I wake up the next morning to find Jules sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed in a black T-shirt and matching cargo pants, lacing up a pair of fighting boots.

“Where are you going?” I ask as I sit up and stretch my arms above my head.

He keeps his back to me, his head facing forward. “I need to go back to the kingdom today.” He rises to his feet, grabs a leather holster from the nightstand, and faces me. “I have to try to get my mom out of that fucking castle. After what I just learned … I can’t leave her there to rot away with that monster.” Huffing out a shuddering breath, he slips his arms through the holster and latches up the straps.

“But, isn’t it dangerous?” I kneel on the edge of the bed so I’m almost eye level with him. “I mean, if your father catches you, won’t he … punish you or something?”

“I’m not going to let him catch me. I’m not even going to let him know I’m there.” He moves over to a trunk at the foot of the bed and digs out a silver bladed knife. “I’m taking Rune with me, and Shade’s already there.” He returns to where I’m kneeling and sheaths the sword into the holster. “I need you to do me a favor.”

I nod without any hesitation. “What is it?”

He cups my cheek and tilts my head up toward him. “I need you to go with Liberty and Kylan to Legend’s and tell him about what we found. And I need you to do it carefully. I want you to wear a cloak to keep yourself concealed. And take this.” He reaches into his pocket and retrieves what looks like an engraved silver lighter. “This is what I use to put a glamour on my guards when I go out. All you need to do is open the top, and you’ll be good to go.” He presses the lighter into my hands. “And I need you not to tell Liberty and Kylan the real reason you’re going to Legend’s. We’ll tell my sister, but not until I get my mom out of the castle. Otherwise, she might do something stupid, like rush into the kingdom with her sword drawn.” He closes my fingers around the lighter. “And I need you to be careful, no matter what. Promise me you will.”

“Only if you promise first.” My voice trembles with the fear I feel inside.

“I promise,” he swears, carrying my gaze, his eyes two violet flames.

“Then I promise, too.”

He lets out a trapped breath then kisses me quickly but passionately before backing toward the door. “Kylan knows where Legend lives. He’ll take you there.” He opens the door, still facing me. “Be careful, Lake. It would shatter me if I lost you a second time.”

He leaves, not waiting for my response, but I utter the words, anyway.

“It would shatter me if I lost you, too.”

* * *

Legend’s lair is located on the far outskirts of town where the glittery and dazzling lights morph into gloomy shadows of dusky alleyways and underground homes. The journey takes about half an hour on foot, which gives Liberty plenty of time to blast me with relentless questions.

“I still don’t get why you’re wearing a cloak?” She raises a brow at the ankle-length lavender cloak I borrowed from her. The hood is drawn over my head, leaving my face hidden in the shadows. “And I know it’s not just some weird fashion statement.” She peers up at the sun. “Today is scorching. You have to be sweating under there.”

Truthfully, I am, but I promised Jules I’d wear the cloak, so sweat or not, I’ll wear the cloak.

“It’s not that hot,” I lie. I hate lying to her, but again, I promised Jules I wouldn’t tell her the truth until he was ready.

“Sure, it isn’t.” Shaking her head, she focuses on the sloped street ahead of us. “I know you and Jules are keeping something from me.” She pauses, giving me time to crack.

I don’t.

She heaves a frustrated sigh, then she stomps away with a growl. “Fine, keep your secrets. Some best friend you are.”

The farther she moves away from me, the more my heart twinges with guilt.

“She’ll get over it eventually,” Kylan whispers from beside me. “She’ll understand once you’re ready to tell her whatever it is you’re hiding.”

“How can you be so sure I’m hiding something?” I wonder, adjusting my hood.

“Aren’t we all?” he mumbles, looking away to the grimy windows of the stores.

He says nothing further for the rest of the trip, and Liberty makes no move to return to my side, leaving my thoughts to accompany me. And let me tell you, my thoughts are anything but comforting, focused solely on Jules and if he’s okay.

