“I didn’t even think about that.” Stomach twisting itself into knots, I glanced at the fuchsia curtains hung in the doorway to her bedchambers. “Are you alone?”
“I hope so.” She curled her legs, leaving room for me.
“Good.” I sat beside her, needing a moment to collect my thoughts. I’d come to her without really even thinking it through. I swallowed. “There’s . . . there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Without coffee? Or even tea?” Leaning into the arm of the chaise, she yawned again. “I’m not sure how much you’re expecting me to retain . . .” She trailed off, eyes narrowing on me. “Wait. Did the Prince come for you that night? I haven’t seen you since, so I’m guessing that is a yes.”
“Yes. But— ”
Naomi straightened, all the sleep vanishing from her gaze in an instant. “And what happened? I want all the details.”
“Nothing really happened— okay, things happened,” I added when her eyes narrowed. “I threw a glass at him. We sort of argued. Then he actually carried me to his chambers— ”
“I’m sorry. Back up. You threw a glass at him?”
“Yes.”
She rubbed at her eyes. “Are you a ghost?”
“What?” I shook my head. “No. He wasn’t angry if that’s what you’re getting at. He actually laughed, then carried me to his chambers, where we continued to argue . . . then talked it out.”
Naomi stared at me as if I’d admitted to being a god. “And then what?”
“And then we . . .” Squeezing my eyes shut, I pressed my fingers to my temple. I thought about the night before he left. “What you said about the kind of pleasure Hyhborn can give? It’s true.”
“I know it’s true.” A slow grin appeared on her lips. “Lis, tell me all about— ”
“I had a vision,” I interrupted her, and the smile faded from her lips. I sat on the edge of a chair. “I just had this vision of blood— lots of blood and bodies.”
Naomi had gone still. Her eyes were full of shadows as she stared at me. “Is it the ni’meres again? Do you . . . do you know whose bodies you saw?” There was a slight tremble in her lips as she sat up, placing her feet on the floor. “Do you?”
A slice of panic and fear lanced my chest. “I couldn’t see who they were or if ni’meres are involved. I don’t know all who will be . . . will be caught up in what I’m seeing, but I . . . I think it’s going to happen during the Feasts. I saw masks, and . . .” My gaze followed her fingers, to the collar of her robe, where the silver chain she normally wore would be. Anyone could’ve been wearing that sapphire necklace, but . . . “You should leave Archwood. I don’t want you here.”
“Lis—”
“You know I care about you, right?” I twisted toward her. “And you care about me.”
“Yes. Of course I do.”
“And if you thought something bad might happen and I could be caught up in it, you wouldn’t just warn me. You’d do something about it,” I said. “The difference is that I know something bad is coming, and it’s going to hit a lot of people. Maybe you’ll be fine. I don’t know, but I don’t want you here. At least for the Feasts.”
“You want me to leave, but what about you?” Her voice dropped. “Grady? Claude?”
“I’m going to ask Grady to do the same, and Claude.” If I could find him.
“And what about you?”
“I . . . I can’t.”
“Why?” she demanded.
Because Thorne claimed that it was I who would save Archwood, and even if I couldn’t believe that, Hyhborn didn’t lie. And I wasn’t even sure if that was the reason I couldn’t leave. I needed to be here when Thorne returned. I knew that.
Naomi’s lips pressed together as she looked away, head shaking. “If you don’t leave, neither will Grady.”
Another cut of fear sliced through me. I also knew that. My fingers dug into my knees. “If you don’t want to leave Archwood, at least go spend some time with your sister.” I took a deep breath. “And you really should do that before it’s too late.”
Her gaze swung back to mine, her skin paling. “You told me she would recover from the fever. She is recovering.”
“I know, but . . .”
Naomi’s chest rose with a heavy breath. “But what, Lis?”