Now that I was awake, I realized I was also alone.
I sat up again, placing my feet on the floor, taking inventory of my body. I thought I’d bruised my ribs when I’d fallen off Shadow, but I was certain they’d broken when Ciro had thrown me against that tree. Now I felt little pain, just an ache. I touched my neck where the noblesse had gripped me and swallowed without discomfort.
I’d been healed.
I wondered if it had been Adrian’s doing, since Ana used traditional healing methods. And if so, where was he now? What about Ana? I’d at least expected to wake up and find her sitting with me, but perhaps Isla had returned. Had Shadow been found after he’d darted away into the woods?
I had so many questions.
I rose to my feet and pulled on my robe. I tried to force away the hurt I felt at waking alone, at discovering that Sorin was a shape-shifter. Did Adrian not care for me? Did Sorin not trust me? I paced my room, reasoning that it was ridiculous to feel this way. Adrian had not waited for me to wake up because I was fine, and Sorin had no reason to trust me because I did not trust him…did I?
I growled in frustration just as a knock erupted at the door, sending my heart into a frenzy.
Adrian, I thought and raced to the door, only to find Lothian on the other side.
“Are you well, my queen?” he asked, and I knew he’d witnessed Sorin bringing me here.
“I am…as well as can be expected,” I answered. “What can I do for you?”
“I have news about your mother’s homeland,” he said. “May I come in?”
“Of course.” I stepped aside and closed the door quietly behind him. Lothian crossed to the middle of the room, turning to look at me.
“I fear I do not have good news.”
Just tell me, I wanted to yell as a chasm opened in my chest, far larger than the one made by Adrian’s absence.
“Go on,” I implored.
“I could not locate any texts on your mother’s people, mostly because their history is told orally. I thought to reach out to some of the elders there, but—”
“Lothian,” I said. “Get to the point.”
“They’re enslaved. All of them,” he said. “By King Gheroghe of Vela.”
Seventeen
If Lothian said anything after that, I did not hear it.
I felt a surge of adrenaline, and at the same time, I felt sick.
And to think King Gheroghe had been here. He’d attempted to barter with Adrian for immortality—with the promise of my people. I could have killed him then. I could have liberated my people.
My body shook with rage.
Had Adrian known? Had he said nothing?
I turned from Lothian, tore open the door, and ran for Adrian’s quarters.
“Out of my way!” I commanded as I raced down the halls, packed with servants, vampires, and their vassals.
I could not imagine how I looked, but I felt wild and angry, and when I arrived at Adrian’s door, I threw them open, only to find Safira in his bed—one I had yet to occupy.
She was sitting up, naked and bent so that her breasts were peaked. With most of her weight on one arm, she trailed the other along her raised leg. Her golden hair, unbound, teased her arm in gentle waves.
Obviously, she expected another visitor.
“Where is my husband?” I demanded, my fury rocketing.
She flinched but swallowed her fear. “Shouldn’t you know? You are his wife,” Safira retorted.
My hands clenched at my sides, and I wished I’d brought my knife. Still, even as I took a step toward her, she shrank back against the headboard, and I felt a small bit of satisfaction knowing she was afraid of me.
“I am his wife, which begs the question—why are you in his bed?”
It was another slap in the face—waking alone after being nearly killed, and now this? If he truly knew about my mother’s people, I would never forgive him.
She laughed, a haughty sound that made me want to shatter her teeth.
“I have warmed it for three nights,” she replied smugly, as if it were gossip to spread.
There was a part of me that did not believe her because I wanted to believe Adrian. I wanted to trust him. Then again, I was no fool. There were few men who would decline what Safira offered, but all I cared about was that my husband had.
“Don’t take it personally, my queen. It would be impossible for one woman to fulfill every one of Adrian’s desires. Luckily, many of us are up for the challenge.”
“You grossly underestimate me, Safira. Worse, though, is that you have made Adrian into something he isn’t.”