CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOLothaire, who’d assumed the form of a bat, flew into the phoenix’s open window and was immediately assaulted by the scent of mortal and immortal blood emanating from the empty room. He transformed into his human form. His red eyes rolled back in his head and he took a step towards the bed—where the smell was strongest—and then realised that he was losing control once more. He raked a hand through his star-studded, black hair and sighed sharply. He couldn’t afford to do that again; the last time he’d lost control around her, he’d almost ended up as a pile of ash on General Tullica’s office floor.
This thought helped him focus on why he was here in the first place. The phoenix had just slipped into the secret passageway in her palace—experience and observation told Lothair
