Adele sighed in frustration. “Fine. What’s our next step, then?”
“You return to Alexandria, and recuperate,” Greyfriar said. “There is something I must do to the north. King Vittorio said that Cesare had already reached out to him. I knew my brother was allied with Munich and Budapest, but his politics are more dangerous than I suspected. I fear the clan map is changing, and my advice has been flawed and outdated. Cesare is adapting faster than I. Lyon and St. Etienne are part of his alliance already. I had no idea, and my ignorance is dangerous for you and your army, since you are depending on my knowledge. I must learn Cesare’s strategy.”
“How do you intend to accomplish that?” Adele raised bemused eyebrows. “Ask Cesare?”
“No. That would be silly.” He laid rough fingers against her cold, ruddy cheek. “I believe I’ll ask Flay.
“What! Are you insane?” The empress bolted to her feet. She lowered her voice, but not her tone. “Flay knows you’re Greyfriar. She’s sworn to destroy you.”
Greyfriar caught Adele as she bobbled on unsteady legs. “True, that is a complication. However, there is one thing Flay desires even more than revenge.”
“And what is that?” Adele asked with a trembling voice.
“Me.”
GRENOBLE WAS LOST.
Flay considered this news, bestowing fearsome glares at the vampires who cowered before her. Some were still sporting burns from the Equatorian attack. General Anhalt's army was now free to move north. In response, Flay would have to divert much of her force from St. Etienne in order to protect Lyon. Damn Hallow, Flay thought. If she had provided more packs, this disaster would have been avoided.
“Tell me again,” Flay demanded. “What happened at Grenoble?”
“Fire,” one replied. “It seemed to come from the earth. From everywhere. So many of us died. It was shortly after the empress came.”
Flay felt a knife edge on her spine. “The empress! The Equatorian empress, Adele? She was there? You saw her?”
“We didn't, but we knew she was there in the human camp. She was spied on board a ship from the south. She must have brought some new weapon.” One of the refugees clasped his hands. “We beg to join with you. We will serve your pack until our deaths.”
Flay grabbed one of the Grenoblois survivors. “Why should I help you now? You had your chance to join us, but your king was too proud. Where is he now?”
“Dead. Burned in the apocalypse at Grenoble.”
Flay threw the vampire to the ground. “How could he let that girl into the battle? His idiocy has undone me.”
“She's just one girl,” came the voice from the floor.
“Shut up!” Flay pulled the vampire from the ground and lifted him into the air.
“She's just a human,” the frightened Grenoblois stammered. “What happened has never been seen before. It's a new weapon.”
“It was no weapon! It was the empress! It was that princess.” Flay hurled the vampire against the wall. Then she seized another and cast him aside too. She could smell the faint remnant of geomancy on these miserable refugees. The scent conjured the horrible memories of nearly dying over Scotland at the hands of Adele.
“We can help you move against the humans in Grenoble. We know the cave systems. They haven't had time to dig in.”
“Get out.” Flay dropped into a chair, no longer interested in the opinions of rabble. “If I have to see any of you a second longer, you won't survive.”
The war chief heard scraping and footsteps as the three scurried out. She was lost in thought. Fire from the earth. Most of the vaunted Grenoble clan killed outright. Those who escaped were injured with burns that healed slowly. Perhaps they were right and it was a new Equatorian weapon.
No. Flay shook her head. The princess was the weapon. Flay said aloud, “Adele. What is she?”
“She's your death, Flay.”
Prince Gareth stood in the doorway. Clearly Flay had been so preoccupied she hadn't noticed his scent, but she sprang to her feet with claws extended. Gareth didn't move. He was dressed in simple black trousers and white shirt. His claws were retracted. He adopted an attitude typical of a clan nobleman, as if paying a social visit, as if their past didn't exist, as if she didn't realize he was the greatest traitor their kind had ever known. It was his only option; he could only come to her out of natural-born superiority. Anything less and she would kill him where he stood. She stared speechless at him with her teeth bared and chest heaving.
Gareth waited for her to react further, and realized she wasn't going to. “I assumed your question was referring to Empress Adele.”