Royce sat with Fable, watching her blood pour into a bowl from the wound in her ankle.
"This is a rather dark ritual," Fable mused. "I feel like I'm about to summon a demon."
"I'm sorry. This will get the most blood without hurting you severely." Royce handed her another cracker.
Fable refused to take it. "If I eat another one of those, I will puke."
Royce sigh, stuffing the cracker into her own mouth. "I hate this. We still haven't found Azel. He could be in Terrassen, spreading the plague with his every breath."
"He probably is, but now we have a cure."
"I want him to be the first to get it."
Fable snorted. "Good luck with that."
Royce rolled her eyes. "You're not helping. Nevertheless, we need to find him before he causes more damage." She looked at the slowly filling pool of blood, its rich tang wafting through the room. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"
Fable tapped her chin in thought. "He would go somewhere he knows. Even with the plague in his mind, I know he wouldn't venture into unknown territory. He'll stay in Wendlyn."
"But Wendlyn is huge."
"It's better than searching the entire world. And he hasn't been everywhere, per se. He won't go back to Maeve, that's guarantee."
"How do you know?" Royce asked, summoning her magic when she saw her half-sister sway slightly. "That's enough." With a single touch, the wound in her ankle sealed itself.
Fable sighed, twisting her foot as if it were newly attached to her body. "Because she hurt him."
"So he won't go anywhere he knows is threatening."
"Most likely. Even with the plague, he knows that he got out of there and he won't return."
"Then do you have any idea where to start? Where he is most likely?" Royce balled her hands together, looking at her half-sister with wide eyes.
But Fable only pursed her lips, looked at the floor, and shook her head.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Kadir Havilliard looked for a comfortable spot.
After the rush of dinner, demi-fae gathered in the dozens before Emrys's chair, shouting to hear different stories. Kadir awkwardly hovered near the back of the room, unsure of his welcome.
He felt a hand clamp on his shoulder and a vaguely familiar voice whisper in his ear, "This is the best part."
Kadir looked over slowly, not believing his own mind. But it was indeed Azel standing beside him, face serious, boils and scratches peering from the collar and cuffs of his shirt.
Kadir clamped his mouth shut, trying to shove away from Azel but he had a firm grip on his arm by now.
Nobody noticed when they vanished.
Kadir's cries were muffled by the swirling night around him.
Azel was laughing maniacally when the world appeared around them. A stone wall greeted Kadir as he stumbled face first into it. His teeth sang their protest and his nose give with a disgusting snap. He cursed as blood rushed over his lips, spitting it out of his mouth. Whirling back around, he held his nose with one hand and unsheathed his claws on the other.
Azel smiled at him and it was a sick smile. "Hello, prince."
Kadir shook slightly. "Hello, Azazel."
"I thought you might want to go to your family. I'm heading that way anyway so I figured you could hitch a ride."
Kadir vigorously shook his head. "No, I don't. I don't-"
But it didn't seem to matter what he wanted.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Azazel was a passenger inside his own mind. He surfed his own brain waves, seeing and thinking and not doing as something else took the reins.
He clung to his mind, any semblance of soul he could grasp. He watched as he spread his sickness by touch alone, lightly brushing against unassuming citizens as he passed down the street till he got to the kitchens where he knew his mother would have hidden the male witch.
Watched and could do nothing.
He grabbed the prince's hand, winnowing them back again, this time back to his room where he had last seen Royce.
The prince, to his credit, did not scream.
Azel, grinning like a fool, pressed his lips to Kadir's, then shoved him away. "You're welcome." That voice was not his. This body was not his. Not any longer.
Kadir sputtered, wiping his mouth as hastily as he could on his sleeve. "You can't be here. You'll get everyone-"
"Sick? Perfect."
Azel flung open the door, startling a maid. He grabbed the maid's wrist, his fingers wrapping tightly around her fragile skin. "Please, I need to see the king. King Dorian."
The maid, pulled out of his grip. "He is in his audience chamber right down the hall. Would you like me to show you?"
He smiled, showing off his teeth. "That would be delightful."
He was just about to follow her when a weight was flung at his back, knocking him to the floor. Kadir landed on top of him, screaming at the maid, "Get away! He'll kill you! He's trying to-"
Azel vanished and reappeared over the prince, punching him hard in the back of the skull. His head rebounded off the floor boards and he fell limp.
Azel lifted his head. "Now where did you say the king was?"
The maid screamed.