“Whatever he says, don’t let him guilt-trip you into anything,” Jaden growled. Lyra looked over at him, surprised, as someone opened the door downstairs. She heard gasps and worried voices, and the sick feeling intensified. Something had happened, she knew it. And if it had to do with the Ptolemy…

“Why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because you care,” Jaden replied. “That’s fine, but remember how quickly they cast you aside. Whatever has happened, you’re not going to go rushing off to save the day with Simon. We’re a team now.”

She glowered at him, but as they came around the curve of the staircase and she saw what was waiting for her at the bottom, her irritation was quickly forgotten. Dull horror replaced it as she took in the sight of the man, or rather the shell of the man, Simon had dragged in. Every last bit of glow from what she had shared with Jaden vanished.

“Oh no,” she breathed. “Dad.”

She flew down the last few steps, then stopped short as she watched a group of unfamiliar vampires, all dark and somehow feline, take Dorien’s unconscious form and lower it to the floor. Lily was there, dressed now, and cast a single worried look at Lyra while issuing orders like a seasoned general.

“We need to change the bandages and see about cleaning out those wounds. Put him in the gold room on the second floor,” she instructed the group of vampires. Newly minted Lilim, Lyra guessed, from the deference they showed Lily. There were nods, and they gathered to prepare to lift him back up. Lily instructed Ty, who was coming toward them from the back of the house, to call Vlad Dracul for his doctor. Lyra had heard the name in passing once or twice, but she wasn’t sure why more vampires would be required.

“He has an excellent doctor among his people,” Lily explained when she saw Lyra’s puzzled look. “I’ll get a local doctor if I have to, but considering how fast we all heal, it can get sticky with the explanations. And the Dracul can get here quickly if they need to.”

“They need to, then,” Lyra said as she rushed to her father.

What she saw shocked her.

Dorien Black was less a man than a crisscrossing roadmap of wounded flesh. He had been bandaged in some places, but it seemed there had just been too much area to cover. Some of the bandages looked fresh, others were crusted with blood from areas that were still oozing. His face was white, covered with long, curved scabs. There was a faintly bluish tint to his lips, and the soft breaths Lyra could hear were distressingly shallow.

She had never seen him look so vulnerable.

“Dad,” she whimpered, her hands fluttering helplessly over wounded flesh. But he wasn’t there… she could feel it. Dorien was either deep inside himself, or nowhere at all.

“Let us take care of him,” Lily said. “We can at least get him cleaned up and looked over while we wait, and then I’m sure you’ll want to sit with him. Whatever was done to him it’s more than what we can see. He shouldn’t be unconscious.” She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and motioned for the gathered Lilim to lift Dorien to take him up the stairs. It took a lot of effort for Lyra to step back, but somehow she managed. She heard Lily’s muttered curse.

“What a mess. Jesus.”

Lyra felt Jaden’s hands on her shoulders, shelter from another storm if she needed it. She nearly turned into him for comfort, except for the sight of the haggard man who was nearly unrecognizable from just a week before.

“Simon,” she breathed, and rushed to him, finding herself quickly enveloped in the warm and comforting embrace of her friend. He squeezed her tightly, nearly taking her breath away with the force of his hug. Then she understood exactly how bad it was. Simon was right on the edge of breaking down.

She pulled back when he released her. He was unmarked, but for a long red scar that curved from the top of his right ear down his cheek. His eyes were haunted, and he was just as pale as she was. Dark circles beneath his eyes made him look like he’d been punched.

“What happened?” she asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Jaden said, his voice like ice.

Lyra turned to see Jaden watching the two of them with poorly disguised jealousy. She stepped away but could see the damage was already done.

If relations between he and Simon were going to improve, it wouldn’t be anytime soon. She wondered how much convincing he needed to believe she wouldn’t leave him. Then, right on the heels of that, she realized that she now had as long as it took.

Despite everything, that knowledge gave her strength.

“You were lucky you got out when you did,” Simon said, then closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked so defeated as he stood there, so unlike the man she’d known for most of her life, that it scared her more than most things could. He had been there. If he thought there was no hope…

“Was it the Ptolemy?” Jaden asked. “Have they moved in this quickly?”

“Ptolemy?” Simon asked, looking puzzled. “No, those haven’t been seen since that group attacked you. No, this is all Eric.”

