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“But what exactlyisit?” I pushed.

She sniffed, the mildness she’d exuded suddenly turning much more hostile as she surveyed my face. “You not from here?”

I offered a smile, hoping to soften the vitriol that now hung in the air. “Oh, born and raised here, ma’am,” I offered, surprised the lie rolled off my tongue so easily. “My Ma would never tell me anything about it whenever we’d pass by, and well, I’m just curious.” I did my best to sound as innocent as possible.

Her milky eyes remained on me as she stared through narrow lids that drooped with age, her jaw grinding back and forth. “A Bloodsinger.”

I fought to keep my face straight as my heart stumbled over its next beat. Suddenly aware of the shopkeeper’s gaze burning into my face, I blinked hard. “Oh,” I answered quietly. “How…horrific.”

“No place for a young lady such as yourself,” she added, her tone suddenly softer, presumably because of my reaction. “Hoping now that the Daughter of Katia has arrived, the likes of ‘em will be destroyed.”

My jaw clenched like an iron vice at her words. Heat rose in my cheeks. “Yes,” I said sheepishly. “Hopefully.” I offered the old woman a nervous smile, reaching for the folded cloaks on the counter. “Well, thank you, ma’am.”

“You get home safe,” she called after me.

The door slammed behind me as I whisked away from Rosalinde’s and away from the Empty Mirror, stomach churning and mind spinning as I returned to Miles, Nell, and Whit.

A Bloodsinger. A fucking Bloodsinger.I stopped mid-stride.What if they had answers? What if they knew more about the Board of Blood or Castemont's plans? I was going to have to convince Miles to let me go in.

No. Miles didn’t have toletme do anything. I didn’t need his permission. I didn’t need anyone’s permission.

I turned on my heel, hearty resolve pulsing through every vein, and marched right back to the Empty Mirror, praying to every Saint that the shopkeeper of Rosalinde’s didn’t see me slip through the painted black door.

A smell like burning metal knocked me back, circling my head with an unpleasant heaviness. The only light in the small room came from the burning candles that sat on every flat surface, the flickering illuminating the smoky air. Black and gold furniture lined the room, the elegant design odd in a place that was reminiscent of a dungeon. Various doorways were scattered across the walls, heavy wooden doors standing guard of whatever was behind them. An eeriness crept into my chest at the stillness of the room.

“Hello,” a spindly voice said, and I jumped at the sudden noise in the silence, whirling to see a wisp of a man standing in one of the doorways.

I cleared my throat as I stared into the smoke, but it was too thick to discern any of his features. “Hello,” I offered weakly.

“How may I be of assistance today?”

I blinked at his words, at the sound of such a mundane question while I stood in the presence of someone who was familiar with pure evil. “What… Can you tell me what it is you can assist me with?”

The man stepped toward me, his face suddenly clear enough to see, and I froze.

Because the man staring at me looked identical to Ludovicus.

Chapter 10

“Is something wrong, dear?” the man asked, his words slithering down my spine. He smoothed his hands over his pitch black suit, almost as if he were self-conscious, his silvery-gray eyes shimmering in the low light. They weren’t as unnatural a color as the members of the Board of Blood, but it did nothing to stop the fear from lighting up my veins.

I realized my mouth had been hanging open. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you look…” I tried to make sense of it in my head, at the prospect of more men like the ones who tortured me so freely in Eserene’s throne room. All of them had died that day — all except Ludovicus. He was somewhere beneath the castle of Taitha. Hopefully he’d burned along with it. “You look very familiar.” I clenched my jaw, every nerve in my body on high alert.

“I’d think so,” he answered with a smile, taking a step toward me. I instinctively took a step back, clinging harder to the folded cloaks in my arms.

The man raised his hands in supplication. “Apologies, dear. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” His voice had grown even softer, even more spindly. “My name is Alvar, and I am the Bloodsinger of Aera.”

I nodded, my eyes never leaving his sickeningly familiar face. I shouldn’t have come here. I should have returned to the group like I was supposed to. But what if… “I’m–” I caught myself. “My name is Larka.”

“Very nice to meet you, Larka,” he said with a smile. “You’re interested in the services I provide?”

I weighed my words carefully. “I’m… I’m just wondering what exactly those services are.”

“You haven’t heard of blood magic?” he asked, a single thin brow raised.

“I…” I swallowed hard. “I’ve heard of it. I just…don’t know what it is exactly.”

He nodded, his lips pursed as he extended a hand to the tufted velvet settee. I ignored the offer and instead lowered myself to the claw-footed chair across from him, eyeing the leisurely way he sat, the long, pointed nails that had clawed through my nightmares.