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"Then he must be an imbecile," Lucian said, shutting the file, and setting it down next to his tea. "May I keep this?"

"Sure. It's a copy. Just don't spread it around. The Guard wants the incidents kept under wraps to avoid mass panic."

His mouth thinned. "Naturally. It wouldn't do to let the general population believe they aren't in charge. Never mind the bodies that will keep piling up until it’s over."

As Lucian shook his head in disbelief, Gideon and I looked at each other.

"It's not over, then?" my cousin guessed. "I mean, I figured as much. Murderers don't stop until they're caught. But what do you think the runes could mean? Is it just some kink?”

"Mm."Lucian looked straight at me, bringing his tea to his mouth.

"Lucian, mate?" Gideon finally prompted. "If you're done eye fucking Kley, I'd love some input.”

The sorcerer snorted, like the very thought was preposterous. Which it was. Lucian Regis did not eye fuck the likes of me.

“I mean, I get you can’t be positive at this stage, but any theory would help.”

“The dates have brought my theories down to two or three, tops. One is by far the best. I was simply trying to decide if Kleos was going to run away screaming once I shared.” He wrinkled his nose. “It's too early for screams, I haven't even finished my first cup of tea."

I bristled. "I'm not that squeamish."

"You practically vomited at a peek at the picture of one dead body, love," he called out.

I was taken by the sudden desire to stick my tongue out at him, and as I didn't have any better reply in mind, I did just that.

Lucian's smile was brief, and didn't quite reach his eyes, but he set down the tea and leaned in.

"Someone attempted an ancient ritual to subjugate you, love. You’re smart enough to have realized as much. It wasn't just hard to move because of the pain—they were trying to force your body into submission.”

I bit my lower lip, and made myself nod. That much had been clear to me. At first, I believed—I wanted to convince myself—that it was just a prank. But they could have made me doanythingif it had worked. And after the murders…

“It's a testament of your inner strength that you managed to interrupt it in the first place,” Lucian told me. “That sort of ritual sounds easy enough—a little mark here, and you have a willing puppet. Well, it isn’t. To bind someone’s will to yours, you need to invoke ancient magic,soulmagic. And it has a cost. Typically, you’d find small animals sacrificed for it—birds, rabbits. But whoever’s behind this knew enough about Kleos to realize she was no weakling. The cost was the first body found, close to that full moon.”

Fuck.

Someone died to get to me? That hadn’t crossed my mind, but the horrific, implacable logic behind Lucian’s words made it clear he was right.

“Then why the other bodies?” Gideon asked. “Did they just get a taste for it?”

I was grateful. If I opened my mouth, the only thing that would come out was bile.

“Well, they didn't manage to get to Kleos, did they?” Lucian tilted his chin towards me. “In time, the residual magic on her arms and neck ought to have reverted. Her runes should have faded. The new bodies, roughly one per week? They're the casualties needed to maintain the connection between the monster behind this and Kleos.” He spoke to me directly, each dreadful word feeling like a dagger. “They’re not done with you.”

20

KLEOS

To my credit, I didn't scream. I didn't even cry. I was too horror-struck for much of an outward reaction.

I’d always thought the worst possible thing a rune curse could do was control me, but I hadn’t truly realized the scope of it, even when I learned about the dead bodies. I thought I could have ended up as one of them, used, and then murdered. The fact that they’d been murdered to control me made the whole thing feel…bigger. More perverse, purposeful, thought out.

Lucian confirmed all my fears, sounding so certain and confident I didn’t see any point in questioning him.

“Do you know a ritual that could do that?” Gideon asked. “Is there any way to stop it?”

Lucian shook his head. “Believe it or not, I’m not familiar with all the dark rituals in existence. I’ve readaboutthem, out of academic interest, but I’ve never had any reason to look into the ins and outs in detail.”

“But you know where we could start looking?” Gideon’s tone bordered on pleading.