to step into another. I hated that the dungeon of Heritage Prep was littered with so many cages. I had to find out why their number was so high—and why they were mostly empty.

“The first thing we’ll do is assign you an Initiate,” Hadrian continued.

I grimaced. Apparently, I was getting pushed down to the bottom of the vampire ranks.

“You really think that’s necessary?” I asked, knowing I was taking a risk speaking to Hadrian in such a way. “I want to be back out on the frontlines. I have work to do.”

“You’re not ready,” Hadrian said evenly. “I need to know you’re back in for good. You have proven your intent to rejoin us, but now I need to confirm your loyalty. You will take on an Initiate, and we will see where things go from there.”

We made it to the staircase, passing a sneering Rory, and began the long climb.

“You’re likely thirsty,” Hadrian said.

And I was. I hadn’t allowed myself to acknowledge that incessant burn in my throat before my fate had been confirmed. But now that I was free, I could sense the humans on the floors above us, their blood calling to me like a sweet siren song.

“Your Initiate will be your blood source,” he added. “You’ll find no blood bags here, and if you’re caught sneaking any inside the school, there will be dire consequences.”

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