Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
“Infatuation?” Silt grated. For someone so unfamiliar with jealousy, he recognized its stranglehold immediately.
Enti’s irises swirled as she read the princess’s mind. “Ah, you call your crush the Ideal. With very good reason.”
The Ideal ? Silt wanted to howl. “Who is he?”
The color in Kosmina’s cheeks deepened even more. “King Kristoff, the legitimate heir to the Horde throne. He is Lothaire’s half brother, but no relation to me, of course.”
Enti said, “I’ve heard of him. The Gravewalker.”
Having accepted his . . . partiality to this female, Silt had never considered her heart might be set on another.
Inane thought: Could’ve pulled out her godsdamned chair, Silt.
Kosmina favored royalty; he was as far from a vampire king as he could be—the son of two Inferi. He’d been born into slavery then betrayed out of the one thing that could have delivered him from those bonds.
“It’s of no matter,” Kosmina said breezily. “Lothaire trundled me off before I could make a fool out of myself.”
She was desperate to escape from Nightside because she needed a cure. Did she also long to return to the Ideal ?
With a questioning look, she glanced at his hands, and he was shocked to find himself making fists. Silt didn’t do jealousy. He’d always considered it a sign of insecurity or immaturity.
A wiseman had once told him, the more sand has escaped from the hourglass of life, the clearer we should see through it. But Silt didn’t. Despite his age, he had a young man’s confusions.
Desiring this vampire warred with his honed instincts. She filled him with doubt and made him think ridiculous thoughts.
Was he becoming obsessed with her?
He again commanded himself not to look at Kosmina. Didn’t work this time. His gaze was already on her lovely face.
Obsessed? Hell. He feared that deed was done. And for what? Did the object of his desires want only another? What if the Gravewalker was her fated one . . . ?
The sorcerer beside Mina vibrated with new tension as he pointed out, “You told me a female vampire would simply know who her mate was.”
“Yes, well, I got that one wrong.” And she was obviously still far from the mark because she felt a pull toward Silt that she couldn’t explain—a compelling draw, some kind of tether between them. She had scant experience in a situation like this, but she could swear he felt something deeper for her as well.
“Why do you believe it was only infatuation?” he asked.
“Because Kristoff is destined to another, and I didn’t awaken his heart.” Stop getting sidetracked, Mina. “Enough about my schoolgirl ridiculousness. I’d like to know more about Nightside. Enti, are you the only source of food and civilization?”
The sorceress clearly debated keeping her in the hot seat but relented, her irises stilling. “Yes, we’re the sole source.”
“How many live here in the castle?” The sounds of gambling and sex continued from all corners of the place.
“Just under fifty. Though fewer have arrived of late.” Had tension stolen over the table’s occupants? “Yet Xodin has scouts who fly over the realm, and they’ve reported two immortal males recently arrived. Maybe vampires, but the scouts had trouble seeing through the haze and geysers.”
“Did one have black hair? It might be my brother!”
Silt too tensed at the possibility, his vow like a shadow over him.
Xodin shook his head. “Neither did.”
Oh.
Both Mina and the sorcerer seemed to stand down.
Enti said, “Be glad your brother isn’t one of them, princess. Their survival is doubtful. They got sidetracked even before the wendigo hunting ground.” She added in an it-happens tone, “Pursued by the undead hellhounds.”
“We missed those.”
“To your fortune—there are few things as disturbing as their howls carrying across the wasteland. That pack was chasing the newcomers straight toward the revenants’ bog. While we have a couple dozen of their ilk lying in wait outside the castle, thousands inhabit that bog. The two immortals will be doomed. Probably already are. Time moves differently there.”
“Within the same realm?” Silt asked, sounding distracted, his smooth steadiness from before gone. “I assumed that time varied between Nightside and the mortal world, but not within a single plane.”
“A week at Castle Vitis could equal a day in the wendigo hunting grounds. When poor Xodin first started flying over the realm, the time changes used to confuse him terribly.” Enti patted his horns, an erogenous area in demons, and those lengths straightened as his lids grew heavy.
Well, then. Mina only drew her gaze away when she sensed Silt’s eyes narrowed on her. She shrugged. Xodin was an attractive demon, and, unlike some people at this table, he’d made no murder vows against Mina’s family.
Enti lowered her hand, growing serious. “Nightside is a cruel prison, which makes Castle Vitis a place of refuge. I wanted to extend a formal invitation to you both to stay here as long as you like. We can all pass our sentences . . . until the Gaolers parole us.”
Silt’s head swung around to the sorceress. “Parole?”