Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star(42)

I shake my head. "Not really. No offense."

"None taken. It was… odd."

I laugh. "Thanks."

"You know what I mean," he says, nudging my shoulder with his.

"I do. The problem is, I don't think I'm the one you should be kissing."

He says nothing, but I know I'm right by the faraway look in his eyes. "There are many ways these things can work out," he says.

"Really? Like what?"

He turns to me and smiles in his most charming way. "Marry me. I will not insist on fidelity. You can have Fen and still be queen. Choose a king who will be best suited to rule our world."

I choke out a laugh. "So you propose to share me with Fen? Have you ever met your brother?"

Asher rubs his jaw. "You're right. That might not work out so well in reality as in theory."

"We are friends, Asher. Good friends. True friends."

"No… You're just saying—"

"No, Asher. I am being honest. So you see, the Prince of Pride does in fact have a friend."

His eyes gleam. A touch of tears. But only for a moment. He wipes his face and smiles. "But you still must choose a prince to marry and make king. And Fen does not wish to rule."

"But those choices don't have to be made tonight," I say.

"True, but they do have to be made."

"If there's anything I've learned over the last few months, it's that the future is impossible to predict. You never know what will happen to change the circumstances."

He sighs. "That may very well be, but contracts with demons cannot be broken."

I smile and pull my coat around me. "I know."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because if there's anything else I've learned, it's that every contract has a loophole. Even a demonic one. And I'm going to find it."





Chapter 11

IN ITS WAKE





"It is loud, all consuming, layered like a chorus. It is soft and hard at the same time. It is gentle and furious. Not female or male. Something else. It surrounds me. It embraces and engulfs me."

—Arianna Spero



When we arrive back at Asher's castle, Seri is pacing in the front hall. The moment she sees us she runs over, straightening her silver dress. "There have been more attacks," she says. She sounds more confident since our last talk. "Wadu destroyed one of Zeb's trading ships, and Riku set fire to Niam's palace. The princes are meeting at High Castle to vote on a course of action."

Asher frowns. "When?"

"Now, my lord."

"Bloody hell. They'd better not make any decisions without me."

"Without us," I correct.

He sighs. "I suppose you better come along. After all, you're safest with a prince."

We leave the castle and step, once again, onto Asher's boat. The sun is high in the sky as we travel south. "We can't let them invade the Outlands," I say, weakly. I've been up all night, and it's taking its toll.

Asher nods. "I agree. If we head past the walls, the Druids will gather an army to meet us. It will be chaos. Both sides will suffer. And our hope of peace will be but a dream."

I fidget with my hands, thinking of alternatives. "Maybe we can offer a peace treaty."

He chuckles. "My brothers care not for peace, remember." Once again, I'm reminded why Asher would make the best king. "And if they capture one of the Druids… I pray they don't learn of the Waystones."

The stone doors. The elevators. The way into Avakiri. "Asher, how is it the vampires don't know of the doors?"

He stares out at the horizon. "When we invaded Inferna, we decimated all in our path. The Fae that could, began to flee. We thought they retreated to the Outlands. In truth, they fled to Avakiri. They sent armies back to meet us, to try and reclaim their lands. Every soldier of theirs was sworn to secrecy. They would die before revealing the purpose of the doors. When we slew the last of the High Fae on this world, we thought the war won. But then my father, through methods of torture I can hardly imagine, learned of the Waystones. He discovered the Fae still held half this world, still had armies, still had fortresses. He did not tell me or my brothers. He chose to have us believe we ruled all, had won all. In the end, he saved many lives."

I shake my head, confused by Lucian and what he told me in the cavern. Half his actions seem to breed war, the other half peace. "I understand how Lucian knew of the Waystones. But what about you?"

He looks away.

"Varis," I say, putting together the pieces. "You were friends. He told you of the doors."

He grins. "Perhaps my father told me recently?"

"No. You knew your way around the Crystal Palace. Around the Air Village. You had traveled those paths many times."