“He knows, Esme. But there isn’t much he can do about it,” Trev said. “He’s tried, more than once, for as long as I can remember. They always shut him down.”
“How do they shut you down?” I asked Kalon.
His brow furrowed as he avoided my gaze. “You don’t want to know. Trust me.”
“I’d like to trust you, but you seem to be holding back a lot of information!” I said. “You could’ve told me about this sooner!”
“It’s none of your concern, Esme!” Kalon replied, his tone clipped. “It’s got nothing to do with Nethissis’s murder, or your day-walking protein. I’m still an Aeternae, remember? I cannot turn against my people. Once you leave, I’ll have to answer for a lot of things. Stirring up this blood slavery is just one thing I’m not itching to put back on my naughty list.”
“This is insane,” I whispered, suddenly disappointed in all of them. Valaine probably knew about it, as well. As much as I hated to admit it, though, Kalon was right. It wasn’t my business. I wasn’t supposed to get involved in their internal policies. But still, dammit… it made me so angry!
“The best way to take both organizations down is from the inside,” Trev said, after a long pause. “The members you caught today? Low-level grunts. They wouldn’t be able to give you good intel even if they had it.”
“And this is where you come in, right?” Kalon replied, staring at his friend. His gaze was cold and impassive, but I caught the occasional glimmer of guilt in there. I knew he had a conscience, but there was a small rift between us now, and I had to find a way to get over it. The mere thought of distancing myself from Kalon made me feel bad. There had to be a middle path… maybe Trev was it.
“I’ll give you the Red Thread leadership, every name I’ve got, as soon as I enter the Darklings,” the Rimian said. “I’ll have no use for them, then.”
“And you’ll follow up with the Darklings, too?” I replied.
He nodded. “Absolutely. I just need to get to the ringleader. Once I know who that is, I can cut the head off the beast. But my only way in is if I become an Aeternae,” Trev said, and gave Kalon a meaningful gander. “It’s time, old friend.”
Kalon thought about it for a moment. “You’re getting yourself in danger. Are you sure about this? If they find out you’re lying, they will cut your head off, and it will all have been for nothing.”
“I’ll go down swinging,” Trev said. “Turn me, Kalon. It’s my prize. I’ve earned it.”
“It’s irreversible. You can never go back.”
“Just turn me, Kalon!” Trev snapped. “We’re wasting precious time here!”
From where I stood, Kalon came across as hesitant. He didn’t really want to turn his friend into an Aeternae, but honor compelled him. Trev had, indeed, earned this opportunity upon winning the Blood Arena tournament. It was time for Kalon to come through for him. In the end, Trev becoming an Aeternae worked to everyone’s advantage, because he was more than eager to infiltrate the Darklings.
And if we brought those SOBs down, I could consider Nethissis’s death properly avenged. If he pointed out her killers… well, that was one heckuva bonus.
Kalon breathed out. “Come to the palace with us. I’ll have a small room set up for you, where we can go ahead with this.”
“You need privacy,” I murmured.
“I have to drain him of most of his blood, then give him some of mine,” Kalon said. “It’s not something we do willy-nilly, in the middle of the street.”
I remembered about the whole process being quite similar to humans turning. Transitioning into an Aeternae was a deeply private and personal affair, as Trev would have to deal with a sudden and powerful thirst for blood. He needed a controlled environment in order to overcome the first few days of the process. Kalon would be by his side at all times.
Once that was done and over with, Trev would then be introduced to the Darklings. Finally, I had something more concrete to help solve Nethissis’s murder. I wasn’t going to leave this place until I got the truth.
Tristan
Even with some of the Red Thread faction in prison, it didn’t feel like much of a win for us. We were no closer to discovering who’d killed Nethissis, and most of the Aeternae we dealt with—mainly the upper echelon, with the fortunate exception of Valaine and Kalon—didn’t even believe that Nethissis had been murdered. It felt like an uphill push, but it was only the first day.
