off what I’d just witnessed, though. The Black Fever was making a comeback, sooner than expected, and the Aeternae were not ready for it. Then again, one could never truly be ready for a deadly plague to just swoop in and kill hundreds of thousands of people, no matter how many times it had already happened in the past.
“Do the Lord and Lady Supreme have any plans for this?” I asked Valaine as we walked through one of the main corridors leading to my chambers. She’d been kind enough to escort me, and I didn’t mind it one bit. I found that I enjoyed spending time with her—there was a gentle tranquility about Valaine that somehow made every moment worth more. “I mean, any contingency at all?”
“Besides the quarantine in the infirmary halls? Not really, no,” Valaine replied. “They will probably instruct the silver and the golden guards to watch out for symptoms manifesting among the people. And messages will be sent to all the physicians, as well.”
“Hopefully, Amal and Nethissis will be able to work something out, in terms of a cure, or at least a vaccine, to prevent contamination,” I said. “But we’ll definitely need you to get the Lord and Lady Supreme to approve our intervention. Amal will likely request blood samples from the sick Aeternae.”
“And they’ve yet to admit we have any sick Aeternae to begin with,” Valaine reminded me, nodding slowly. “I’ll request an audience with our leaders, first thing in the morning.”
“I’m sorry this is happening again,” I offered. “Given your personal loss to Black Fever.”
She sighed. “I think it was easier growing up the way I did, not having met my mother at all. I probably would’ve missed her a lot more, had we actually known each other.”
“You can’t truly miss what you’ve never had, right?”
She gave me a faint smile. “So to speak. Yes.”
Shadows moved at the end of the corridor. I stilled, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. Reaching out, I stopped Valaine from moving forward, and she gave me a confused glance. My instincts were on fire, the air moving and brushing against my face. Something was coming, but I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly.
“Tristan?” she asked.
“Wait,” I whispered, my muscles twitching, my stomach tightening with anxiety. I’d rarely had such sensations rushing through me. Esme would call it a weird sixth sense whenever it happened. I was her personal danger radar, my instincts picking up on trouble shortly before it crossed our paths. I’d felt this way before so many times, it was impossible to ignore or to brush off as just a fleeting thought.
A blade left a sheath with a bloodcurdling zing, somewhere behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw four figures dressed in black bolting toward us, long knives swinging. I pulled Valaine to the side and quickly turned around to face them. My fangs and claws came out as they attacked us.
“Watch out!” I shouted, as two of the attackers went straight for Valaine’s throat.
Their faces were painted in black and gold, making it hard for me to spot their eyes or any kinds of memorable features. They looked like butterflies’ wings cloaked in black, and they instilled fear in me.
Valaine dodged their attacks and ripped through one of their cloaks with her extended claws. The other two came at me, and I instantly remembered all my defensive training. I didn’t use it as often as Esme, but I wasn’t entirely rusty. I swerved around and caught one of my attackers by the back of his neck.
Putting all my force into that hold, I yanked him back and bit into his throat, tearing it open with my fangs. Blood gushed out as he screamed in agony, but I wasn’t done. I grabbed his knife and cut off his head, adrenaline bursting through me. His body fell to the floor, limp and bleeding out.
The second guy rushed back to take me down, but I tossed his friend’s head at him, distracting him for the briefest of moments. I dashed forward, still holding the knife and ready to ram it into his throat, but he managed to jump back. I missed him by inches. Still, he didn’t dare attack me again.
Instead, he tried to go after Valaine, who was still fighting the other two. Without hesitation, I moved to help, stabbing one of them. Boots thundered through the hallway. The attackers withdrew quickly, including the guy I’d just injured, who held his bleeding