Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Graves seemed to feel her gaze and looked up with a dangerous smile on his face. The one that said his enemies would not bend but break under his gaze. She loved it. She loved him.
“That’s the last attendee,” Walter said in her ear. “Doors will lock soon. Kierse, Lyra, get moving. I’ll give you a countdown.”
Kierse would have known someone had just entered even if Walter hadn’t told her. If she was honest, she had known for a while that Lorcan was getting closer, and now that he was in the room, her hand itched to press against her chest. It felt like a lightning strike as his attention shifted fully to her. That kiss had altered something. Clicked something together that made her want to run across the room right this very minute.
Lyra tugged on her arm. “Come on. We need to duck out.”
Kierse resurfaced as if coming up from a deep swim. They meandered the enormous ballroom, bypassing enchanted swords and sneak cloaks and a black-and-white photograph of the city from on high. Lyra paused with her mouth agape.
“How did he get this?”
“What is it?”
Lyra blinked. “It’s a photograph my father took before the first vampire war. I thought he had all of them.”
“Maybe he sold one.”
“I don’t think he did,” Lyra said contemplatively. “I’ll have to ask him.”
The line in their ear came alive with a burst of static before Laz said, “Box secure.”
Kierse and Lyra veered to the exit when a throat cleared over a microphone. “Thank you so much for coming to the first official Monster Con since the war.”
Applause rose up from the spectators, most of them hidden behind the masks the theater performers were handing out. Half of Kierse’s basket was empty, and she could see black-and-gold masks everywhere.
“I’m happy to present to you our first keynote speaker. You may know him as a Midtown businessman, the man who can make anything happen. But what you may not know is that he is also the new head of the elusive society, the Men of Valor.”
Another roar of approval. Kierse jolted to a halt.
“Please give a warm welcome to…Gregory Amberdash!”
Kierse’s jaw dropped as her former employer strode onto the stage, taking the microphone seamlessly from the presenter. She knew that this place was for all monsters, regardless of affiliation. That was sort of the point, to allow discourse without repercussion. But how in the hell had Amberdash taken control of the Men of Valor and then been given a platform? What else had he accomplished silently in the background all these months?
“Welcome!” Amberdash said. The wraith held an arm wide as if he could truly welcome the group before him and not like the soul-sucking wraith he really was. “What an honor to be speaking today before all of you and to have the distinction of announcing my new role within the Men of Valor.”
“Wren, move,” Graves said in her ear.
Kierse wanted to march up there and demand answers from him. He was the one person she trusted after she’d gutted Jason and left him for dead. Amberdash had continued to work with her. He’d sold her out to the Druids, sure, but he’d given her a warning first about how deep in shit she was. She might have died without it. He wasn’t a good monster—there were no good monsters—but she was surprised how much she hadn’t thought him capable of this.
Power ruined everyone.
“Kierse,” Lyra said, tugging on her arm.
She couldn’t. She couldn’t go up there. Least of all because she couldn’t blow her cover.
“I’m moving,” she said finally. She let Lyra lead her away from the crowd of monsters.
“While I’m pleased to bring in all monsters of character who were guaranteed a spot at this convention, I’d also like to welcome those who are not members of the Men of Valor into our ranks. Join us!”
Kierse ground her teeth together. Cut off the head of a snake and another one sprang up. Killing King Louis hadn’t meant the demise of the Men of Valor, despite how good it had felt to slice his head off with the spear. The spear that she was desperately missing right now. With it in her hands, she wouldn’t have been able to resist the call to finish Amberdash’s bullshit reign.
“You know our values. They’re yours as well. Monsters should rule themselves. Humans should rule themselves. The problem lies in treating us the same,” he said, his gaze shifting across his captivated audience. “When we all know that we are far superior.”
A cheer ran up at those words. She didn’t know which way the wind would blow for them, but none of it was good.
Amberdash continued his speech over the cheers. The last thing she heard before slipping from the room was, “Which is why I put forth my name—Gregory Amberdash—for consideration to be your voice at the Monster Treaty Convocation.”