Sebastian, lounging on his couch. “What are you going here?” he demanded.
Sebastian sat up. He had the book in his hand, the book that Sara had sent. “There’s not much left. You should read it.” He rolled his eyes. “I suppose you thought the firestorm was more important.”
Hadrian bit his tongue to keep from asking the vampire how he knew how much they’d read. Sebastian had probably been hanging around the night before, unbeknownst to the Pyr. He could only barely discern the vampire’s scent, and that was only because he was concentrating. Sebastian must not have feasted recently, because then he’d smell of blood.
Come to think of it, the vampire did look glittery and insubstantial.
“How did you get in?” Hadrian asked.
“Please.” Sebastian’s expression was pained. “Don’t even glorify those trinkets by calling them locks.” He stood up and stretched, looking like a wild and unpredictable predator. Hadrian didn’t trust him one bit. Sebastian spared a glance at the windows and grimaced. Hadrian realized the sun was rising. “I don’t suppose you have black-out blinds anywhere in this place?”
“In the loft,” Hadrian said. He crossed the room and plucked the book from the vampire’s hands, then quickly found the spot where they’d left off. Rania followed him, wearing one of his shirts and not much else, her feet bare and her hair loose. He wished the vampire hadn’t been there, because another round would have been great. Even though the firestorm was extinguished, he was still keenly aware of her and wanted her all over again.
He could hear Alasdair stirring in the loft and Balthasar in the spare room behind the office. He began to read aloud, as Rania started to make coffee.
“The witch could only watch as her spells came undone throughout the village and people turned against her. She fled the village and into the wilderness, pursued by the villagers and in despair. She had lost her lover and her child, as well as her wager with Maeve and her magick. In the darkness of the night, she fell into a ravine and broke her leg, then was eaten by wolves when she could not escape them.
The swan-prince returned to the palace, hoping to see his daughter and his beloved, but he arrived too late. He found only the queen dead in her chamber, the villain who had been her spouse dead beside her. There was no sign of the small boy he had met previously, of the ring he had given the queen, or of the lady’s newly born child. Those who remained in the palace were in the midst of fleeing the place and he could learn nothing of the child’s fate.
He made one last wish, for he had a small measure of magick himself. He wished that when his child wondered about him or about his queen, he would know of it. He vowed then to find and reveal himself to his child, drawn by that query. To be sure, though, he wasn’t even sure the child lived. Despondent at the death of his beloved, he left the palace to mourn his loss in solitude.”
Rania spun to look at him, her lips parted in surprise. Obviously that part meant something to her, but she flicked a glance at the vampire—who was listening avidly—and turned back to the coffee pot.
Hadrian understood that she’d tell him later.
He kept reading.
“The palace fell into disrepair after that, for there was no one to govern it, either justly or unjustly. The people abandoned the place, for there was no food and no coin to be had. The neighboring lands had been pillaged and robbed, so those survivors scattered wide in search of new homes. The palace steadily crumbled over the years, becoming a pile of broken stone, forgotten in the wilderness. Only the wild creatures took shelter there, including a dozen wild swans that returned each year on Midwinter’s Day. They flew in a circle around what remained of the high tower, trumpeting their sad song, then left again.
The child, Rania, was raised in Fae, which was a curious situation indeed. There are no children in Fae, for the Fae are immortal. They neither age nor grow: they simply are. For a while, they found the child to be a marvel, but ultimately their interest dimmed and young Rania spent her time alone.”
Alasdair and Balthasar entered the main room then, each clearly surprised to find Sebastian lounging on the couch. They exchanged glances then joined Rania in the kitchen. Balthasar