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“I think you’ve had some help,” he said. “An aufhocker bite, a vampire bite. You’ve turned yourself into a true monster.”

“Not so different from you,” I said.

He tilted his head, smiling.

“I suppose not.”

I took a step forward, and Nadia inhaled, the guard pressing his blade into her neck.

“What is all this?” I asked. “A futile attempt to conquer my lands?”

“Futile?” Alaric asked. “I sit on your father’s throne.”

“My throne,” I said. “My father is dead.”

“No!” I heard Nadia say.

The mirrors on the walls began to tremble. I exchanged a look with Nadia.

My one and only thought was that Ravena was near. I expected the mirrors to explode, but instead, the floor began to crack and shards of mirror shot up from the ground. They were tall and sharp, and they surrounded us in a jagged circle.

Alaric stood, staring frantically at our surroundings.

“What is this witchcraft?” he asked and narrowed his eyes upon me. “You.”

He started toward me, but then he began to seize and his eyes bled. He fell to his knees with crimson tears streaming down his face. The man who held Nadia followed, and as soon as he began to shake, she pulled his knife free and stabbed him in the chest.

“Nadia!”

“Oh, my Issi!” We ran to each other. She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her tightly.

“I missed you so much,” I said, tears streaming down my face.

“I missed you, child,” she said, and as she pulled away from me, she gripped my shoulders, then my face between her hands.

“My child,” she whispered. “Tell me it is not true, what you said? King Henri is indeed…dead?”

A sob tore from my throat that I did not intend, and I nodded. “It is true.”

“Oh, my dear.” She hugged me to her. “What happened?”

“That is not a story for now,” I said, and this time I drew away from her. “We must get you to safety.”

But there was something in her eyes that made me feel uneasy—a strange look that set me on edge. My brows lowered. “Nadia?”

Her hand tightened around mine.

“My child,” she said. “What have you become?”

I could not answer before I felt the sting of a blade slide straight into my heart. Blood pooled in my mouth, and the tears of joy that had streamed down my face became a mixture of pain and sorrow.

“Nadia.” Blood spattered her face as I said her name. “Why?”

“You are no longer my child,” she said. “My Issi died the night she had to marry that monster.”

I covered her hands, which still held the blade in my chest. I realized she believed this would kill me, which meant she had likely never trusted that I would try to kill Adrian.

“You never were very good at reading people, Issi,” she said.