My eyes flew open only to roll back closed. I groaned. Fingertips pressed into my neck like someone was holding my head up. A hand slid across my stomach then squeezed my waist. The smell of cinnamon washed over me, seeping into my veins. Pleasure ripped through my body. I gasped and arched my back, my eyes opening to find white hair draped over my face. There was pressure on my skin right on the side of my throat. My mind was slowly clearing. I reached up to my neck to see what was on me when my hands landed on a jawline I knew instantly. My pulse quickened.

“Everest,” I whispered but it was soft to even my ears.

“Easy, I’m here,” his voice was strong in my mind, helping to clear even more of the fuzziness. “You consumed too much blood. I am removing it.”

I dropped my hands to his shoulders and gripped the soft velvet of his coat. It took a few moments, or hell it could’ve been an hour for all I knew, but my mind finally cleared. That feeling of lead weight pinning my body down was gone. My skin no longer felt stretched too tight.

Everest lifted his head and our eyes met. His blue and white gaze was thick with worry as he scanned my face. “How do you feel now?” he whispered.

I smiled. “Never better.” The words left my lips in Spanish and I flinched. I’d already forgotten about that. Perhaps my mind hadn’t fully cleared.

The air pulsed with sharp electric tingles. It reminded me of — Coven magic. That’s Coven magic. I sat up straight, pushing Everest back a little. My eyes widened. I stared up at him and mouthed, feel that?

He scowled then flinched. His eyes widened.

The doors to Sweyn’s room burst open so hard they ripped right off their hinges and crashed to the ground. People rushed inside. I gripped Everest’s arms and held my breath, waiting to see my Coven but I did not recognize a single one of their faces. I did, however, recognize the black Roman numerals Marked on their left forearms.

And then Tennessee stepped into the room.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

FRANKIE

Wait, no. That’s not Tenn. Whoa, he looks a lot like him. And the IV Mark of the Emperor on his left arm didn’t help him not look like Tenn. Although this guy was probably five or six inches shorter than my cousin and now that he stepped fully into the room, I realized behind the sparkle in his eyes the color was a bright silver not a mismatched green and blue. But he had the same long wavy black hair and their skin tone was identical, and while I’d need to see them side-by-side, it seemed they had the same cheekbones. He even carried himself like Tenn did.

I looked to Everest and whispered, “Who is that? The Emperor?”