"Yeah, that's the damn spell," Waylon said. "Frankie--you're being filmed. Maybe streamed. Someone's trapped in the van."
Now the guy I assumed was Darius was running out of the front door and Flor said, "Darius' sister. They have Camille. Maybe in the van."
"Camille?" Darius yelled.
"Damnit, help me!" a muffled, angry female voice came from inside the van.
The van, with just two deeply tinted windows in front and nothing else to reveal its secrets, suddenly floored it at the same time the guards attacked us. One of them shot Waylon, who was just standing there like a sitting duck holding what looked like the remote to the explosives with an infuriated expression.
Of course, getting shot did nothing for this mood.
"Waylon!" I growled. He looked like he'd be okay, like it just grazed his upper thigh, but I was furious and Waylon was bleeding and couldn’t see to find cover.
"Filming me? Streaming me?” I cried. “Yeah, I get it now. I'm just going to be part of Bloom's show, is that it?"
"Show? What are you talking about?" One of the guards was staring me down. "Where did that fan come from?"
“No one told you," Waylon said to the guard through a grimace. "Bloom wanted footage of this girl killing you so he could use your deaths for his own advantage."
"You lying shifter bastard! You're the ones who are trying to kill us, so don't try to twist this around!"
Flor snorted. "He's trying to tell you the truth and you're too stupid to hear it."
That comment didn't go over well; hell broke loose as the guards started shooting everywhere--at me, at the guys--
There was no time to think, no time to question. The choice was simple now. One of us would die, maybe more of us—
Or they would die.
That second felt like time stopped, like I saw it all clearly and I would do what I must do.
No choice.
Just like the first time, when Waylon could have been killed by Angus Maclaine.
The guards turned to dust. One second they were there, and the next second, they were nothing at all, like a few ashes tossed in the breeze and scattered on the empty street.
I dropped to my knees. The threat was all gone and everything went quiet.
For a second.
"Holyyy shit, what did I just see?" Darius said. He stared at the small waves of ash that were left behind, stirred into patterns by the wind, and then at the street where the van had driven off. "My sister is in real trouble, isn't she?"
"Probably! Damnit. I'm going to limp back to the car now," Waylon groaned.
"Hey, good work, Waylon," Ian said, and then, "Maybe I should help him.”
“Yes,” I said. “Go help him.”
“I think we had a first aid kit in there, right? It's good to see you again, Dar." He sprinted off to catch up with Waylon and normally I would have found his helpfulness adorable, but right now I felt...strange.
I wasn't freaking out like the first time I killed people like this. I guess I had enough time to accept what I would have to do. I just felt weak and numb. It was just so...depressing. I even killed the guy I had already confused.
Flor put a hand on my arm and I clutched him back. He helped me up, and I was shaking in his arms. He had blood soaking in his shirt; I smelled it on him too, that upsetting metallic sharpness.
"Shaw is dead," he said gently, and I heard relief under the hard surface of his voice. Vast relief.
That solidified it. I had seen Flor's pain. I knew this was a good thing.
"You killed him?"
"Yeah. I did. It's over. And I have you now. I have...something else."
"That makes me really, truly happy, Florian."
"Don't make me say that back in front of Dar," Flor said gruffly. "Let's go home to Istara and...figure this out."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Florian
"You always told everyone you were a wolf." I was a little pissed off at Darius, honestly. He'd known me forever. Why keep that a secret?
"Wolf rappers get paid more," he said. “But…no one ever checks if you're actually a wolf."
"That doesn't explain why you'd lie to me."
"Have you ever known a lion?" Darius asked.
"Lions pretty much keep to themselves," Frankie said. "I always thought they were snobs."
"Don't take this like I'm important, but...I'm from lion royalty," Darius said, in a withering tone. "By which I mean, the royalty that lions invented and no one else cares about or acknowledges. But my sister Camille is dead serious about being a lion princess. We don't even get along. We hardly ever speak. So I didn't take it that seriously when Shaw was threatening me about her. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not close to my family, to the point where I pretended to be a wolf just to do my own thing, make art, have a good time.”
"Well, he must have some kind of plan, right?" Ian said. "It is weird. All this just to get Flor to go with Shaw?"
"Well...unless...Darius is a consort," Frankie said. "Viktor said we would all be drawn together and so far that's been very true. And you're a good friend to Flor and Ian likes you too.”
"A consort? To what? Or who? Is that what you're all doing? Wait--you're not all sharing a woman, are you? Is this a sex thing?"
"When you put it that way, I think it is a sex thing," Ian said, turning slightly pink.
"It's a save-the-world thing," Waylon said. "But what thing isn't also a sex thing? I mean, you might as well."
"You're not Frankie's consort," I said. "But...it's true. You might be someone else's. Maybe. Or maybe you're just a friend."
"But...Viktor said that he and Decker were both cat consorts. So either one of them isn't a consort, or Darius isn't," Frankie said. "Either way, we should still try to help out his sister. I hate to think what could happen to her."
"She really is tough," Darius said. "I can't imagine anything happening to her. But...I'd better save her ass because now I can finally get her off my back about not wanting to be a...royal lion." He shook his head. "But enough about me. I need to know what you did to those guys. No wonder Ian missed you."
"I'm the Black Queen from the prophecy," Frankie said. "You've probably heard of it and thought it couldn't be true, because that's where I was at until...the day I first did that." She looked at her little gloved hands. "That was only the second time ever. I don't enjoy it, but I know now that it's necessary. And--" She lifted her head higher, showing a bit of pride. "I'd do it to save your sister too. I'm partial to feline royalty.” Her eyes were bright, showing her growing strength.
"All right, I like her," Darius said to me. "Maybe the consort thing is something I'd like to hear more about. Do you hand out pamphlets or anything?"
"Maybe we should," Frankie said wryly. "I am explaining the same thing a lot of times..."
My phone rang. "Alistair?" I answered. "How's it going?"