Dinner is a short and awkward affair. Alana and Yulia are too worried about the unexpected news to enjoy the meal, which was subpar as expected. Marcella does her best to be a charming hostess but no one’s in the mood. After filling our bellies, we retire to our rooms.

“Sure you don’t want to go back?” I ask Alana again as we’re in bed, Alana in my arms while Talia leans into my back. Though I can’t feel it, it must be a cold night, as my scowling knight cuddles up especially close.

“…I was serious when I said there was nothing I could do. And my family won’t appreciate me returning for sentimental reasons. The best thing we can do for them is handle this March business so there’s one less thing for them to worry about.”

“How bad is it?” I ask while running gentle fingers through her hair.

“Depends. Spring storms are weak at first and ramp up in intensity as the weather warms. If it is the simple winter blizzards but at a higher frequency, then the armies would have turned around to avoid getting lost but will be relatively unharmed. But, if it is a real storm…I’ve never walked through one but I’ve read the accounts. Icicles hurled at such speeds they rival arrows. Snow so deep a man can disappear if he doesn’t watch his step. Manabeasts that hunt in the more powerful storms, wielding the wrath of the heavens. They would have been decimated.”

I wince. “How could something like this even happen?” Weather patterns don’t just change.

“I can’t begin to imagine. I’ve never heard of anything like this happening and you better believe if something like this was common, ancestors, even if it was uncommon, there would be records. If this happened before, it would have claimed countless lives and someone would have documented it and every field commander would know of it. Then they would teach everyone in their army about it, so they would know what signs to look for. Then they would teach their trainees and children, so they would recognize the signs.”

I suppose if there was an event that could kill thousands of people unexpectedly, it would be important that everyone with a working pair of eyes kept them trained for any sign of said event.

“Since I, a James, no knowing about it, there cannot be any record. Which means this had to be a new event. A spontaneous one too. I can’t imagine a sudden event that could change the weather besides powerful magic and that kind of power is well beyond any human caster. Perhaps a titan? But I can’t imagine them suddenly changing their ideal environment. It’s a mess.”

“You don’t think…” No. I shouldn’t speak such nonsense aloud. It feels like I’m cursing us.

“What?”

“Well…a dragon is one thing capable of changing the seasons on a whim.”

Big, blue eyes look up at me with shock before narrowing. “Dammit. Now I can’t think of anything else.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. It’s—" I pause, rising from the bed as my brows furrow.

“What is it?”

“I think I heard something.” It was so faint I can’t make out what it is but my instincts, honed by Kierra’s brutal methods, are telling me that something isn’t right. “Talia.”

Beside me, our flower rises with fluid grace. “Would you like me to search for hostility throughout the hotel?”

It’s like she can read minds, haha. “I’m probably being paranoid—"

“Paranoid is good when there are really people after you,” Alana says as she also sits up, shoulders tense. “Do it.”

“Mm.” Talia closes her eyes in focus, still as ice as she casts. As the spell is focused on herself, boosting her ability to ‘hear’ the mental emissions of others, I don’t feel any effects from her magic, but I can tell she is casting from the slight furrow in her brows. Her eyes open a moment later and she confirms the nagging instinct that prompted me to ask for her help. “There is a group of hostile entities approaching this floor.”

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Alana rolls out of bed, hastily exchanging her sleepwear for clothes better suited for a fight. “How many?” I ask.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have the skill to count individuals at this distance though I can estimate at least six.”

Six? That’s not an opportunist. That’s a coordinated attack. “Get dressed,” I say as I also slip out of bed. Across the room, Alana has already secured her sword to her hip and is tying back her hair. “Alana—"

“Yulia and Allen,” she says before she dashes out of the room. I smile as she disappears. She hates her sister but doesn’t hesitate to run to her aide, not even pausing to evaluate the threat we’re facing. It’s that selfless devotion that makes me want to call her saintly.

Talia and I leave the room shortly after her. I barge into Jac’s room, unwilling to wait for however long it would take to rouse her from the other side of the door. To my cousin’s credit, she immediately startles awake at the loud entry, though she does nothing but stare fearfully at the door. A scream is choked down as her wide eyes narrow in anger. “Lou?! What the f—"

“No time. Assassins.”

“What?! Wai—"

“I’ll explain later.” I didn’t want her involved in this, but I’ll have to give her an explanation after this mess. “Talia, stay with her.”

“We’ll be safe.”

“Safe? What are you keeping me safe from? Lou—"

I shut the door on her questions. As I pass by Junior’s room, Geneva exits, softly closing it behind her. She wordlessly falls in step beside me, tail swinging slowly. The sight makes me grit my teeth.

“This doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course not, my summoner.”

“Helping me take care of a threat doesn’t absolve you. I still want answers.”

“And you will have them. We are here to serve you.”

Yeah, so long as it eventually serves you. I’ve never been fooled by her sweet smiles. Beneath it lurks a predator with more teeth than a dragon. “Number?”

“Fourteen.”

Saints, that many? How did they enter the hotel without being noticed? It seems I need to have a few words with Marcella about her security. “Where are they?”

“Ten are two floors below us, separated into a group of seven and three. I assume that the larger group is using the main stairwell while the others must be using stairs reserved for servants. The other four are one floor above. Likely to ambush us if we try to retreat.”

Definitely a coordinated assault. “Are we sure they’re here for me?”

“There is some room for doubt without direct access to their minds, but their hostility is directed at ‘purple eyes’. A rare description. Besides, I can’t imagine there are two people who have angered the guilds enough to warrant killers being sent after them.”

“…I don’t suppose we can do this without dragging in the other guests?”

“That depends entirely on our enemies. If they are weak and unorganized, then we can take out each group quickly without alerting the others. But if they are experienced and communicating with each other through some means, then it will be impossible. The stronger they are, the more daunting our task. After your last confrontation with them, I doubt the guilds have sent incompetents. I can smell their magic.”

If they’re stirring her appetite, then they must have pretty developed cores and/or rare affinities. “Do you think that they will chase me if I run?” It’d be simple to escape. Or walk right past them in a disguise. I never use it anymore, but I still have access to my original human form, void of any of my more distinguishing characteristics.

“A noble thought, my summoner, but they are more likely to hurl spells or go for the vulnerable members of your family than chase you through the streets. Especially if word of your display at the March has spread.”

“If that story was spread, they wouldn’t be trying to kill me.” They’d know it was beyond them.

“Or it is precisely why they are targeting you here, away from the authority of Dunwayne, considered the strongest caster in the kingdom, supposedly while you slept. They could not possibly guess the secrets of your body and will have defaulted to a logical assumption, that your regeneration is the result of a powerful physical spell. If you cannot best a caster’s spell, it is better to kill them before they have a chance to cast it.”

A ridiculous idea but this is exactly what I feared. A group that wouldn’t care about waiting for their leaders to negotiate and absent of enough sense to recognize the futility of fighting me. Like stray dogs, they attack anything they perceive as a threat, even if it’s a hand outstretched to help them. No, they’re worse than dogs. Animals at least have the sense to run from the greater predator.

“The ones above us are staying still so we ignore them for now. I want you to take care of the smaller group while I distract the larger one. When you finish, circle around. I’ll try to diffuse the situation but if they get violent, show no mercy. Any objections?”

“None,” the succubus practically purrs.