remembered it from the first time they met. “I received your note, South Wind. Are you quite serious?”
“Immensely. I’m going to plunge this entire Dominion into chaos tomorrow morning.” Nero chuckled. “I’m looking forward to it, honestly.”
“Somehow, I am not shocked.” Viktor paused for a moment. “I will have my armies here in the morning to help you settle the city if you need my assistance.”
Nero was silent for a long time. She knew him well enough to know he was debating saying something sarcastic or mean. “Thanks.” He took the high road. Hope smiled. She must be influencing him, as well. For as much as she wondered how badly he had corrupted her, the road went just a little bit in both directions. “I…appreciate that.”
Rose approached her, close to the railing at Hope’s side. “I hope they get to be better friends.”
“I would settle for better enemies.” Hope tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. “Worse enemies? Which direction is it?”
Rose laughed. “I have no clue. But you’re right.”
“Where’s Hugo?” Nero asked. “I haven’t seen him since the ceremony.”
Viktor sighed. “He sends his absolute kindest regards to you and Hope, but he was not feeling well, and he had to return to his ship. I don’t know what ails him, but…it is worsening. I don’t think he will be the West Wind for much longer, regardless of whether or not we choose another to replace him while he lives.”
Hope spoke up. “Is my theory correct, that only the South and North Winds transfer their power by death? But that you and Hugo keep your powers at will?”
“Very astute, yes.” Viktor sounded impressed. As much as he sounded like anything.
“Although for Morten, we only know that in theory,” Nero said, sounding sour at even the mention of the North Wind’s name. “No one’s ever killed the bastard to find out. Not that we haven’t tried, either.” Nero snickered. “He’s been stabbed, shot, run over with a car, hanged, you name it. He doesn’t stay dead.”
“I think that is because he is already in that state of being,” Viktor provided. “And I am unsure how one kills the already deceased.”
“Speak of the devil…” Rose muttered at her side. “Boys, it’s shut up time.” Rose, for all her up-beat friendliness, seemed to command the room. Hope instantly liked her all the more.
Silence fell over them like death itself appeared. And if what they said was true—it had. She felt cold, even with the fading warmth of the evening sun and how overheated she felt from the festivities.
The seconds dragged on in utter silence. Then finally someone broke the pause. And it was a voice she did not recognize, but she had no problem identifying—it was as cold as the grave. Viktor’s steely tone was nothing compared to what whispered across the air like frozen mist.
“I would like to speak to Hope alone.”
“No—” Nero shot up from where he was sitting. “You won’t go near her—”
“Silence, South Wind.” It was a palpable force in the air. The North Wind’s commands were to be heeded. It even shut Nero up, and that itself was enough to scare her. “All of you. Go.”
She gripped the railing in both hands. Nero approached her and kissed her cheek, whispering to her. “You’ll be okay. I’ll be just outside the door.” He squeezed her shoulder gently and left.
And she was alone with Morten, the North Wind. The First Cardinal. The founder of the Dominions. A man who was nearly six hundred years revived from an ancient grave, if the legends were to be believed. And from what she had heard from Nero and the rest, there was no reason to doubt them.
He walked up to her. His gait was strong. When he stood near her, she could feel the cold creeping off him in the same way Nero seemed to exude heat. They were the opposites of each other in all ways, it seemed. She swallowed thickly. “My Lord Cardinal.” She bowed her head to him in respect. “It is an honor.”
A cold finger crooked under her chin. It felt frozen. She shivered despite herself. He tilted her head up. His voice was soft, gentle even as it felt like it came whispering from a hollow grave. “I am only Morten to you.”
She forced herself to smile, although it flickered and faded soon after it came. He smelled like what she could only think winter nights in the icy north must be like. Like the crisp wind and