Page 151 of War Queen
“No lies,” she snapped back. “I’m telling you right now—Iwilltalk to him.”
His eyes burned. “That’s not going to happen.”
Nine hells it wouldn’t.
Mikael rumbled with anger, then turned and left their chamber in a storm.
Norah clenched her fists in frustration. She let herself fall back onto the bed and threw her arm over her face. She wanted to scream. It might make her feel better. But things wouldn’t actually be better. No—she needed to find a way to get the vial back.
But when she sat up, she froze. Outside the window on her balcony sat a small bird on the railing. She rose and walked to the doors, opening them.
It washim.
Lucien.
She knew it was.
“Can you hear me too?” This wasn’t a vision—he should be able to.
The bird cocked its head to the side.
“I need more blood,” she said.
And it flew off into the sky.
Chapter thirty-eight
Norahsatinthedark. No one would find her in the hidden stairwell leading to the tunnels under the castle. The cold seeped through to her skin, and she tucked more of her skirts under her thighs. She should have brought her cloak, but no matter.
She held the vial of blood in her hand that she’d found on her terrace that morning. In the dim light of her lantern, it looked black as the night. Her heart beat heavily in her chest. She’d told Mikael she would speak to Lucien again. She hated to do it in secret, but she would do whatever it took to stop this war.
She pulled the top off the vial and smeared a streak across her palm, curling her fingers closed. And she let her eyelids fall shut.
He came immediately, as if he’d been waiting, and stood at the bottom of the short stairwell.
She couldn’t see his face in the darkness of her mind, but she knew it was him.
“An interesting place to call me to,” he said.
Norah couldn’t help an amused smile. Perhaps she could have imagined a room in the castle, something more pleasant. She didn’t put much thought into the space around her when she’d called him, she’d only imagined herself in her current surroundings.
“We won’t be interrupted here,” she told him.
He lit up the passageway around them, and she was able to see his face—harsh, but not unfriendly.
“I take it that’s what happened before?” he asked. “Why you left so suddenly?”
“I’m sorry about that. But there’s still so much more to talk about. I wanted to see you again. I hope you don’t mind.”
He gave her a small smile. “I don’t mind.”
The nervous racing of her heart eased.
“Will you walk with me?” he asked.
She nodded and stood and stepped down the remaining few stairs to the tunnels. The light grew brighter around them, bright as the outside day, and she glanced around to see tunnels no longer of stone but of wisteria and vining flowers. The cobbled walk under her feet turned to a pathway lined with ferns.
He motioned them forward. “Shall we?” he asked, and she fell in step beside him.
