Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
SLOAN
“Get behind me.” Kade stood, facing the oncoming sound. In one of his hands, he carried the empty bottle of wine.
“Yeah, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Sloan stood right next to Kade. “Actually, you should probably be the one getting behind me.”
Before the conversation could go on any longer, the stomping in the forest came closer.
Whatever it was had no concept of moving quietly around the trees.
Sloan squinted into the darkness the forest’s canopy provided.
She was able to make out a form: massive shoulders with folded wings and greyish skin.
“You can put down the bottle.” Sloan relaxed. “It’s Kimberly.”
“We were kind of on a date, here.” Kade tossed the wine bottle to the side as the gargoyle exited the tree line and stood in front of them. “Can this wait?”
Kimberly’s wounds from her fight with Sloan had been erased as if they had never happened. She wore the same brown leather skirt and sports bra as the day before. Her gaze shifted from Kade to Sloan.
Kimberly ignored Kade’s question. “This isn’t the time for romantic excursions. I’ve arranged for a town meeting. Word of the deaths of the New Hope militia sent to Term is spreading like wildfire. We need to decide what we’re going to do when New Hope retaliates.”
“How is news getting to New Hope so quickly?” Sloan found herself wondering. Another question immediately followed. “How do you know all of this?”
“The queen has her spies among us.” Kimberly raised a brow to Kade.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kade shook his head. “You, above all people, should know I’m no friend to the crown.”
“Be that as it may”—Kimberly motioned for Sloan to follow—“we need to have a meeting. Half of the town leaders want to stay and fight, the others want to run to Azra. We need the opinion of someone who has been in service to the queen.”
Sloan’s stomach went from a twisted up knot to one of ash. She felt lightheaded and sick as she looked over at Kade. His face was twisted in confusion as he looked from Sloan to Kimberly.
“What are you talking about? Charlotte’s not a member of the queen’s army.” Kade stared at Kimberly’s raised eyebrow for a moment before turning toward Sloan. “Are you?”
The way he asked the last question like a kid who already knew the answer but hated hearing the news, almost broke Sloan’s heart. How could she have come to care for a stranger this much in the space of a few days?
“I’m sorry.” Sloan took a step toward Kade. “I should have told you sooner, but there was no time. I didn’t think you would understand. I didn’t think?—”
“You can just stop there.” Kade raised his hands, backing away from the picnic area. “You can just say you didn’t think, and that would sum it up perfectly.”
“Kade.” Sloan took another step toward him. “You have to let me explain.”
“Like you said, there’s no time.” Kade turned his back disappearing into the woods. “Your military expertise is needed.”
Sloan felt so sick now, she thought she might vomit.
Her mind was already replaying the scenarios that could have prevented what just happened if she had just been a little faster with her honesty.
A part of her wanted to go after Kade, but she just wasn’t that type of girl.
She wanted to explain to Kade what was going on, but she refused to chase after him.
“You humans and your relationships.” Kimberly had plopped herself down in the middle of the picnic area as Sloan and Kade parted ways.
She was shoving mystery meat sandwiches and chips into her large maw.
“I’ll never understand you. Your kind is so dramatic.
You should take a page out of the gargoyle handbook when it comes to relationships. ”
Sloan could hear Kimberly going on in the background, but her thoughts were still on Kade. She’d have to figure out a way to talk to him again. Give him some time, and then talk to him. If he still hated her for her past, there was nothing she could do about that.
“You see, when a male gargoyle likes a female gargoyle”—Kimberly was tearing through the food like she hadn’t eaten in weeks—“he’s expected to present her with his proof of manhood. You see, he shows her his?—”
“You’re not being helpful at all.” Sloan screwed the gargoyle with a stare. “Let’s get to this meeting you’re talking about.”
Sloan didn’t wait to see if Kimberly would follow. Instead, she started walking into the forest toward the path that would lead them back to town.
“And I get that the queen has spies, so she gets her news quicker than we thought, but how do you know that she knows?” Sloan ducked under a low-hanging branch.
Kimberly rose from her spot on the blanket and crashed through the forest behind Sloan. She talked around a mouthful of food.
“You should really reconsider your matrimony to the shifter Kade. He has access to delicious treats.”
“Kimberly, I need you to focus past your stomach for a moment. How do you know that the queen is aware of what happened in Term. The news should at least take another day or two to get to her.”
“The queen is not the only one who has spies. I have a small but determined network of my own informants that let me know what goes on beyond the borders of Term.”
“So, the queen already knows.” Sloan started strategizing already.
“That means, if they start preparing for an attack now”—Kimberly picked up the train of thought—“they can be here at the very soonest in two days.”
“No.” Sloan remembered the vampire super soldiers that were capable of traveling at speeds close to her own. “They’ll be here tomorrow. They’ll come with the night.”