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He glanced behind him at the darkened road. “Thing is…I don’t really want to get on the wrong side of the Order, do I? Disrupting their trials?”

Bloody hell.“You’re not doing anything wrong by closing a city gate. That’s what gates are for. You’re lucky you have one, and it should be closed at night, anyway.”

“But only the Lord Mayor or the Order can give permission for that, and the Lord Mayor is asleep.”

Sion stepped out from the shadows behind me. In a lightning-fast movement, he’d picked up the guard by the throat and pinned him against the wall. The air went ice-cold around him. Sion flashed his fangs, and a shiver rippled over my skin at the wild, demonic sight of him.

“Close the gate. You’re scared of the Order, are you? There are terrors worse than death.I’mone of them. My darkness will devour you whole, and the horror I will inflict will leave you a walking shell of a man.”

Sion dropped him again.

The man looked as if he were about to vomit, and his teeth chattered with fear. “O-okay. Okay. I—I’ll help you,” he stammered. “But you need the key, and I-I don’t have the key myself. The Order has it, and th-the Lord Mayor has it. My job isn’t to c-close the gate. It’s only t-to alert the Lord Mayor i-if anyone starts to leave the city. The Lord Mayor is th-the one who wanted the gate open tonight. Hew-wantedit open!”

My jaw tightened. “And why, exactly, is the lever to open and close it on theoutsideof the city walls, instead of on the inside?”

The man’s throat bobbed. “A few Luminari were here last week, moving it to the outside of the gates. They removed thelever inside the city, and then they constructed that external lever. No one explained why. I just thought…well, honestly, I didn’t really think about it.”

I nodded. “Because they plan to trap everyone inside the city today. Where do we find the Lord Mayor?”

“He’s not far from here.Hehas the key to the city gates. But the thing is…”

“What?” Sion demanded.

“He is a member of the Order. He’s a Raven.”

“Take us to his house,” Sion ordered in a cold, quiet voice.

The guard nodded, then turned, leading us onto a narrow, cobbled street.

Sion smiled at me. “See? I am good with people. Told you I had charm.”

It was effective, I’d give him that. Just not out loud.

We passed clusters of thatch-roofed homes, nestled together over the road like gossiping hags. The windows were shuttered, and brightly painted signs swung on hinges in the wind.

When we turned a corner, a mansion loomed above the town square, built with blue and green tiles that looked like shimmering fish scales. In the quiet of night, the only sound around us was the echoing drips of the old well in the center of town.

I looked up at the sky.

Dawn light tinged the clouds a rosy gold, and my stomach twisted. The Luminari would be bearing down on Lyramor very soon to trap everyone inside.

Sion turned to me, his gold eyes burning in the dim light. “Let me do this quickly. Use my version of charm and diplomacy.”

Before I could ask what he had planned, Sion was off, a blur of shadows racing up the steps. He slammed through the great oak front door, leaving a gaping, splintered hole in his path.

I turned to the night guard. “What’s your name?”

“Dunstan.”

“Dunstan, wait here until I’m out. We may need your help once we get the key. You are doing the right thing, you know.”

Hurrying, I followed after Sion up the stairs and slipped in through the splintered doorframe. My vampire friend had already left a body behind—a guard who lay on the floor, his neck twisted at a disturbing angle, eyes staring vacantly at the sky. The poor fellow was only doing his job, but he was obviously no match for a vampire.

I surveyed the foyer—the sweeping stairwell, the multiple arched doorways that led in several directions. Not having the vampiric sense of smell myself, I had no idea which direction to take. At least, not until I heard the frantic screaming coming from upstairs.

“Serpent-touched monster!” A man’s voice echoed off the marble halls.

Women’s screams rent the air, and a servant dressed in black ran down the stairs, tears streaming down her face as she choked out sobs.