“But if they had the help of powerful immortal beings, it may be.”
I let Taz’s words simmer in my mind as I headed back to my room. I needed to talk to Zyacus about this. How did this all fit with the blood moon? What if we were entirely wrong about the Fae wanting to take groups of us as slaves? Could the events be a distraction? These thoughts swirled around my mind.
I put my pride aside and sent a note to Zyacus saying we needed to talk.
I paced my room, waiting for a reply and when one didn’t come within a couple minutes I growled. That bastard. What could be more important than me right now? He was supposed to be in class but he’d still get the note.
I spelled myself directly outside his first class door, and peeked in the window. I scanned the students and he wasn’t there. Did he skip class? Not wasting any time I appeared outside his bedroom and slammed my fist three times against the wood. I tapped my foot, waiting. When he didn’t answer, I shoved my way inside. “Zyacus,” I called. Spotting the lump under the blanket of his bed, my heart rate ticked up a few paces. He didn’t stir at all after I pounded on the door? A terrible thought hit me. But if he were going to die you’d have seen his death, I reassured myself as I crept toward him.
Hisssss. I stilled when his silver and black short-haired cat growled.
“You should not be in here,” she said into my mind stalking from his feet to the pillow.
“I need to check on him,” I said, putting a hand on my hip. “Maybe you don’t know me, I’m Princess Visteal. His girlfriend.”
Another hiss. “I am aware of who you are, you devious thing.”
My mouth dropped. “Devious? What are you talking about, cat?”
“My Prince came back upset. It was because of you no doubt.”
“I’ve had enough of this.” Stamped over to him, risking a scratch, and pulled the blanket from his face.
His cat let out a low growl when I leaned down and listened for breathing. “Piss off before I freeze you.”
She jumped to the floor and crouched in a corner.
Steady even breaths from Zyacus sent relief through me. I glanced at a clock on the wall. It was nearly nine. I’d never known him to sleep past seven am.
I gave him a gentle shake. He didn’t wake. I shook him harder saying, “Zyacus, wake up,” several times.
With a groan, he turned over to face me. Then with exaggerated slowness, he blinked several times before his eyes focused. “Hey,” he croaked.
“Are you ill?” His flushed cheeks and sweaty hair were out of the ordinary if he weren’t training. So was his hoarse voice.
He pushed himself upright and rubbed his face. Clearing his throat, he said, “I don’t think so. Is something wrong? Why are you in my room so early?”
“Early?” I retorted. “You missed your first class.”
He looked to the bright sun shining through his window. “What? I never oversleep.”
Perhaps the hit he took to the head did more damage than anyone thought. “Did you drink a healing potion after your match last night?”
He tossed his blue blanket off and put his feet on the ground. “Yes I drank one. Madison forced me to even though I said I was fine. I can’t believe I missed class.” He ran his hands over his messy hair. “I’m sorry by the way. For being so rude to you last night. I just—I don’t know—I’ve felt different lately. I snap to anger so much faster than usual.”
“I noticed when you first were so aggressive with Lora’s brother during class.”
He took my hands and pulled me onto his lap. “You know I’m especially protective of you.”
The cat growled again.
I glowered at the feline. “And she’s protective of you,” I said and stuck my tongue out at her.
Zyacus patted the bed beside him. “Be nice, Penelope. You know how much Visteal means to me.”
She darted out the cat door without a word.
“I thought the hatred for being with you was reserved to human women but even the cat is jealous.”
Zyacus laughed and nuzzled his face into my neck. It tickled so much that I squealed and wiggled in his grasp. Then he kissed me hard on the lips and after a moment I pushed my hands against his chest.
“Before I forget. I need to tell you about the Hazelvales plan. And there’s something else too.”
I started off telling him about my vision that confirmed Nimblewatt’s account from the last blood moon. And when I finished with all the details of everything I knew about the Hazelvales, Zyacus’s handsome face set in a permanent sneer. “I don’t know what to do about the Fae issue right now but Firo and his brother, let’s kill them.”
“They are only two members of that family. It won’t solve the problem.”
Zyacus stood and grabbed a glass bottle of water off his bedside table. “It’s a start. And why don’t you have your mother send soldiers to their estates and wipe them out?”
“She’s not like that. We’d need solid proof. And right now we have hearsay from spies of my great grandmother who hates the Hazelvale family. It’s not reliable information.”
“And your father?”
I shook my head. “He wouldn’t either. We shouldn’t kill anyone without solid evidence.”
“You told me that Firo threatened you during the tournament last night. What more do we need? To kill him at least.”
“We need information from him first.”
“Fine. We capture him, use some truth potion and then we kill him.”
I wasn’t solid on the killing him part but capture and truth potion I could get on board with. “Alright, Taz is going to help. We need a plan.”
“I’ll get Aric, too. You never know
