“Yes, yes,” she agreed, rubbing her forehead. “I see what you—oh.”
Her whimper of relief was instant, and when I followed her gaze, Gideon was there. We were far enough away that we couldn’t hear him, but the guards who were with him surrounded everyone else, and his hands were fisted at his sides.
Bolting around the corner, Nerilla called out his name.
He turned, and the second he saw us, his hand clutched at his heart. We reached him fast, and he enfolded her into one arm, drawing her in tight even as he reached for my shoulder and took solid hold.
“I—we feared for the worst after we found Jarah and then Zev,” he husked.
It took a second for his words to filter into my brain, and then, that fast, I couldn’t breathe.
My reaction made no sense. I had only known the cocky, brash, annoying man a day, but still, I felt the loss. We were just starting, and now it was over. I wanted to know him, and now there was no chance. The cut was deeper than I would have guessed.
Nerilla pressed her face to Gideon’s chest and sobbed.
As he stroked her hair, he turned to me and put a warm, paternal hand on my cheek. “Zev and I were often at odds, but after Hadrian, there was no greater warrior, and he would have made a fine and loyal hendr.”
I nodded quickly, my own tears welling up. “He did all he could, but I knew… there was no way with how many men there were in that hall.”
He wiped under my eyes with his thumb. “I’m so relieved to have found you both.”
“Someone killed both our champions,” I told him, even though, of course, he knew that.
“Yes,” he said, nodding, his brows furrowing as though he too were gutted.
“Anar was the one who––”
“I know, I know,” Gideon soothed me, easing me in close, turning to walk Nerilla and me toward the gate. “It’s been horrible, and there have been several other attacks, but we know who’s behind all of this now.”
“And what is all of this?” Marcellus demanded, barring our exit. “You have Andreas under house arrest, you slaughtered Anar and Dureau as they fled––”
“You spilled blood in the chapel,” Alrek rasped, his voice cracking. “Gideon, what the hell is going––”
“It’s Gaius,” he snarled at them, flinching like it hurt, holding my shoulders tight and, I was sure, clutching Nerilla as well, as though he were trying to shield us from whatever ugly truth was about to come out. “This is some kind of demented reach for power by the king’s brother. He wants to rule!”
Nerilla gasped, and Marcellus looked like Gideon had struck him, his face crumpled that fast. Alrek was ranting, yelling that this couldn’t be.
“You cannot harm Andreas for his father’s trespass,” Marcellus railed at Gideon. “You know him to be loyal to the king, to Varic, you cannot––”
“I sent word to Gaius that we are holding his son, and that he is a prisoner until he comes here himself and meets with the king.”
“I don’t understand,” Nerilla rushed out, pulling free of Gideon’s hold and then taking a few steps to turn and face him. “Why now? What madness is this?”
“You know as well as I,” Gideon said, letting me go to step forward and take her hands in his, “that Gaius has always championed for the decimation of the human race. He feels, as he always has, that they should be subjugated.”
She shook her head.
“Yes,” he insisted.
“I mean, yes,” she allowed, “but no.”
“Nerilla––”
“No,” she snapped, yanking away from him, moving out of his reach before rounding on him a second time. “He rages against the humans for what they are doing to the planet we all share, but he also loves his life there in Saint Lucia, and is always so kind and joyful when he visits court,” she insisted. “He may want things to move more quickly, but he’s going about change through proper human channels. I cannot imagine him doing this.”
“Neither can I,” Marcellus agreed, shooting Nerilla a look before his gaze was back on Gideon. “There must be some kind of mistake.”
“Yes,” Nerilla cried, grasping at his words, rushing to Marcellus’ side, taking his hand in solidarity. “And why now?” she asked him.
“Yes,” Marcellus agreed, looking down at her and then turning to Gideon. “Why all of a sudden? Why would Gaius choose now to act?”
Gideon turned his head to look at me.
“Jason?” Nerilla asked him. “I don’t understand.”
“Unlike the queen, unlike you, Your Highness,” Gideon told her, “the prince’s consort has claimed not only the vampyr but also the wolf.”
Her eyes were wide. “Jason,” she said tremulously, her voice faint, small as she stared at me, looking almost frightened.
I had no idea what was going on, but the way Marcellus and Alrek were staring as well was starting to freak me out.
“You,” she rasped, and shivered hard, taking hold of Marcellus’ arm, gripping tight as the look of fear started to change, morph into a scowl. “That’s not—it’s… Jason, the wolf is not to be tamed, the wolf is to be unleashed and… no.”
I was missing something fundamental, just as I had the other night when Varic and Gideon were talking.
Turning to Gideon, I saw how pained he looked. “Why––?” It was a delicate thing to ask, and I didn’t want the others to know.
“I had Varic repeat to me what he told his father happened in New Orleans,” Gideon explained. “He said that he changed back to speak to you.”
“Yes,” I agreed, relieved that me and Varic having sex in his wolf form didn’t need to be discussed. It wasn’t anybody else’s business, and I wished that Hadrian and Tiago and Eris didn’t know. It was private.
“And Anar reported that Varic looked, well, normal when he saw him that evening at your home, even though it usually takes him hours to change back, and then he has to be in a bed a day or more afterwards to recover.”
Anar reported? “I thought Anar was the queen’s courtier.”
“He is, but like any good courtier, he reports to me as well.”
I was wondering if Varic’s mother knew that.
“And then here, I saw Varic’s eyes change to gold and then back as I’ve never seen his father’s do, or Cassius’ before him.”
“I don’t get why it’s such a big deal,” I told him. “It’s Varic’s control; it has nothing to do with me.”
Gideon cleared his throat before he stepped in front of me, becoming my entire focus, blocking my view of the others. “The wolf of Maedoc only lives in the line of Ascalon, of the royal family, of Magnus, son of Ascalon, of Messina, son of Magnus, of Cassius, son of Messina, and upon his death, in Varic. The wolf will live on in Varic’s firstborn as well. Only in Varic is there dominion over the wolf, and I suspect that, along with his evolution, we will see that what was once a patrilineal legacy will also evolve. Varic could give rise to the first daughter to become the wolf of Maedoc.”
I was still missing something. “That’s good, though. It shows how strong he is, how much more powerful the man—I mean the vampyr—is than––”