“Lightning,” he muttered.
“What?” My head bounced up.
“I don’t remember much about the night... but I dreamed about a white light... lightning going through me.” He shook his head. “I never understood why before. So much is making more sense.”
“Like what?”
“When I met you, it felt like I had before.” He shifted on his feet, the conversation clearly making him uncomfortable. Vulnerable. “It felt the same as my dreams. A draw to you. A smell.”
“Smell?” My throat croaked.
“Like life and death.” He turned away from me. “It’s hard to explain.”
I chuckled darkly. “Like the moment between night and day breaking?” I repeated what Opie had articulated to me once.
Scorpion’s jaw ticked. He didn’t respond, but his head dipped, agreeing with my statement.
“Fuck,” he eventually muttered, peering away from me. “I need to go.”
“Wait.” I took a step toward him. “How is everyone? Are you guys safe?”
“Yeah, we’re still scattered, but Andris has a temporary place near the old Central Market.” Scorpion frowned.
“What?”
“Just a lot of strange stuff happening.”
“Like?”
“About a hundred fae and human bodies have been found floating in the Danube. The fae are drained of all bodily fluids.” He clicked his teeth. “Some humans look like their brains melted out or something.”
Dread plunged into my gut. Did I know one of those dead bodies?
“Birdie and I are on watch right now.” He shrugged. “See you.” Scorpion’s words disappeared as fast as he did, the link cut off, leaving me alone with only the ghosts surrounding me.
A chill ran down my spine, and I wrapped my arms around my frame.
I knew exactly what happened to all those corpses in the river.
I just wasn’t sure which side was dumping more of them.
Stepping out of the shower, I froze for a moment, seeing a familiar figure sitting on the sink counter, her fingers playing with the end of her blue braid.
“Oh, little lamb.” A coy smile tugged at her lips, her dark blue eyes glinting. “Talk about the epitome of the lion eating the lamb... or, in this case, the wolf eating out the lamb.”
“Kek.” Wrapping the towel around me, I rolled my eyes, my shoulders dropping on a sigh. I strolled to the sink next to her, feeling like we stepped right back into Halálház. “It’s not like that.”
I had tried to reach out to Warwick, but he had firmed up his wall to keep me out. I knew I could push, force myself through, but stubborn or not, I didn’t want to. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Please!” She laughed loudly. “You are a horrible liar. And too late. Everyone here not only felt it, but you guys had all the fire bulbs pulsing and climaxing with you guys.”
“What?” It was the same thing Scorpion said happened where he was.
“Plus,” she leaned back into the mirror, turning her head to look at me, her smirk growing. “I know what a Warwick-inspired orgasm feels like, remember?” Her eyes darkened, wagging her head. “Those nights when women were brought in for him. Fuck, he got all of us riled up. Like one big orgy.”
Yeah, I remembered. And I recalled how, even when we didn’t understand the link, he was coming to me then too. He was the one who had me screaming out, not the image of Caden.
“But this was a whole other level.” She dramatically shook her shoulders in a shiver. “I haven’t come that hard in years.”
“Kek!” I palmed my face, my wet hair falling around my heated cheeks.
“What?” She laughed. “It’s true. You guys were making the furniture hump each other!”
“Okay, wow... embarrassing.”
“You shit in front of hundreds of people, were stripped, and watched people fuck in the showers next to you. This should be a prideful moment. I’d be ringing the bell of the church... oh wait... you guys did that too.”
My mouth dropped.
She snorted. “You didn’t hear it?”
“Noooo,” I exclaimed, my face flaring red with the thoughts that not only everyone here heard and knew, but my uncle did too. It felt like my father had caught me.
“Don’t be ashamed. If anything, you should have a badge of honor. To think, my little lamb did what three or four escorts couldn’t.” She flipped her braid over her shoulder, hopping off the counter. “Starting to think you are the wolf in sheep’s clothing.” She winked, turning for the door, motioning for me to follow. “Come on, I think you need a high-calorie breakfast. But I warn you, there might be a lot of people high-fiving you on the way.”
“High-fiving me?” I scoffed, following her.
“You two had everyone over puberty age getting off at once.” She flung open the door, grinning at me. “In a place where tension is constant, they might be feeling a little grateful.”
“Yeah.” I pinched my nose. “Not mortifying at all.”
The gawks and attention I got on the walk to the canteen solidified what Kek had told me. There were a lot more smiles but also more wariness. Fear and unease toward me. They sensed something was off about me. Not normal.
Kek and I hit the second level, and instantly I felt him. His energy slammed into my chest, full of irritation and anger.
Shouts and cheering hit my ears from the workout room, dropping my stomach.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Kek looked back at me, her eyebrows lifting.
“Oh shit,” I muttered and darted for the room, coming to a stop at the entrance. The entire place was packed with people circling the mat, obstructing what was in the middle.
But I didn’t need to see. I knew.
“Move!” I shoved between the throng of bodies, wiggling to the front, my mouth still dropping at what I saw in front of me.
Lukas danced at one end of the mat, his expression pinched and hard. Warwick stood on the other, his body language suggesting he was bored. I knew better. I could feel the fury swirling off him and see the tension in his jaw, the twitch in his hands.
“What the hell is going on?” I yelled, but my voice got lost in the crowd’s enthusiasm. The man next to me answered.
“These two started to go at it in the canteen. Luk challenged him to a fight.”
“Luk challenged him?” My voice rose. Was he nuts? Warwick would slaughter him.
My gaze darted between the two guys. I knew this was about me.
“Warwick...” Standing where I was, my presence was right in front of his face, looking directly into his eyes. This time it felt so strong. I was as real in front of him as I was still standing in the crowd. “Don’t touch him.”
Warwick’s nose flared, his glare dropped to me briefly, his jaw rolling.
“He challenged me, princess,” he muttered for only me to hear, his shoulders rolling back, trying to step around me, though I wasn’t actually there. “Guess your boyfriend didn’t like me fucking you.”
“Oh my gods...” I jumped into his path again. “Stop being an asshole.”
“Too late.” He shoved through me, snapping our link, his massive physique progressing toward Luk.