She had no choice but to warn Darian Xander, who’d in turn warn the others. It was for the good of all their people.
Lucidia dialed the number in, working from muscle memory, and all the times she’d called it to report another creature had been neutralized.
It rang, three times, and then he picked up.
Neither of them said a thing.
She waited, determined. She wouldn’t be the first to speak, not this time.
After an uncomfortably long time, Darian sighed. “I thought I might get a call from you.”
His voice crawled under her skin and set her teeth on edge. Snake, she cursed in her mind.
“I have a message for you,” she said in a controlled voice.
“Oh?”
“It’s a warning.”
“Proceed,” he said in a smooth voice.
She scowled, anger marring her face. He’d worded it that way on purpose, insisting that he still held power over her.
“The casters are going to attack the vampires,” she said. “Tonight.”
He said nothing for a moment. And then, he made a disappointed hum in the back of his throat.
“You knew?” Lucidia demanded.
“I suspected,” Darian said. “I like to remain informed.”
“Jesus,” she hissed.
“When is it set to happen?”
“I don’t know, other than tonight.” She thought about telling him about Robin, but then stopped herself. No good would come of that, especially not when he already wanted her dead.
“I see. Tell me, Lucidia Draxos, why would you warn me about such a threat?”
She let out a controlled breath. “It was a courtesy call.”
“I’m sure,” he hummed.
“I might not be as old as you, but I’ve been around long enough to see what happens when the rules fall apart.”
He let out a laugh at this. It sounded unnatural. “You’ve always had a respect for order… quite ironic, isn’t it? You’re an outlaw, and you’re still trying to enforce our rules.”
“I’m trying to keep people from getting hurt,” she said sharply.
“Yes, yes. Your motivations are quite wholesome.”
Lucidia pushed a hand through her hair. “So you knew about it?”
“We are fully prepared to fend off an advance from casters and vampires alike.”
“The attack looks like it’s coming from House Demonte,” she added.
“Yes, it does look like that. How curious. I’ll send the message out.”
“Alright, then,” she grumbled. “Consider yourself warned.”
“Lucidia?”
“What?” she snapped.
“I do hope you’re doing well,” he added, with that smug lilt.
Lucidia felt a well of anger rise up in her chest. “You’re an ass.”
“I mean it,” he purred. “Freedom suits you.”
She grumbled another curse and then started to pull the phone away when Darian spoke again.
“I’ve no doubt we’ll see eachother soon.”
She scowled, deeply. “The next time I see you, I’m going to separate your head from your body.”
She hung up just in time to hear his infuriating laughter on the other end.
Reykon
He’d been steering alone for a couple of hours now, after Robin had gone to sit on the deck and talk to Willow.
Now, though, he spotted Robin, sitting alone on the side of the boat, arm arms resting on the edge, her gaze trained on the horizon. Reykon let Dag take control of the boat and walked over to her.
“Hey,” he said, sitting next to her.
She gave him a small smile.
“How are you?”
Robin let out a long breath. “Not seasick, thankfully.”
Reykon studied her face, and then smiled. “You’re remarkably good at that.”
“What?” she asked, giving him a puzzled expression.
“Finding the good in any situation.”
Robin shrugged. “What else do you look for in a hopeless situation?”
Reykon chewed on that, rested his arms on the wall of the boat, mirroring her position. The sun was at approaching a forty-five-degree angle in the sky now and had changed from bright white-yellow to a deeper hue.
After a few minutes, he turned to her. “What are you thinking about?”
“My life,” she mumbled with a bitter laugh.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m thinking about all the ways I thought my life would turn out. Gotta say, this one didn’t make the top ten,” she said, flashing him a crooked smile.
He laughed softly and shook his head in humored disbelief.
“What about you?” she asked, still smiling.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Rey,” she laughed. “What did you imagine your life to be like when you were little?”
The way she said his name as Rey sent an electricity running through him. Nobody had ever called him that. He shrugged. “Strongbloods only get one path, really.”
“You’ve got a crap imagination,” Robin smirked. “Fine, then. Let’s play a game.”
“Oh, God, not Monopoly,” he said with a comical cringe.
She laughed and slapped him lightly on the arm. “No. Pretend you could be someone else, anyone in the world.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s fun,” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him like he was the idiot.
Reykon shrugged. “Eh, what the hell?”
“Alright,” she said with a grin. “I’ll go first. My name would be… hmm, Chloe.”
“Chloe?”
“Yeah,” she laughed.
“They have last names in your imaginary world?”
“Nope,” Robin said with a smile that made him feel like the only person in the world.
“Right,” he said with fake skepticism. “I guess… can I still be Reykon?”
“No, that’s boring. Be creative – if you could pick any name, what would it be?”
“Fine. My name would be Finnigan.”
She stared at him for a moment, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “Finnigan?”
“Yeah,” he said, a little defensive. “It was my grandfather’s name. I didn’t know him, but he was a very fierce warrior, and he piloted a…” Reykon trailed off and smiled. “Why are you laughing at me?”
“No, I’m not. I promise…. Finnigan,” she added, stifling another giggle.
“It’s better than yours,” he mumbled.
She shook her head, a large smile on her face. Reykon watched her, letting his eyes trail on her, taking in how beautiful she was.
Her eyebrows quirked together, and she turned to him. “I just realized that don’t know anything about your family.”
He shrugged.
“So?” she pressed. “What were they like?”
“I don’t really know,” he said, glancing back to the horizon. “We’re raised by