I was nowhere near ready to let go of it.
Everything was connected. That baffled me and scared me the most. One way or another, everything was connected. The Red Threads, the Darklings, the Black Fever, Nethissis’s death. Whether the links were mere coincidence or the result of years of thought-out conspiracies, I wasn’t sure, but I had learned long ago that coincidences weren’t always just that.
Esme and I agreed to keep digging. Kalon and Valaine were still on our side and were equally invested. Valaine had every reason to get to the Darklings, since they had tried to kill her repeatedly. Kalon, her friend, seemed willing to do whatever it took to protect her.
Upon our return from the city, the four of us had sat down in my room, going over the details and assumptions we’d made so far. Kalon and Esme had said they might have something in the pipeline, but they didn’t go into details. I, of course, had demanded more information, but they’d both insisted they would tell us when the time was right. Valaine had convinced me to trust Kalon on this. “If he says he’s got something, he’s got it. Give him time,” she’d urged me.
I’d relayed everything back to Derek, Sofia, and Amal. The three had said the same thing. “Give it time. You’ll get to the truth, eventually.” I wanted to believe that with all my heart, but I worried there were elements working against us. My inner voice told me that we were in for a world of trouble, and we didn’t even see it yet.
Now, dinner in the palace was more awkward than ever. Valaine and Corbin had joined us, along with Kalon and his mother, Petra. To our surprise, Prince Thayen, the only son of Acheron and Danika, had been allowed to dine with us, since it was a restricted circle. Not even Zoltan was present—that didn’t really bother me, if I were to be honest. There was something about the chief councilor that irked me beyond belief. Maybe it had to do with his persistence with regards to Nethissis’s cause of death, his insistence that it had been a fox. Then again, Corbin had droned on the same, not to mention the Lord and Lady Supreme, and even Petra. But no one annoyed me more than Zoltan whenever he spoke about Nethissis.
For once, I hoped we’d have a quiet evening, as full of grief and silence as it was.
I couldn’t even enjoy the Rimian blood anymore, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the young prince. Thayen looked at us discreetly, his curious green eyes flickering with delight whenever Acheron spoke to him—the father-son bond was strong with these two, and it seemed to bother Danika a little. I doubted anyone else had noticed, but she glanced to the side, her nostrils flaring, whenever Acheron and Thayen chuckled about trivial things.
“He’s such a beautiful child,” Sofia murmured, smiling at the young Aeternae boy.
Indeed, aesthetically speaking, Thayen was a work of art. Taller than most kids his age, he carried himself with a certain regal composure. His green gaze pierced through pretty much everything, inquisitive and daring in its study. His hair was short and curly, in shades of blond and light brown, and he wore a gold band as his princely crown. He seemed to have gotten the best of both parents: his father’s nose, his mother’s lips and high cheekbones.
On top of that, Thayen was also extremely polite and amiable, brimming with knowledge and always wanting to know more. We’d spent the better part of the evening so far telling him about Earth and the humans, and about how we, as supernaturals, had achieved global balance with their species.
“Few people have seen him,” Valaine said to Sofia, smiling. “I suppose it is quite the privilege that you get to have dinner in his presence.”
“Thayen is the heir to the Nasani dynasty and the throne.” Acheron’s voice boomed through the dinner hall, bursting with pride. “He will make a fine leader someday. Won’t you, my boy?” He gave his son a playful wink, and Thayen nodded convincingly.
“I will do my best to lead the empire,” he said. “But I hope not to see that day too soon.”
“Why do you say that, my love?” Danika asked. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she doted on the boy. He was probably spoiled rotten, but he carried himself with grace and dignity. A privileged young Aeternae, but not one to reek of entitlement. I had to admit, I was impressed.
“Because that would mean you and Father wouldn’t be around anymore,” Thayen mumbled, his gaze dropping. Servants came around with pitchers of fresh blood, refilling our crystal glasses. He nodded thankfully and took a long sip from his.
