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Inhaling, I reached up to touch his face, placing the palm of my hand flat against his cheek. His skin was cold beneath my palm, smooth to the touch. If he were human, I would have felt the heat, the pulse within him. But I felt only cold marble, icy perfection. He closed his eyes, sighing quietly, and the charge flickered and danced from my body into his.

“Now, Elowen.” His deep, velvety voice warmed me. “Let it in. Open yourself to it.”

His eyes opened again, his gaze searing into me, then brushing down my body for a moment. I felt as if he could see all of me—right through the ivory dress. Why did this monster smell so good?

My breath sped up, my pulse hammering in my ears. His closeness, the scorching look in his eyes did something dangerous to me. The scent of him—dark, heady, faintly perfumed—made me dizzy. His powerful body radiated a magnetic pull that made me want to move closer. A destructive part of me wanted to close the distance between us, to press my body against the steel of his.

His gaze lowered, lingering on my lips.

But that’s not what I was supposed to be focusing on.The death magic.

I took a breath, and from my palm, I felt a rush of heat flowing back from his body into mine. The resonating, euphoric thrill of magic spilled along my arm and into my chest and belly. My head fell back, and I felt the magic filling me. I closed my eyes as my own magic moved from Sion into me. With my head still tilted back, I let myself give in to the thrill of it.

“There you are, love,” he purred.

My pulse raced. There it was, the vampire seduction power at work…

With the shock of that realization, I pulled my hand away from him. “That’s enough, I think.”

“Oh, dear. Were you in danger of enjoying something or escaping that cage you’ve built for yourself?”

“You have a lot of pretty words to say about death, but that’s not how I see it.” My body vibrated with my own dark power, and a vague memory of death stirred in the recesses of my mind—Sion, bare chested, covered in my father’s blood. I stepped backfrom him, my muscles tensing. “How did you kill my father?” I asked sharply. “I remember your shirt was off.”

Shadows slid through his eyes, just for a moment. “Where did that question come from? Do you remember it now?”

My throat tightened. “I just remembered a flash. Only blood on the anemones, blood on you, and you weren’t wearing a shirt. Did my father tear it off? Did he suffer when he died?”

His expression shuttered, a muscle flickering in his jaw. “A vampire’s bite doesn’t hurt, and our fangs have a sedating effect. He wasn’t hurt, but he did fight. I remember thinking he was desperate to protect someone.” He took a step closer. “If we can take down the Order, we won’t have to live in fear of each other anymore. No more Ravens, no more whispered confessions, no more neighbors turning on each other. When the Order is gone, the resistance won’t need to exist.”

I swallowed hard. “If we defeat the army, won’t the Pater just form a new one? We can’t kill all the humans in Merthyn.”

“Well, wecould.”

“The Pater must have a weakness.”

He nodded. “Yes, it would be nice to know that, wouldn’t it? I spent years on that, you know, before you stabbed me in the chest and revealed what I was.”

I ignored that comment. “But you must have learned a ton about him, yes?”

“I learned every single thing about him. How he thinks. What he eats. What infuriates him, and what he fears. But I did not learn what makes him immortal. He never lets anyone get that close to him.”

“No one?”

He frowned. “He has one chambermaid who helps him dress and brings him his tea. She flirts with him like you wouldn’t believe, and he pretends not to notice. I have heard rumors that he confides in her. Of course, I was never in his room tofind out. I did my best to pump her for information, but she’s frustratingly discreet. I did seduce her, again and again, but I couldn’t get a single crumb of information out of her, even when she begged me to fuck?—”

I held up a hand. “I get the point.” A plan started to formulate in my mind. “So, you know what her voice and accent sound like?”

“Of course.” He frowned. “What do you have in mind?”

“When you were trying to find his weakness before, you didn’t have any witches on your side. Now you do. Are any of the witches in Veilcross skilled in glamouring?”

His eyes glinted in the torchlight. “You’re not planning to go back to Ruefield, are you? After you just barely escaped the trials with your life?”

My pulse quickened. “I really believe the only way this ends is with the Pater dead. Wehaveto learn his weakness. Or what if I could weaken him without killing him? What if we could drag him out and keep him caged until the world forgets him?”

“Do you have any idea how heavily Ruefield is now guarded since you and the other witches made your escape? Every tunnel, every crack, every door is manned by dozens of armed Luminari. Of course, you could always kill them en masse, but you don’t seem ready to take that route.”

“But they won’t be on high alert for the chambermaid, will they? Let’s just start with trying to learn more. You distract her, and I go into his chambers, glamoured as the maid.”