Lothaire

37

Where has Lothaire gone? Ellie wondered.

Was he in danger? She didn’t know why she should give a damn. Apart from her catatonia, nothing had changed between them. Right?

That young man bent down in front of Ellie, then gently moved her head until she was facing him. But she still couldn’t focus her eyes.

“So you’re Lothaire’s Bride. I knew he’d let me meet you! No matter what gruff front he put on.”

I’m not his Bride, just a peasant pet he uses to get off with until he can kill me. At least, that’s what she’d thought just hours ago as she’d cried in his arms.

But considering Lothaire’s reaction earlier . . . ?

Now she didn’t know.

“Lizvetta, is it?” the newcomer asked with a southern drawl. Not a mountain accent, but definitely from the South.

Hag said, “She prefers to be called Ellie.”

“And you? I just can’t call someone as pretty as you . . . Hag. Maybe you have a middle name?”

Ellie thought he was grinning when he said that.

“Lothaire wouldn’t like you calling me—”

“You just let me worry about him.”

“Very well. My name’s Balery.”

She’ll tell him but not me?

“Nice to meet you, Balery.”

“And what might you be, Thaddeus? You look mortal.”

“Thanks. But I’m actually a vampire and phantom halfling.”

Hag—Balery—sucked in a breath. Why?

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Again Ellie heard amusement in his tone. “Since I’m wicked powerful and rare and all.” Then to Ellie, he said, “My name’s Thad. I’m a friend of Mr. Lothaire’s. And I’m going to help you through this.”

Was this guy for real? His deep voice was filled with kindness, but if he was friends with Lothaire and part vampire, wouldn’t that make him evil?

“Mr. Lothaire came and got me because I was human a little while ago. Or at least, I thought I was. And I went catatonic when I saw some of the creatures you met up with today. Creepy stuff, huh.”

The things I saw . . .

Thad took her hands in his. They were big and rough, warming her own. “But you’re safe now. No one will hurt you. We’re gonna protect you.”

Safe. Protected. How Ellie had longed for someone to tell her exactly that! At any time in the last five years.

But still she couldn’t seem to focus her gaze, not even to see what he looked like.

“When I was out of it,” he continued, “this really nice Valkyrie named Regin the Radiant and a dark fey called Natalya took me under their wings.”

Regin the Radiant, the one Lothaire stalked? Oh, boy.

I hate this world.

“Every day the ladies talked to me, about normal stuff mostly. And after a while, I felt comfortable enough to peek my head up.” He gave her hands a light squeeze. “So that’s what I’m gonna do with you. Talk. ’Cause I got nowhere else I’d rather be. I’m hiding out from my adoptive mom. She’s the greatest, but she thinks I’m in high school—and still human—but I’m done with mortal school. So every day from eight to three, I gotta get lost. I hang with the Valkyries mostly, but not one of them plays football. They just like to get high with the witches, play video games, and shriek at stuff.”

This is better than the Book of Lore. . . .

“Hey, if you surface, I’ll tell you stories about Mr. Lothaire. About how he saved my life again and again.”

Had Hag briefly stopped stirring her potion at that?

“So what should I talk about now?” Thad mused. Ellie heard him snap his fingers as he said, “Oh, I know. . . .”

His voice a soothing balm, he told her about the Valkyries giving off lightning with emotion, lighting up the sky like it was the Fourth of July. He talked about how a fairy-godmother-type Valkyrie named Nïx had set him up with a vampire tutor, one who was teaching him how to trace—and to call for blood delivery. He told Ellie how he and his mom and gram were now living in a grand New Orleans mansion.

And all the while he’d pause to remind her that he’d never let anyone hurt her, that she was safe.

As time passed, Ellie’s gaze began to focus on him. She could tell he was tall, muscular, and dark-haired. Handsome.

“You’re coming back, Ellie.” He grinned.

Oh, that smile! With dimples. So genuine, so open.

“You’ve just got to come back a little bit more. Not gonna let anything hurt you.”

She tried to speak, to move. Struggling . . .

I can do this. Mind over mind. Just like kicking Saroya offstage. Ellie began shoving her way through.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Come back to us.”

Fight . . . fight . . . deep breath. “Hi?”

“Welcome back!”

“Oh, thank gods,” Hag said, adding in a murmur, “Now we all get to live.”