“Here we are,” Liberty announces, coming to a stop in front of what appears to be a columned mausoleum.

“This is where Legend lives?” I eyeball the crypt-like place warily.

Liberty shrugs, trotting up the stone front porch. “All vampires live in these types of places. It’s not that strange.”

I follow her to the front door and peer down at the welcome mat in front of my feet. “Maybe not, but that sure is.”

She tracks my gaze then giggles. “How very homey of Legend to have one of those.”

“Makes me almost forget that I’m about to walk into a place that looks like it holds a dead body.”

“Technically, Legend is dead, so …”

“Huh.” I crinkle my nose. “I guess you’re right.”

“Still, he’s pretty hot for a dead dude.” She raps her knuckles on the door while Kylan lets out a mumble of incoherent words from behind us. She turns toward him with her hand poised on her hip. “Is there a problem, my muttering guard?”

He leans against a column with his arms crossed. “Not at all. I was just reminding myself that I need to take some vacation time.”

“You should visit someplace sunny when you do,” Liberty quips. “Perhaps it might brighten your sullenness a bit.”

He gives her a dirty look, which she throws right back at him.

I survey the two of them, questioning if perhaps something is going on between them. Like maybe their relationship is deeper than just a warrior and her guard.

Flashing Kylan a haughty grin, Liberty turns around and knocks on the door again. “Come on; wake your ass up and open the door.” She pounds on the door several times, then shakes her head in frustration. “Lazy vampires always sleeping through the day.” She hops off the porch and slinks down the alleyway to the side of the house.

Kylan and I trade a look, and then hurry after her, Kylan drawing his sword.

“Is that necessary?” I wonder as we blend into the shadows. “We’re under glamour right now; no one can see us.”

His eyes rove the area. “It’s too quiet here. I don’t like it.”

Now that he mentions it, the air is awfully still when only a mile ago we were surrounded by the chatter and the buzzing of magical creatures.

“The window’s open back here,” Liberty calls out from the back of the alleyway.

We quicken our pace to a jog, but by the time we reach the open window, she’s already hoisted herself into Legend’s house.

Kylan mutters a string of curses, then hoists himself into the window. Then he ducks back out, offers me his hand, and helps me climb inside. With only a single window and the lights off, the place is unnervingly dark.

“Liberty,” Kylan calls out, holding my hand as he steers us farther into the darkness.

“In here,” Liberty replies, and then a trail of light reaches us.

Kylan follows the path of light that leads straight to Liberty. She’s lit a candle and is roaming around a living room decorated with dusky furniture, candlesticks, and a collection of books.

“I checked in the bedroom, but he wasn’t in there, either,” Liberty tells us as she stops in front of an old music player. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t here.”

“But it’s daylight. Legend rarely goes out during the daylight.” I look around, searching for a sign of where he may have gone.

“He could’ve stayed at someone else’s place,” she suggests, flipping through a stack of discs.

“Yeah, maybe.” I sniff the air as the faintest scent of faded moonlight and dirt touches my nostrils. The same scent I smelled the night Jules’ father arrived at the Violet Mountain kingdom. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Does anyone else smell that?”

Liberty breathes in. “Werewolves were close by.”

I tense, my breath hitching. “Are they here now?”

She shakes her head, the candlelight flickering. “The scent’s too faded. Either they were here a while ago, or the scent drifted in from outside.”

Kylan’s tension mixes with mine, making the air grow tight.

“We should get out of here if other wolves are around,” he says. “It unsettles me.”

“Why?” Liberty wonders, setting the candle down. “We’re in the area; who cares if other wolves are?”

“Because …” He glances at me, his eyes shadows against the candlelight. Then his gaze lands back on Liberty. “That edge of dirt in the stench means that scent belongs to your father’s guards.”

“They can’t see us,” I point out. “We’re hidden by the glamour.”

“But they can smell us,” he states. Then he urges us out of the house as if death itself is chasing us.