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“Don’t thank me.” Flat words with no warmth behind them. “It’s my duty as your sworn sword.”

I nodded, unable to look him in the eyes. “I know, but still, thank you.”

His jaw flexed. “It’s my duty as your sworn sword,” he repeated, his voice empty. Silence swelled between us as we watched Miles. It was uncomfortable, the energy between us dead and decaying, repelling me like a water droplet on a feather. “Umbri’s shop is two streets up,” he said suddenly. I swallowed, centering my mind on the task ahead. “Let me address her.”

I cocked a brow in challenge. “Do you think I’m incapable of handling a Bloodsinger?”

“No, my Queen.” Cold, cold formality. “I don’t know what kind of forces she’s employed. She could have cast something over the vials already. You do not put yourself in danger.”

My lips pursed as I considered his words. I nodded, surveying Miles as he walked toward us, Ludovicus’ restrained body slumped against a building. “Okay. You address her.”

“You, wait outside,” he commanded Miles. “In case we aren’t actually alone in Blindbarrow after all. And to keep Umbri from feeling cornered and doing something stupid.”

Miles nodded, his body here but his mind obviously somewhere far away. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to read his face, but Belin was moving, and us along with him.

Chapter 42

The smell of incense and burning metal greeted us as we silently slid through the open door of the unmarked building. It looked similar to Alvar’s shop in Aera with doorways and candles, but there was something disconcerting here that I hadn’t felt at the Empty Mirror. I couldn’t place it, but it rattled in the back of my head, slight but undeniable. A stack of crates and boxes lined the front wall. She was here, but she was preparing to leave.

My eye caught on the back wall, a massive, dark, wooden bureau seemingly watching over the whole room. It felt like it had its own pull of gravity as I approached it, my stomach suddenly unsettled as I reached for one of its cabinets.

Blood. Dozens and dozens of vials of blood.

“Belin…”

“May I be of assistance?”

Belin and I whirled to see a figure standing in one of the doorways, the tell tale skeletal form of a Bloodsinger silhouetted in smoke. She stepped forward, her features coming into focus as the candlelight hit her face. My stomach instantly bottomed out, anxiety rushing through every one of my veins at the sight of her. Alvar had looked like Ludovicus and the rest of the Board of Blood, but there’d been an air about him that was much less threatening — kind, almost.

If something beyond evil existed, it was in the form of this woman.

“Ah,” she hissed, a sinister smile twisting her face. “King Belin Cal Myrin.” She turned her face to me, her gaze crawling over my skin. “And I know you, Daughter of Benevolence and Blood.”

Shit.

“You have something of mine,” Belin stated evenly, authority coursing from him with each measured breath. I could tell he was fighting to keep his eyes from wandering to the bureau, where both his destruction and salvation waited.

The Bloodsinger smirked, one brow raised. “Do I?”

“Hand over the vials. Mine and Kauvras’. Now.”

A spindly finger ran a long, pointed fingernail over her translucent cheek, the look on her face maddeningly sardonic as she glanced to the bureau, then reached into the pocket of her trousers, producing two small vials. “Are these what you’re looking for?” She shook them around, Belin’s eyes following the liquid inside. “Why?”

“I am King of Widoras,” Belin answered. “You’ll do as I command or I’ll see you hang. Hand them over.Now.”

Umbri yawned, placing the vials back in her pocket. “If you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way to Eserene.”

Anger began to rise in my throat, the familiar burn following it. She knew my identity, knew what I was capable of. And still she decided to play this fucking game.

“We know who he is,” I snarled. Belin tensed next to me as he felt my energy darken. “We know Castemont’s true identity.”

Her eyes widened in mock surprise. “Do you now?”

“Give us the vials, or I’ll burn this place to the fucking ground,” I seethed.

Umbri threw her head back and cackled, the sound filling the room before she quieted and an eerie silence creeped in.

I didn’t wait for permission — didn’t need it. I lunged for Umbri. Belin began moving too, blocking the exit and drawing his sword. But as soon as I reached her, she vanished, thin air in place of where she’d been standing.