71 | KA-BOOM

I’m in a surprisingly good mood the next afternoon, reading through the next set of reports from the actually semi-reliable sources from the south on this side of the Mississippi. I’d nearly forgotten that we get a whole three days off for Thanksgiving break, so when I heard the reminder from class yesterday, I was ecstatic. Blue had some Pack business to take care of early, something having to do with the southern edges of the territory being tested by the southern Berner Pack.

Blue reassured me that my presence at the set meet would only complicate things, so I decided to just come back to the Coven to wait for him to be done with the matter. Whatever kind of territorial dispute he’s dealing with will probably be easier to deal with today when everyone’s off for the extended weekend-holiday.

Craven and Ry have been following my order on giving oral reports or video chatting to reassure me that they’re both alive and well. Craven’s starting his mission on the other side of the Mississippi in a town on the western side of Duluth. His report was given via video call, in which he was in a human cafe. He basically let me know everything there was quiet and reflected what the reports said. All the way to the small witch activity and a branch of Hunters in the area. But things up there are peaceful, so he said he’d be traveling deeper west and would give me another report today…in a few hours, actually.

Ry’s report was given through a phone call right after he arrived at Court. He told me about the apologies Mina gave for not realizing Mikyle was injured sooner and reassuring me that Ryker should have no problems communicating with me directly like this. I don’t blame the Queen for missing what happened to Mikyle, she has a whole country’s worth of vampires to oversee. How was she supposed to know her psychotic brother had been screwing with Mikyle’s head? And now that she’s aware of just how deranged and dangerous William is, she’s said she’s got some twenty-or-so Guardians monitoring his every breath.

Ry reassured, and I quote, “if he so much as sneezes, we’ll know about it”. It’s a little calming to hear that, especially from the very cousin who volunteered for the mission Mikyle had been on not a month ago. I insist the next report he makes to me is via video chat so I can be absolutely certain he’s okay. My cousin had reluctantly agreed, grumbling something about me being worse than the mother he never had before hanging up.

I set aside my reports and get to my feet with a sigh that seems to come from my toes and stretch out my stiff limbs. Sitting in one spot for hours, just reading these bone-dry reports, is worse than the ‘study sessions’ that had been forced on us last month. As I breathe in another breath, I get a funny taste on the back of my tongue. Something almost bitter…

I pause, dropping my hands from the sky-ward position and taking another inhalation, focusing on the flavor hanging in the air. I blink, my nose wrinkling as I roll my tongue. *Yeah, it’s faint, but there’s a funky bitter-acrid taste to the air. Like ash and something rotten burning*. I go to the window, looking out over the courtyard at the back of the Coven. The sun’s setting over the trees hovering around the edges of the property, painting most of the grounds in a brilliant reddish-orange light. Other than that, everything looks as it should.

A few vamps are hanging around in clusters, talking and walking towards the sleeping quarters. I even see Zoe heading out to the library with Elliot and another vamp I’ve met - but don’t recall the name of. They all look completely oblivious to the weird flavor in the air. I automatically roll my tongue as I breathe in and out, still tasting the same foulness and fighting a shudder as I try to decipher what this could mean.

Things like ‘brain tumor’ and ‘insanity’ flickering through my mind as possibilities for me to be getting some disgusting taste when no one else seems to be affected. As I turn back around, the flavor intensifies until I’m fighting my gag reflex, my stomach churning with nausea. *Nope. This isn’t just in my head*.

I catch sight of something stretch tall in the corner of my vision, a dark form - almost colorless aside from bright-red, burning eyes. My heart stutters and lurches into a gallop, fear gripping my guts even as my stomach heaves. I whirl towards the figure as the smell of rotting tangerines and blood hits my nose.

But when I look, my back now pressed firmly against the wall, there’s nothing there. No one but me in the office. My stomach and heart aren’t convinced, however, and I force myself to stay completely still as my eyes flicker over the two other desks that had been placed in the room more recently. They’re small, about half te size of my own a few feet in front of me. There’s no way something could hide behind them…

I don’t dare breathe as a familiar energy seems to press into me, a dark aura I had hopped to never feel again. My ears start ringing with the resounding beats of my heart as sweat breaks out over my skin, my body getting ready to fight or flee. My body slowly starts moving around the edges of the wall, eyes trained on my desk - the only place something - or some*one* - could hide behind.

Nothing. With my back still pressed tight to the wall, I’m now in the center of the room, able to see the once-hidden side of my desk. There’s nothing there. Nothing but the chairs. I let out a sigh of relief…though the smell, taste of the air, and energy hasn’t completely dissipated…it’s fainter now. *Maybe I am going nuts?*

I let out an embarrassingly loud yelp as the door to the office bangs open. *Wait…I don’t remember closing it - in fact, I never close the door*. But I don’t have time to dwell on this new revelation as I see who’s just come into the room. My heart stutters in my chest with a mix of fear and relief for just a second.

“We’ve got a problem, Wisty.” Ry huffs, out of breath and eyes wide. There’s a distinct scent of blood trailing in his wake, the splatter of bright red on his clothes shocks me to my core as I look up at him. The blood isn’t human, though, or Wolven by the smell of it. The aroma is a fresh bouquet of vampire blood. All vampire, but so cloyingly sweet and heady that I know there’s a lot of it.

“Oh my God, Ry-” I begin, my stomach and heart sinking with an all-too-familiar sense of dread. “What the hell happened?” Either Ryker just slew those in the Royal Court or…

“The King’s lost control.” Ryker rasps suddenly pale. A slight greenish hue rises in his face as his eyes go a little distant. He presses a hand to his forehead, eyes still wide, but now unseeing as his adams apple bobs. “He just…the Guardians and the whole Court-” He sputters weakly, swaying a little now. I rush over to my disoriented cousin, wrapping an arm around his blood-soaked shoulders and leading him to the nearest chair. No sooner have we arrived at the chair that Ry’s legs give and he plops into the chair, chest heaving now as shock seems to settle over him.

“Ry, what happened?” I prompt him, kneeling beside him so our faces are level and he’s looking right at my face. “Is Mina-?” I start but Ryker shakes his head quickly, some of the ashen-undertone fading away as I bring up the Queen.

“She was fine when I left her. Her Guardian made sure to secure her.” Ryker gets out before his eyes clear a fraction of a degree. “Wisty, the King just-” His words cut off again as a look of horror haunts his face. “He *changed* into something else.” He says slowly, eyes still just as wild as before, his voice now becoming rough and ragged. “He cut own all the vampires guarding him and the ones in the Court and *drank them dry*.”

The breath in my chest freezes and I just stare at my cousin in horror. Twenty-four vampires, then, maybe more. The King’s hopped up on vamp-blood and God only knows how much power now…and he’s a Revenant.

My whole world spins and I flinch, glancing around the room as I recall the smell I scented before Ry came in. Rotten tangerines and blood. I shiver, cold sweat trickling down my spine as my fear rises to new heights. *But…that’s not possible…he can’t know where I am…can he?*

“The Queen told me to come back here and warn you. The King escaped before her Guardian had the chance to put him down.” Ryker seems to finally get a grip, looking me in the eye, his sky-blue eyes are clear now. Fierce, but also wide with the hints of terror. “Wisty, the King escaped.” He repeats, the words echoing in my head. An icy tendril grips me as I realize what I had sensed before…must not have been ‘all in my head’. The King was here.