The gate, which faced me, was closed. That was not unusual, as it was almost sunset. What was unusual was the quiet…and the smell.
There was death here.
The vultures cawed, and I saw them swoop down to land inside the gate as I approached.
“Hello!” I called, and my voice echoed in the trees around me. It was unsettling, and as the wind picked up, swirling the smell of rot, my skin prickled.
I pushed on the gate, rattling it to get someone’s—anyone’s—attention, but there was no response.
A soldier should be stationed here, I thought. One of Killian’s guards.
I squeezed my hands between the fence and the gate and tried to pry open the door. There was enough of a crack that I could peer through, and what I saw elicited a cry from my throat.
I released the gate, turned on my heels, and vomited.
“Isolde!”
The voice that called my name was familiar, and I didn’t expect its presence. I looked up, sobbing, and screamed at Killian, who rode toward me upon his horse.
“They’re dead! They’re—”
I couldn’t say it. I’d only seen part of two bodies, but they seemed to have been skinned alive. As I recalled what I’d witnessed, my stomach roiled again.
Killian dismounted and came to me.
“We need to leave,” he said and took my shoulders, pulling me from the fence. I wrenched away.
“Did you not hear me?”
“I heard you,” he said through his teeth. “And if we don’t leave now, we’re next!”
“Release my wife, Commander.”
Adrian’s voice was cold, but his presence surprised Killian enough that he loosened his hold, and I whirled toward Adrian, who stood apart from us. He looked just as callous as his voice had sounded, his face and hair pale, his clothing immaculate.
“They’re all dead,” I said again.
“He knows,” Killian said. “He’s responsible.”
If Killian’s words angered Adrian, he did not show it. He remained calm as he asked, “You are so certain, Commander?”
I shook my head and swallowed, feeling the bile rise in the back of my throat again. “No. This wasn’t vampires. This was…”
I did not know, but I knew vampire attacks, and vampires did not leave humans looking like what I’d seen…did they?
Adrian’s eyes met mine, and in an instant, Daroc, Sorin, Isac, and Miha appeared. I blinked, shocked by how quickly they moved.
“Open the gate,” Adrian commanded.
I watched as Daroc effortlessly scaled the wall.
“Do not look,” Adrian said as the gate groaned open.
All the while, Adrian held my gaze, even as Daroc returned to summon him.
“Your Majesty, you will want to see this.”
Adrian’s eyes did not waver, and it was if he were asking me if I’d be okay.
I swallowed and nodded before I was left alone with Killian. I had words for him anyway. I didn’t watch Adrian disappear into the village, because I had seen enough to know that the bodies lay right before the gate. It wasn’t until Killian himself stopped watching and shifted to look at me that I spoke.
“Your men should have been patrolling. How long has it been since they ventured this far north?”
“You berate me for not protecting them yet turn to the man who slaughtered our people. We found the graves, Isolde.” Killian stepped in front of me. “Leave with me. You aren’t safe with them.”
“I am not safe here,” I argued. “Our people, the ones you found. They tried to kill me.”
“You were just caught in the crossfire—”
“No, Alec, I wasn’t.”
There was a pause, and then he said, “You cannot be angry with them. You did not even resist when he took you away.”
My lips flattened as I glared. My anger was acute, a flush that made my whole body hot. Killian had been present during the discussion.
“You know why I didn’t resist.”
“Why? Because you feared for your people? Or because he fucked you the way you wanted?”
I narrowed my eyes. I’d guessed that he’d lingered outside my door on the night of our wedding, and this confirmed it.
“Do not shame me, Killian.”
“I am only pointing out that despite professing to hate him, you appear to enjoy his company.”
“So you are justifying the attack,” I said.
“Isolde—”
“I am your queen,” I cut him off. “You will address me as such.”