“I need you,” Tristan said. “I need you back.”

My eyes peeled open, and I took a deep breath. The light was soft and orange, from wall sconces and a nearby candelabra, most likely. I heard my brother gasp, though I couldn’t quite make out what I was seeing yet.

“Esme.”

“Tristan,” I managed, my throat dry as a desert.

“Here, drink this,” he said, and I felt his hand cupping the back of my neck as he helped me to a drink of fresh blood. The warm liquid trickled into my stomach and reinvigorated every cell in my body. Clarity returned—or at least as much of it as possible, given my near-death experience.

“Tristan… It was Zoltan,” I whispered, finally seeing my brother’s face. “He killed Nethissis. I don’t… I don’t know how, but he got to her. He said she was in the… Oh, hell, how did he put it?”

“Take it easy, Esme,” Tristan replied. “You’re just coming to.”

“No, I have to say this before it slips away from me. My mind’s a mess,” I said, grasping at broken fragments of memories. “He said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Nethissis must’ve been down in the dungeons, then,” Tristan concluded.

I looked around, noticing that the rest of our team wasn’t here. “Where are the others?”

“Amal and Amane are visiting the quarantine area with Petra. They’ve got twelve sick Aeternae, now. Derek and Sofia are with Corbin and Valaine, preparing a search operation to catch Zoltan.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “GASP is in an uproar. They’ve offered their assistance, but the interdiction on the number of GASP operators on Visio still stands. Acheron and Danika won’t budge. Hell, they’re even more determined now to resolve this without outside interference. They’re boiling.”

“Oh… Okay. Well, I kind of saw that one coming, to be honest. What about the basement?” I asked, remembering venturing down there. I’d followed Trev. Invisible, until Zoltan had revealed me. That schmuck.

“It’s empty. Wiped clean. There wasn’t anything there. Just empty cells and discarded chains. They found a tunnel leading far away from the city, but the Darklings must’ve sealed it off. No one could get through. The collapse was at least a mile long,” Tristan explained.

I remembered the scythe, and my blood ran cold. I gripped my brother’s arm, feeling my eyes widen with pure horror. “Tristan… He had a scythe. Zoltan had a Reaper scythe. He knew how to use it, too.”

“We figured that much based on your leg wound.”

I glanced down, noticing the layer of bandages strapped around my thigh. The pain pulsated from beneath, spreading through my leg. It was tolerable, but not at all pleasant. “You gave me vampire blood, right?”

He nodded. “It didn’t work. You’ll have to heal slower than usual, I’m afraid. Kalon insisted earlier this morning that we try with Aeternae blood, as well. Namely his, with Petra’s permission. Amal obliged, but it failed.”

Kalon. Yes. He’d… “He saved me. He found us down there, and he saved us.”

I couldn’t remember much, other than him killing the Darklings who’d pinned me against the wall. Everything else was still faded into that sweet darkness I’d just left behind. I’d find the missing pieces, eventually. For the time being, however, I was just happy to be alive.

“I know. Trev has gone into hiding, for now,” Tristan said. “Kalon should be coming around soon. He’s been stopping by every other hour. I doubt he’s gotten any sleep since last night.”

“What time is it?” I asked, trying to get up. My shoulder and side stung, forcing me to lie back down before I made myself suffer. “Ouch…”

“You need to rest,” he said. “It’s only noon. You’ll need another day or two before you can move around. Give it time, Esme. This is no ordinary wound. It’s not even letting your other injuries heal faster.”

“That bastard,” I hissed, my mind going back to Zoltan’s cold grin. “Did anyone know what he was doing down there? Did you catch any Darklings?”

“No, only the five dead ones,” he replied. Five. I counted in my head, trying to dig through what I could remember. The two who’d fought Trev, the ginger, and the two who’d gotten me against the wall. I’d injured the ginger severely, but I didn’t think I’d killed her. Maybe she’d tried to come after Kalon. Either way, they were dead. Useless leads.

“Do we know who they are?”

Tristan shook his head again. “The gold guards are investigating.”

“Mind you, two of them were Darklings,” I said.

“Yeah… Thing is, some of the soldiers haven’t reported for duty this morning. Something tells me that two are the very Darklings you’re referring to.”

“They’ve all gone into hiding, then,” I said.

“Corbin is organizing one hell of a search party.” Kalon’s voice came through, nearly startling Tristan. None of us had heard him come in, so he offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure whether you were awake or not, so I didn’t want to make any noise.”

Tristan got up from the side of my makeshift bed, giving me a quick wink. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay? I’m gonna go fetch you some fresh blood from the kitchen.”

I wanted him to stay, since more questions were popping into my head. But Kalon was just as qualified to answer them—or at least most of them. Besides, my heart was already singing at the mere sight of him. I’d earned a moment alone with him.

As soon as Tristan left, Kalon took his seat beside me, taking my hand in his. The touch alone was enough to send electric signals through my arm, reviving parts of me I’d thought dormant or numb.

“It’s good to see you awake,” he said. “For a moment, I thought you weren’t coming back.”

I gave a short chuckle. “I’m like a cockroach. Not even an apocalypse will kill me.”

Kalon smiled, even though he clearly didn’t get the joke. How could he, if he’d never been to Earth? Nevertheless, he was a gorgeous sight for my very sore eyes.

“We’ll find him,” he told me. “Zoltan. We’ll find him.”

“They’ve all gone into hiding. I doubt they’ll be easy to track down,” I said. “I’m worried about their capabilities. That was a Reaper scythe he used on me.”

He nodded slowly. “I know. Your team has told me about Reapers and their weapons. I admit, I am worried, too. But you at least understand what you’re dealing with here. I trust your judgment, going forward.”

“I have no idea how we’re going to do this.” I sighed. “What about the Lord and Lady Supreme? What are their thoughts on this?”

Kalon almost smiled. “They’re in shock. They’re appalled. They’re speechless. I have never seen them like this before. It’s humiliating to them, to have had Darklings roaming freely beneath the palace. They had no idea.”

“Do you believe them?”

I wanted to see Kalon’s reaction where the two were concerned. Something nagged me about this, but I had to give Danika and Acheron the benefit of the doubt. That underground maze was extremely well hidden and protected. From what I remembered, it wasn’t easy to come upon.

Kalon offered me a shrug. “You can talk to them yourself when you’re better,” he said, caressing my face. I melted a little, welcoming his touch. My skin tingled with delight, and I felt more alive than five minutes ago, which counted for a lot, given the road ahead. “You can listen to their heartbeats and maybe detect deception, like you usually do. I, for one, believe them. They’ve barely left their chambers since last night. I smell some execution orders coming soon. They’ll be out for blood.”

“Sure, but who can they punish, if the Darklings are gone?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll see. They’ll probably start with the captured Red Threads as known associates of the Darklings. For now, they’re focused on damage control. Petra has been charged with nominating a new chief councilor, and they’ve also given Corbin the right to call a state of emergency. That will allow for mass raids and home searches.”

“Have you heard from Trev yet?”

“No. It’s not safe for him right now. I’ll wait, though. These things take time, much like your recovery,” Kalon said, his hand cupping my face. “Next time, you can loop me in when you’re about to do something crazy. I might’ve been able to prevent this leg injury of yours, had we gone together.”

“How did you know where to find me?”

I remembered him saying something about my heartbeat, but the overall fuzz was persistent. Kalon was right. It would take time to recover.