“What’s all Eric?” Lyra asked, her stomach doing a slow, sick roll. All those years suspecting her cousin would do something terrible. And now to have that come true… she should have done something, stopped him long ago somehow. But it was too late.

Simon laughed, a hollow, mirthless sound. “Eric Black is Alpha now. He challenged Dorien right after you two left, saying he should step down since his daughter’s actions had ruined his credibility. Dorien had to accept. There was nothing anyone could do.”

“But… I thought Dad left,” Lyra murmured. She could never forget the sight of her father’s back walking away from her for good.

“He didn’t get far. And, as you can see… it didn’t go well.”

“How?” Lyra asked. “How could Dad not have beaten Eric? No one could beat my father! There wasn’t another Alpha in the country who could take him on. This makes no sense, Simon.”

“Poison,” Jaden said quietly, and all eyes turned to him. He looked up, met Simon’s weary gaze. “That was where the Ptolemy came into all this. They provided some of that damned poison. Dorien would be a lot easier to beat if his wounds didn’t heal.”

“That’s right,” Simon said. “It was some kind of poison, though I didn’t know where it had come from. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Jaden said flatly, and Lyra thought of the long, thick scars on his back. He, of anyone, would know.

“Eric got you, too, I see.” Lyra sighed. “Simon, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “I tried to help Dorien when I saw what was happening. It was the least I could do. I think it may have helped Eric decide not to kill your father outright, though. The crowd was not exactly… with him. Though he has enough supporters to stay in place, for now. I’ve been taking care of Dorien all week, but the wounds aren’t healing, and he got sicker and sicker. When I was asked to find you, I had to bring him with me. He kept asking for you.”

Lyra felt the unwanted sting of tears and tried to blink them back. She was just starting to get her feet back under her, and she felt as though the world were tilting on its axis and trying its best to knock her off.

“I’m glad you brought him to me,” Lyra said.

“We’ll do all we can for him,” Lily added. “And you, if you’d like to stay. But as far as the affairs of your pack, if you’re looking for someone to overthrow this Eric, I’m afraid that’s not something I want the Lilim involved with. We’re just finding our footing as a dynasty, the Vampiric Council is watching us like hawks, and I’m coming to find out that your kind likely wouldn’t appreciate the meddling.”

“No, no,” Simon said, eyes widening. “I wouldn’t want you to think that. And I wouldn’t ask. It’s not your job to fix what’s happened. But like I said, I was asked to come find Lyra.” He looked Lyra in the eyes, and she knew what was coming before he even said it.

Please no, she thought. Not now, after all this.

“The pack is restless, Lyra. Eric knows that they’ll never see him as legitimate the way things went down, and he’s a man who values his control. There was a big outcry over Dorien… and over you. So Eric sent me here. To ask you to come back and compete against him in the Proving, and settle this the right way.”

“Bullshit!” Jaden snarled, surprising Lyra with the heat in his voice. “You were there, you saw what they did. The whole damned pack turned their backs on her. And now they want her back because they don’t like the alternative? They don’t deserve her. They do deserve what they get.”

“Jaden,” Lyra said gently, putting her hand on his arm. “I broke pack law. A big one, and a very old one. I’m not sorry I did, but did you really expect that they would all just turn around and go against the law, not to mention their Alpha? It’s the way the wolf pack operates. Strong leader, loyal followers. And with the Thorn, strict rules.”

“Don’t tell me it didn’t hurt you,” Jaden said. “Don’t make excuses for them either. I can understand the bloody cultural differences, Lyra, but you were banished and not a one spoke up. They have no right to ask you to come back and put your neck on the line for them!”

“Maybe not, but she’s our only chance. And if Eric did get that poison from the Ptolemy, then there’s more trouble waiting in the wings. You want to condemn an entire pack because of hurt feelings, Jaden?”

Simon’s cool, disaffected tone surprised Lyra as much as the depth of Jaden’s fury.

He rounded on Simon, fangs bared in his anger.

“It’s easy for you to stand here and ask her to do this. You didn’t see what it did to her. You didn’t sit here and worry she was going to stay a zombie and never snap out of it. I blame every damn one of your pack, and Dorien most of all. This is his only daughter. He should have known to value her more than he did. Would he have come looking for her if everything had stayed the same?”