The only light is coming from a green candle on his table. He’s on his bed and barely looks up at me coming in. Then something slams into me, pushes me to the wall. A hand clamps over my mouth.
“Are you?” my assailant asks. “Are you bad man?”
Lilith.
I shake my head, and she steps back.
“Oh. Vivienne.”
Then she steps away. She goes over to the bed and puts one arm around Kingston. That one small action makes my blood boil. I want to protect him, but I can’t tell if that’s protecting him from Senchan or from Lilith’s arm around his waist. He’s mine, something in me hisses, even though I know it’s not true.
“Bad man hurt Kingston,” Lilith whispers. “Hurt him bad.”
“I’m okay,” Kingston says. He looks up at me. There's something in his eyes that tells me his words couldn't be further from the truth. For one thing, I've never heard his voice waver before. The wound is still dripping a smear of blood down his neck. Zal has disappeared from sight. “I’m okay now.”
“What did he do?” I ask. The fire in me builds. I want to kill Senchan for doing this to him, whatever it was. My fists are clenched and I can hear the blood in my ears grow louder. It takes everything I have not to yell at Lilith, to force her out of the trailer so I can take care of him. But I don’t. For some reason, a part of me knows Lilith needs to stay.
“Nothing,” Kingston says. “I mean…I’m not hurt. But he has my magic.” His voice cracks at this.
“What?” The roar grows louder.
“He…when I got here, he ambushed me. And I don’t know how, but he took it.” He holds up his hands in a begging posture. “That’s why I couldn’t enchant the place, couldn’t make it part of Mab’s territory. He stole my powers. It’s all my fault.”
“I’ll kill him.” The words echo in my ears, and that’s when I realize I wasn’t the only one saying them. Lilith is staring at him.
“I’ll get your magic back,” she continues. “Mab be damned, I will kill him for hurting you.” She looks at me, and there’s a fire in her eyes, a literal glow of red and gold that makes me edge further against the wall. Her gaze makes my skin go hot, like standing over the edge of a volcano.
“Vivienne,” she says. Her voice is cinder and ash. “We must kill him. Together. Tonight.”
I’m not a killer. I’m not.
She holds out her hand.
I’m not a killer.
I look at Kingston. The blood still trickling down his neck. The lost look in his eyes. The bloodlust in me hums.
I’m not a killer, but I’d kill for him.
I nod at Lilith. Senchan will pay for this. Senchan will die. I take Lilith’s hand. The world explodes.
Chapter Thirteen: Amnesia
If I wasn’t one hundred percent certain we didn’t have animals in our show, I would have blamed the elephants for trampling over my head. There’s no other explanation for the pounding in my temples and the fact that every joint in my body feels like I’d been sent to boot camp. I roll over in bed, and try to visualize happy, healing light spreading all over me, easing away the pain. Then someone puts a hand on my forehead, and that’s exactly what happens.