Page 3 of Kiss of Death
“Then he’s still with you, Lily.”
2
LILY
I woke up to pounding on my door. “Lily!” It was my brother, and he didn’t need to tell me why he was banging on my door.
I threw off the covers and put on my robe just as he barged inside.
“Movack has spotted them to the south, and Graphite says their fleet has left the harbor.” Hawk came into my bedroom, clearly not caring whether I was dressed for company or not. “The battle will be on two fronts—one from land and one from sea.” He sounded almost relieved that he finally knew the parameters of the battle instead of having to wonder about it endlessly.
I hadn’t slept much last night. I’d lain there thinking about Callum, worrying about him and missing him. I didn’t fall asleep until sometime just before dawn. That must have been only a few hours ago. “When will they be here?”
“Close to midnight.”
“It’s at least a two-day journey by ship.”
“Not for their ships,” he said. “Movack said they glide through water.”
The tumultuous moment was finally here, when I had to defend my people, my kingdom, and my family. I had been scared to do it with Callum by my side, but his absence made me fear it even more.
Hawk seemed to read the apprehension on my face. “Lily, can you do this?”
“Yes,” I blurted.
“No, I’m actually asking you.” Concerned eyes bored into mine. “Because we’re all depending on you. If your mind is elsewhere and you can’t focus?—”
“Hawk, I’ve got it.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” It was only when I’d had the chance to step aside that I’d realized how much I wanted this position. How much I wanted to fight for my kingdom, even if I felt inadequate. Before Callum had granted me his powers, my father had selected me to lead our people. I trusted him more than anyone—so I needed to trust his decision now.
Hawk watched me for an instant longer before he withdrew the interrogation in his gaze. “I need to prepare our army to protect the south.”
“Hawk, that army will be full of vampires.” Our people would be massacred by beings that were thrice as strong. “Any hand-to-hand combat will be a bloodbath. We’ll have the dragons meet their attack. They shouldn’t have weapons to attack the dragonsif they’re on foot. We’ll have our fleet and our army in the cliffs to fight back against their fleet.”
He nodded in agreement. “Send word to the Northern Kingdoms and the Brigandine Empire. If we have our fleet meet them head on and then they come in the rear, the enemy’ll be surrounded.”
“Alright.”
“I hope your vampire lover comes to our aid.”
I didn’t correct him, too stressed about the threat to care about technicalities. “They would have had to depart the moment I left to make it in time, with the wind in their sails the entire journey.”
“Perhaps their ships are better than ours, like the Barbarians.”
“Perhaps…”
Hawk turned away, already in his armor with his battle sword over his back. “The Southern Isles have never fallen to an outside invader—and that truth will abide.”
I went straight to my mother, who was in the process of changing my father’s bandage when I walked inside.
I stopped when I saw the bloody dressing she’d removed, the wound in his flesh still bleeding profusely.
She made the change quickly and efficiently, probably because she’d done it daily for the last few weeks. She tightened the gauze over his wound and secured it in place, putting pressure on the gash and letting the material absorb the blood.
When he was underneath the covers, I forgot how badly injured he was.
