Chapter 333

[ 1,021 words ]

Talia’s POV

“No, Colin.” I smiled at him.

“Come on, Talia.”

“The Rogue King and Morgana are still out there. Killing them is our next goal. I am not throwing a party in the middle of an operation,” I stated firmly. I didn’t want to get distracted and let them get the upper hand.

“You are not in the middle of an operation. You are in a hospital bed, coming off a fever that should have killed you. You’re going to rest tonight, at least. Or your body will choose for you, and it’ll be longer than a day,” Colin explained.

I looked at Nolan for help, but he said, “He’s right. You need to rest.”

“Are you best friends now?” I teased.

Colin threw his arm around Nolan’s shoulders. Colin looked proud of himself while Nolan looked unfunny.

“We are. He and I have been bonding all week. We have inside jokes, a handshake, the whole thing. You missed it,” Colin responded.

Nolan deadpanned and shoved him off.

I laughed and said, “Fine. Fine. I’ll go.”

“Now go away and make it happen. Talia has someone she needs to mind-link,” Nolan stated.

Colin stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “Glad to have you back, Talia.”

I smiled. “Glad to be back.”

Colin left, and the door closed behind him. Nolan was looking at me. He did not have to say it. I nodded and opened the link to Solon.

‘Solon, are you there?’ I asked.

‘Talia, are you all right? Where are you? What happened? Leslie said you were unconscious. Are you all right?’ Solon asked. His speech was slurred as if he were waking up.

‘I am all right. I am awake in a hospital bed at Moonbrook, and I have never felt better. I killed him, Solon. Father is avenged, and the spell that was on me broke when he died. Then, I passed out. Apparently, the fire triggered Moonfire.’

He went quiet for a moment. ‘Moonfire,’ he repeated.

‘You know what that is?’

‘Yes, I did not know it was a real thing. I thought it was a story Mother used to tell.’

‘I thought so too. It is what kept me alive in the fire. Nolan promised to help me find a way to control it.’

‘You should have told me,’ Solon said abruptly.

‘I know.’

‘You should have told me you were going after him, Talia. I would have come,’ he said.

‘I know. I am sorry. Things happened so quickly. I only wanted to make sure Jason didn’t have a chance to run,’ I explained.

The link went quiet for a little longer. ‘Are you really all right?’ Solon asked.

‘I am really all right.’

‘Watch yourself when you get back to Bloodmoon. Do not go anywhere without warriors, and do not let Nolan go anywhere without them either.’

‘We will, Solon. There will be no going off anytime soon.’

‘Leslie is at the antidote day and night. She thinks she is close. The moment it is ready, she is sending it to every pack we have an alliance with.’

‘Tell her thank you.’

‘I will tell her.’

‘One more thing. Take care of yourself, Solon. You are the Alpha King now. The pack needs you whole. Do not run yourself into the ground because of me.’

‘I will try.’

‘Try harder than that. Sleep when you can.’

‘I will. I am glad you are not dead, Talia.’

‘I am glad too.’

The link closed.

Nolan was watching me. I let myself sit with the closed link for a moment before I looked at him.

“He is going to be all right,” I said. “He needs sleep. He has not slept.”

“That makes three of us.”

“Help me up. I have a party to be at.” I said, grinning.

The party was in the main hall at Moonbrook. Colin pulled it together in about four hours, which wasn’t surprising since he’d trained his household to keep up with him since he was sixteen. Lights hung from the ceiling, tables along the walls were covered with food, and a small stage in the corner had two of Colin’s musicians.

When we walked in, the warriors saw us and cheered. Marco offered me a drink and said, “Welcome back, Luna!”

After a while, the musicians changed the song to something slower, and I pulled Nolan toward the open space in the middle of the hall.

“Dance with me,” I said.

“You know I do not dance.”

“Come on, just this time.”

Nolan let me pull him into the middle of the floor. He put one hand at the small of my back and the other in mine. We started moving.

He was better than he had been the last time we had done this. “Did you practice?” I asked. Nolan nodded.

“How and when? When did you have time?” I asked.

“With Colin. Do not tell him I told you.”

I laughed.

We moved together to the slow rhythm of the song. For the first time in over a week,

I let myself relax.

I was looking past Nolan’s shoulder toward the open doors at the back of the hall when I saw the figure.

It stood outside, under one of the trees just beyond the courtyard lights. The figure was hidden in the shadow of the trunk, not moving. It didn’t look like a guard and wasn’t standing like one either. It was watching the hall.

A cold chill went up my spine, tightening at the base of my neck. I squeezed Nolan’s hand and tried to steady my breath, but the uneasy certainty settled in: whoever or whatever hovered in the shadows had not come to celebrate.

I missed a step then. My foot came down on Nolan’s. He playfully yelped and then

said, “What is it? What are you looking at?”

I looked back at him. “Nothing, I’m sorry,” I responded.

“That wasn’t nothing,” Nolan pressed.

I looked again toward the tree. The shape was gone. No one was under the tree.

The courtyard lanterns lit the grass at the trunk and the trunk itself, and whatever had been there a moment ago was gone.

I put on a smile and said, “I am more tired than I thought I was.”

“We can go,” Nolan suggested.

“Yes, I think we should.”

He took my hand again. We said our goodnights and walked back through the

corridor toward our room.

I told myself I was just too tired to imagine things.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.