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I pulled back, arching an eyebrow at him. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
He snorted. “Right. As if that was a thing.” He pointed to the long table inside the library, with tall piles of books. “Those books won’t read themselves.”
I groaned. “This is a switch. You should go train, and I should read.”
With a small smile, Shane leaned into me, pressing his lips to mine. “Now go before I hold on to you for real.”
I loved hearing that because I knew it was true. I stood on my tiptoes, pressed another kiss to his mouth, then sauntered away. After a handful of steps, I looked back and Shane stood there, looking at me with a smile on his lips and a happy glint in his eyes.
That made me happy.
I turned a corner and went down the stairs.
Prince Dorian was walking up the stairs with two of his vampires. “Drake isn’t back yet?” he asked one of the vampires.
“No, my prince.”
Dorian cursed under his breath. “This meeting has been going for too long.”
My feet halted and I stared at the prince. “Wait. Are you saying Lord Drake is still out? For the same meeting he left for yesterday?”
The prince frowned at me. I was well aware he didn’t like many people but I didn’t care.
“The demon hunters needed sleep so he came back late at night,” he said, his tone sharp, as if he wasn’t happy about telling me this. “But he left again early this morning and from the latest report—” He gestured to his vampire. “—the meeting has reached no conclusion and will continue indefinitely. Now, if you'll excuse me.” He turned his back to me and continued up the stairs, his two vampires following him.
I stood in place, shocked. They were still talking about how to defeat Paimon? There had to be something they could do, some advantage they had over my father, some strategy they could use.
Oh, I knew what. Something I had thought of before and something that I knew would work.
“Wait.” I raced after Prince Dorian.
He slowed at the top of the stairs but didn’t stop. “What is it now?”
I stepped in front of him and he halted. “I need to talk to Lord Drake. And to Hadrian, Rey, Erin, and whoever else is at this meeting.”
The prince’s brows curled down. “Are you insane, girl? You were allowed in a couple of meetings, but most of them are for top-ranked officials. Not even I was invit—”
“Please. I promise you, they need to hear me.”
Dorian appraised me. He knew I was important to this battle. I was the one who had to kill Paimon, wasn’t I? He couldn’t deny me this.
“Fine,” he groaned. “Come with me.”
* * *
Prince Dorian took me to one of the castle’s courtyards. He called someone, talking in hushed tones that even I couldn’t hear, then hung up. A few seconds later, a portal opened up and Aspen stepped through it.
He offered me his hand. “I’ll take you to Lord Drake.”
I glanced from his hand to Dorian. He wasn’t messing with me here, right? No, Aspen had taken us before to and from one of the underworld gates.
I slipped my hand in his, allowing him to pull me through the portal.
We arrived at the Winnipeg gate and a buzz of activity and people surrounded us. It was colder here and heavy, dark thunderclouds covered the sky.
Aspen pointed to the tent. “They are in there.”
I frowned. He wasn't going to escort me there? As long as I got my message to them, I didn’t care how it was delivered.
