Page 55

“Oh, no,” Lou protests, digging in her heels. “You aren’t leaving me with your mother.”

“But if you’re frightened—”

“I never saidfrightened, but even if I did, I’ll never be frightened enough for that.” Wiping the last of the blood from her nose, she squares her shoulders and marches in front of me unassisted. NowIhesitate, tearing my gaze from that smear of scarlet and swallowing against the dull ache in my throat. I’ll need to eat soon, but I still have no idea how to do it—or rather, fromwho. Perhaps Odessa can help me until Michal returns.

My stomach lurches unpleasantly at the thought of her.

The lilting chords of the violin are louder up here, the murmuring voices too. Clearly, someoneishosting a soirée tonight, and as lady of the castle, I cannot help but feel Odessa would’ve known about it. Likewise, as neither Lou nor I received an invitation to said soirée, I can only assume she did not want us there. The thought stings more than it should. Though the vampires of Requiem have made it clear they detest me—and the feeling is quite mutual—I am one of them now. I have nowhere else to go.

Abruptly, Pasha’s and Ivan’s smirks rise in my mind’s eye, their sneering and satisfied expressions.They knew, I realize with a sick twist in my gut.They knew I wasn’t invited to—whatever this is.

Is this soirée the real reason Odessa warned me to stay in myroom? Why Dimitri insists I return there?

Are they... embarrassed by me?

“Is there anything I can say to dissuade you?” Dimitri asks quietly.

I lift my chin in defiance. “No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He sighs as if resigned, watching Lou disappear around the corner as that peculiar jangling sound grows louder, along with the laughter. “Fine, Célie. Just—promise no matter what you might see tonight, you will not intervene.”

I scoff at him, already squaring my shoulders and turning to stalk after Lou. “I could never promise such a thing, and I most certainlywillintervene if necessary.” Because in the end, it matters very little that the vampires dislike me, that Odessa might’ve excluded me.

If they’re hurting someone in this castle, I am going to stop them.

We follow the noise to the north wing of the castle, creeping to a halt outside the door of a much smaller and darker hall than the gilded ballroom of the masquerade. Sure enough, a dozen or more vampires mingle inside. Candlelight flickers upon their lovely faces, the crystal-cut stemware in their elegant hands, from a single chandelier hung high upon the arched ceiling, and instead of marble, ebony wood comprises everything from the parquet floors to the paneled walls to the minstrels’ gallery. The quartet of violinists cannot mask the guests’ soft hisses and jeers.

Because in the center of the hall—trapped in an iron cage—a revenant shrieks and claws at its captors.

Lou inhales sharply, seizing my elbow as she too spots the poor creature.

Someone has thrown a goblet of blood in its face; the liquid drips down its skeletal cheeks in macabre scarlet tears while a trio of vampires laugh, baiting it with a spear. No. Tendrils of rage lick up my throat.Torturingit with a spear.

They’re torturing it.

As if realizing the same thing, Lou tightens her grip on my arm, or perhaps she recognizes the full significance of the situation before I do. Perhaps she recognizes the green ribbon tied around the revenant’s wrist, the shredded butterfly wings pinned upon its back, because she thrusts me into a shadowed alcove near the door in the next second. She dare not speak, however. None of us do—not even Dimitri, who darts after us with a vaguely sick expression.Do something!I mouth at him, and Lou nods intently.

Grimacing, he pushes us to our knees behind an urn.Like what?

A dozen eyes flick in our direction as he crouches too, but curiously enough, the other vampires remain equally silent. Instead they smile.

Long, sharp smiles that lift the hair on my neck.

They dressed the revenant as me.

The thought should surely incite horror. It should spark fear. Vampires are vicious by nature, yes, but such cruelty transcends the bounds of usual violence—that they would ensnare and torment a helpless creature just to send a message is sadistic. It isevil. When another vampire seizes the revenant’s wings, however, jerking its body against the bars for his friend to stab it, my vision clouds not with dread, but with rage. Because this—thisis the truth of a vampire.

They are not beautiful, and they are not civilized.

And I want to hurt them. My entire body shudders with theimpulse. I want to smash their crystal flutes and claw at their cold smiles, their colder eyes. With a vitriol stronger than any I’ve ever felt, I want to bring them the pain they’ve brought this revenant. If not for Lou holding tightly to my arm, I’d stalk straight to the cage and unleash it upon everyone. I’drelishthe bloodbath to follow, and—

And that heinous thought is enough to keep my feet rooted, to send my eyes darting around the hall in search of Michal. Because if anyone can bring a swift end to this soirée, he can.

No telltale sign of silver hair reveals itself, however, and as my gaze slides back to the revenant, I realize Michal cannot possibly be here. Even if the attendeeshadn’tdressed the poor creature as me, he never would’ve approved of something like this. No. I cast one last sweeping look across the room before switching tack to Odessa, but she too seems to be absent.

My brow furrows in confusion, and I glance at Dimitri, who resolutely avoids my gaze.

For someone determined to exclude Lou and me from the guest list, shouldn’t his sister be here? Unless she didn’t know about this gruesome soirée either. Perhaps she simply suspected the vampires would resent my return after All Hallows’ Eve, and she warned me to hide as a kindness. And whoarethese vampires, anyway? Do they live in the castle too? Perhaps they’re distant relations, or—