The drive is silent. Each moment passing like a blur, yet slowed down so I can get reasonable thoughts together, and in good time.
The night presses against the windows, swallowing us in darkness, but I barely notice.
My thoughts are too loud, crashing into each other like waves in a storm. The scent of burned shadows still lingers in my nose, the memory of that thing—shade, Valentine called it—clawing at my mind.
Ellie.
She's going to think I'm dead.
I left her behind.
The apartment was a wreck. The window shattered, the living room torn apart. She's going to come home and assume the worst—that someone broke in, that I was taken, that I was killed.
My chest tightens. I should have left a note stating that I was okay and in good hands. Heck, told her there was a break in and I've gone to stay with a friend for a while.
I swallow hard, staring out the window. The city blurs past, but my reflection stares back at me, hollow-eyed and furious.
Valentine doesn't say a word. He grips the steering wheel with one hand, his knuckles taut, his golden eyes fixed on the road.
The other hand rests on the gear shift, fingers twitching slightly, as if he wants to say something but won't.
The tension in the car is suffocating...too suffocating. I want to say something to break this silence, but I'm too agitated to be civil, as it stands.
When he finally pulls up in front of a familiar mansion, my stomach does a little twist.
I know this place.
The towering iron gates. The marble steps leading to an entrance far too extravagant. The cold, sprawling estate that looks more like a gothic castle than a home.
This is where I woke up after he turned me.
The place I jumped from a third-story window to escape.
He kills the engine and turns to me. "We're here."
No shit.
I shove the door open and step out, the night air biting at my skin. He follows, his presence heavy beside me as we walk up the steps to the thick but smooth and huge wooden door.
The door swings open before I can even ring the bell.
Achilles leans lazily against the frame, his brown eyes flickering with amusement as he takes me in. "I told you you'd be back."
I scowl. "Don't sound so happy about it."
His lips twitch. "Oh, I'm thrilled. Truly. My night was getting terribly boring without our little rebellious fledgling storming through windows."
Valentine cuts him a sharp look. "Not now, Achilles."
Something in his tone makes Achilles straighten slightly. His gaze flicks between us, and the amusement fades just a little. "What happened?"
"They sent a shade after her."
He stills. The lazy smirk vanishes.
"A shade?" he repeats, eyes darkening. "In the city?"
Valentine nods.
He exhales a slow breath, dragging a hand through his brown curls. "That's…not good."
"Brilliant observation," I mutter.
He shoots me a look. "You're not the only one who's pissed off, sweetheart." Then he turns smoothly to Valentine, "And?"
Valentine hesitates. Just for a second, his eyes flicker to mine and I know he's going to say something that I don't know about. Then he says, "My parents summoned me."
Achilles raises a brow. "Summoned?"
"They want me to bring North to the council personally."
Silence.
The weight of the words settles over us like a thick fog.
Um...what?
Achilles whistles low. "Well, shit."
I fold my arms. "I'm not going."
Both of them turn to me in unison.
Valentine's expression is bland. Achilles, on the other hand, looks entirely too amused. "You're cute when you think you have a choice."
My jaw tightens. "I'm not walking into a death trap."
Valentine's gaze sharpens. "You will if you want to live."
I glare at him. "So, what? You're just going to drag me there?"
He steps closer, and I hate that my body reacts—heart hammering, pulse quickening, heat curling under my skin.
His voice is low, edged with something dangerous. "You think I'd let them touch you?"
The air shifts between us, charged and burning.
Achilles sighs dramatically. "When you two are done flirting with rage, maybe we can figure out an actual plan."
I snap my head toward him. "We're not—"
He waves a hand. "Sure, sure. Continue pretending there's not enough tension in this room to set the place on fire.
I grind my teeth.
Valentine ignores him entirely. His focus is on me, his golden eyes molten. "You don't understand, North. They're going to keep coming for you. The council doesn't know what you are, and that makes you a threat. If you don't go to them, they will send more than a shade next time."
My hands clench into fists. "Why do they care so much? I'm not doing anything to them."
Achilles hums. "That's the problem, sweetheart. You exist."
The words slap me in the face.
I exist.
That alone is a problem.
I get the concept. Honestly, I wonder why I even ask when I already know that it all boils down to the fact that I'm simply minding my business by breathing.
Valentine's jaw tightens. "You're a hybrid. A vampire that walks in sunlight. That's never happened before, North."
I swallow hard. "And that means what?"
He holds my gaze. "It means they're scared of you."
The room is suffocating.
My breath feels too shallow.
Achilles sighs, stretching his arms behind his head. "Well, this has been fun. But if we're done spiraling into existential dread, maybe we can talk about the real issue here."
I blink at him. "The real issue?"
He smirks. "Oh, you know. The fact that you're completely untrained and just unleashed a burst of energy back at that apartment without even realizing it."
I frown. "I didn't—"
"You did," Valentine cuts in. "It came from you."
He must have communicated that to Achilles through the mind talking thing, because I know as hell he wasn't there to witness it and I didn't hear Valentine tell him out now.
A sinking feeling crawls through me. "I don't—"
"Which is why," Valentine cuts in, his voice firm, "you're going to train."
I stare at him.
Achilles grins. "Oh, this is going to be fun."
Valentine ignores him. "We need to figure out what else you can do. Every vampire has attributes unique to them. You need to learn yours."
My mouth is dry. "And if I don't want to?"
Valentine steps even closer, his voice quiet but razor-sharp. "Then you'll die."
I hate him. I hate that he's right. I hate that he's forcing me into this with the constant threat of my death. As if I'm not already dead.
But more than anything, I hate that I'm scared.
After a long beat, I lift my chin. "Fine."
Achilles lets out a low whistle. "Well, that was dramatic." He turns to Valentine. "You going to tell her what your abilities are?"
Valentine smirks.
He tilts his head ever so slightly to the side and says nothing.
I roll my eyes. "Achilles?"
He grins. "Sweetheart, you've got the prince himself standing right here. Ask him."
I huff. "Ugh."
I don't have the emotional strength to even begin to go back and forth with the both of them. I turn and head the opposite direction from them both, ignoring Achilles calling after me.
He's my mate, Valentine. I have an eternity, or at least, as long as hybrids live, to figure out what his abilities are.