An image flashes through my head. That of a beautiful cottage by the sea. A white, sandy beach led straight down to crystal clear blue water.
“I would guess that you were her last,” Rafael says.
Larkin said this, I remember now, and can put it into perspective.
My gaze is out of focus, but I nod. I’m searching, tracing steps back through that cottage, searching for anything else, grasping for details about my life as La’ei.
A reflection comes to mind, caught in an old mirror. Of long, thick, curly hair. Darker skin and big brown eyes.
I shake my head. “Good,” I say. “What about any of the others?”
They all look at the list again. “I can only make guesses based on the origins of the names,” Edmond says. “Helda sounds Eurpoean, maybe Germany? Shaku, perhaps Middle Eastern.”
“Jafari,” Hector says. “I would say that is African.”
As soon as he says the words, I feel heat wash across my skin. My eyes squint closed against the sand that blows in them. And sand is all I can see. It spreads out before me for miles on end.
“Is there anything else?” I ask. “Anything that rings a bell?”
The three of them look down at the list again, contemplating for a moment.
“I’m sorry, my Queen,” Hector says. “That is all we can speculate.”
Speculate. What an infuriating word.
I have nearly no more answers than when I walked in here.
“Thank you,” I still say, fighting to control my tone. “If you’ll send someone to my room after dinner to collect my bag, Rath and I plan to leave as soon as it’s dark.”
“Yes, your Maj-”
But he’s cut off as the elevator doors to the ballroom slide open and a great roar of anger fills the space.
Every ounce of blood in my body drops out through the bottom of my feet, and instantly I am just one person again.
Brilliantly glowing yellow eyes wildly search the room, in such stark contrast to the dark skin. Despite his thin frame, he bucks and jerks from the grasp of the two Born who haul him into the center of the ballroom.
“Eshan!” I yell, darting up from the throne and rushing over to him. I reach out, but the guards drag him back away from me two steps.
“You let him go right now, you piece of shit!” I bellow, taking another step forward as they once more drag him back from me. “That is my brother!”
“You really don’t want us letting him go,” one of the guards says. “He’s out of control!”
And it’s true. Despite him looking directly at me multiple times, he doesn’t seem to recognize me.
All his attention is directly focused on Rath.
Eshan jerks against the guards hold, an animalistic roar ripping from his chest. He tries to lunge, over and over.
I see it then. The smear of blood on his chin. The splashes of it on his chest.
“Why is your human brother showing up on the steps of the House of Valdez as a Bitten?” Hector demands. He takes seven steps toward us, his eyes igniting blood red. “Are you trying to get me and my entire House exterminated by your husband?”
“Excuse me?” I hiss, rounding on him. “I left Colorado two days ago with my brother safe and sound, and human. Who the hell brought him here and turned him?”
As if the energy is running out of him, Eshan stops fighting. His eyes seem more able to focus, and suddenly they dart to me.
“Logan?” he says, a scared quake to his voice. “What the hell is going on? Why…why are you here with these people? You said you were going to Austria with Collin.”
“Eshan,” I say, taking a step toward him. He recoils from me slightly. “E, did you follow me here?”
His eyes dart around, still glowing yellow, but filled with fear. “I knew something wasn’t right. I knew you were lying. I don’t know, something about Collin and you, it didn’t seem right. I followed to make sure you were okay.”
My heart cracks. My little brother, four years younger than myself, looking out for me because he thought the man I told everyone was my boyfriend was going to do something to me.
I round on Hector. “It wasn’t me who turned him, so you’ve obviously got someone with a control problem in your House.”
Hector looks up at the guards. “Explain.”
One speaks up. “I caught him sneaking into the casino. There was blood on his face, his eyes were all lit up. He was looking for a meal. We brought him here so you could dispose of him yourself.”
“Like hell you will!” I yell, turning back to Hector. “You’re going to find whoever did this to my little brother and deal with them, according to the new law!”
“According to the new law, they will be dealt with,” Hector says, his voice rising. “But according to the new law, his existence is also forbidden.”
Edmond reaches into his pocket and produces a stake. With determination, he stalks forward, his eyes trained on my brother.
With a demonic roar, I dart across the ballroom in a blur, my fingers snapping around his throat. I shove, throwing him back, and he flies across the ballroom. With a hiss, I turn, baring my fangs at Rafael as he approaches with yet another stake.
“This woman is your queen!” Rath suddenly bellows. Power fills his voice, taking up every inch of this space. “She and her husband made your laws. She has the power to counter those Cyrus put into effect. If you value your life and position, I suggest you let your queen deal with this issue on her own.”
They all stand frozen. Looks of annoyance that Rath…whatever he is…has commanded them as if he’s allowed to do it, fill their faces. But they also look over at me, and as I stand straight, my eyes glowing brilliant and bright, they all back off a step. Bowing to their Queen.
“Logan,” Eshan says. And his breathing grows hard again. I look to see him beginning to tug against the guards once more. “What is happening to me?”
I hear a faint whistling sound and Eshan makes a sound of pain. I see a tiny dart sticking out of the side of his neck.
He roars in pain, all the tendons in his neck straining against his skin. And suddenly he collapses, limp.
With wide, shocked eyes, I turn.
Rath lowers something, sliding it into his pocket.
A blow dart.
“He will be fine,” he explains. “He will only sleep for twelve hours. When he wakes we can be prepared.”
I shake my head at the whiplash change, but turn, standing straight. I look back at Hector.
“I’m taking my brother with me,” I say clearly. “Like I said, we need something to eat first. But as soon as it gets dark, the three of us are leaving. Tell your people to have my things ready by then.”
Without waiting for their response, I walk forward. I take my brother from the guards, who don’t seem to know what to do. Like he weighs nothing at all, I lift my nearly six foot tall brother up and sling him across my shoulders.
Together, Rath and I go to the elevator. We descend two floors and deposit Eshan onto my bed.
He lies there, looking peaceful, his eyes closed.
“He’s really okay?” I ask. Because honestly, he could be dead.
“He’s fine,” Rath says. “It’s a serum that’s been tested hundreds, if not thousands, of times.”
I shake my head, looking at my brother. “How the hell did this happen?”
“He followed you,” Rath says, trying to piece it together for me. “I can only assume while watching you, a local Born grabbed him. When the individual realized their lack of control, they must have fled, leaving your poor brother to wake, not knowing what had happened to him.”
I shake my head. “What am I supposed to do?” I say. “My parents will be devastated. I’m going to have to stay with him for the rest of his life, because everyone in the world now knows the Bitten are a death sentence.”
“It doesn’t have to stay that way,” Rath says. The volume of his voice drops and he looks around, as if to make sure no one can hear him.
My brows furrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, this does not have to be your brother’s fate for the rest of his life,” Rath says. “There’s a cure. He can be human again.”
My eyes grow wide, and I blink. Twice. Three times. Four.