Page 61

I fled the ballroom as fast as I could. The crowd parted, uncertain.

“Don’t follow me,” I begged, knowing he’d hear me.

Raphael simply stood there, a stunned look on his face.

I turned away and ran faster. But Iademos was on my tail, and I couldn’t have a guard for what I was about to do.

I had to leave. Now .

Pardon or no pardon, I couldn’t be here any longer.

“Leave me be,” I insisted, knowing the general would hear me.

“I’m to guard you,” he replied from the shadows. Where my voice shook, winded as I ran quickly, his was even, monotone.

“An hour,” I said. “Give me an hour. I’m going to my rooms. I… I need to be alone.”

“Raphael would behead me if I did not see you there.”

I made a hysterical sound and continued to run. The little rat in me knew only one thing—scurry, escape, faster . The stone steps turned to familiar carpet as I reached my chambers. The halls were empty—everybody on this level and below would be at the ballroom.

“Leave, Iademos. I want to be alone. I’ll be in my rooms the entire night—and Raphael will behead you for not listening to my wishes,” I bluffed.

“As you listened to his?” he snapped.

I flinched at the ire in his normally carefully controlled voice. “Just leave me be,” I pleaded, more forcefully.

Demos looked displeased, but he turned on his heel and left. I watched him disappear around the corner, then shut my door. I locked it, even though I would be gone in a matter of minutes.

I need to leave.

Damn Titus and all his bargains. Damn Raphael and his confusing words.

I couldn’t cause his death… but I couldn’t stay here either.

One small bag was packed and stashed within my bed.

What was left of the coins from when I’d arrived, some jewelry Amalthea had foisted on me I didn’t think she’d mi ss.

I slung it over my shoulder and went for the grimoire.

The necromancer—I’d find them. Even if it meant going back to the Witch Kingdom and certain death.

The vampires celebrated Anagenni by taking human blood, but this was the will written in the book. The goddess wanted a witch to rein the vampires in. I would give the witch the tool they needed for that.

I’d had nothing before.

I can do it again . I wished the thought felt less like cleaving my heart in two. Now I had a purpose.

I cast a look around the room, something thick and hot in my throat I couldn’t quite swallow.

It had been my home for several months. Now that I was leaving, I could admit that to myself.

There was no other explanation for the grief that sliced through me.

It had been more of a home than I’d had in many years.

Raphael, Thea, Demos—not a family, exactly, but I’d had people I was safe with.

Grieve later. Get out now .

The ballgown was cumbersome when it came to escaping.

I’d needed Amalthea to get dressed in it.

Undoing the lacing would be nearly impossible by myself.

A pair of trousers and a tunic would have to suffice for when I had time to change.

I bent into the dresser and selected the least conspicuous colors, then quickly set them aside.

I’d have to use the dagger on my thigh to cut myself out of the dress.

“Where, precisely, do you think you’re going? ”

I jerked upright and slammed the drawer shut behind me.

Titus .

His invisible magic slid away, revealing the spymaster. He was only a few feet away, dressed in nondescript gray servant clothing. His dark eyes latched on to my bag with accusation.

“I locked that door.” I knew I had.

He smiled, but there was nothing friendly in it. “Doors are nothing when you have cards that let you move through walls, you foolish chit. Now, I’ll ask once more: Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m leaving.” I willed my hands not to shake. “I know this means no pardon, but I just… I can’t do it.”

His lips twisted with contempt. I felt echoes of the emotion inside me. What kind of woman would betray her kingdom like this?

Perhaps the Witch Kingdom hadn’t been mine since they locked me in Greymere. And I hadn’t been theirs since I made a deal with a vampire to break out.

“You must be joking ,” Titus drawled with disbelief.

My heart pounded in my chest. I checked my mental shields—I couldn’t let Raphael find out my plans before I left Damerel. If he found out I’d plotted against him… memories of the Monastery floated in my mind, the bodies ripped apart by Raphael’s wrathful might.

Titus was eating into my precious time to leave.

If this took too long, it would be too late.

“I won’t tell anyone about you.” The words left me in a rush.

“I just can’t be the one to do it. I can’t aid you in this.

I know we’ve been taught they’re monsters.

But they can be better. Raphael could show them how to be better.

Killing him would just have someone worse take his place. ”

Titus advanced slowly. The wood of the dresser dug into my back.

“Worse?” he echoed. “There’s no one worse, you stupid girl.

He’s the strongest of them. If you’d played your role properly, we could have triumphed, cutting the head off the snake.

But no. You’ve told yourself they’re not monsters.

” He smirked, all thin lips and hollow cheeks.

“It wasn’t enough to see them kill your mother? You need more proof?”

Blood and blood… I swallowed and forced the memory aside. For once, I wouldn’t let it trap me. “Just because one vampire did that doesn’t mean they all are evil.” Doesn’t it?

Titus actually laughed, throwing his head back. I took the chance to step to the side slightly, trying to shift away from where I was cornered. But his head snapped back, not missing the movement.

“I can’t believe this. They’ve attacked you. Or do you forget those who try to kill you so quickly?”

I flinched at the reminder. “How do you know about that?”

Titus came closer, and I had nowhere to go. “Who do you think told the librarian what you were doing?”

The missing books . I clenched my jaw as realization snapped through me. He’d set me up, playing on their fear of the necromancer. He must have overheard me at some point talking with Amalthea, perhaps some morning over breakfast when we’d thought we were alone.

“And that still wasn’t enough for you! You refused me. So I showed you what would happen to humans when vampires rule, and I thought, finally. The stupid girl will see. But now you double-cross me.”

My head swam. What would happen… “You? You killed the donor?” I stammered.

“Of course. I needed to show you what vampires are capable of, since you seem to have forgotten what they did to your mother.”

“But… you were the one who killed her.”

He waved the accusation away. “She sealed her fate the moment she became their blood whore.”

Fury slammed into me. I couldn’t run, and I didn’t want to run.

“You’re evil,” I snarled. “Worse than them. At least when they kill it’s an accident. But you chose to take her life.”

“She was a tool, Samara. Just like you. If you’d done your duty, then it would have been a noble sacrifice on her part. Unfortunately, you proved to be useless.” Titus’s expression went flat. “And I have no need for useless tools.”

He surged for me, but I was ready. When I’d realized I couldn’t get away, I set another plan in place. I drew the dagger from the harness I’d designed to sit around my thigh. It might be enchanted for vampires, but the blade was sharp enough to draw blood from any creature.

Titus startled slightly, as if not expecting a fight. Then he snorted. “That twig again?”

“I’m stronger than I was before.” I lunged forward and swiped at his side, drawing blood.

He knocked me away, and I stumbled into the back of the chair. His face contorted with hideous rage as he drew his own blade. Simple steel, but longer than mine. “You bitch!”

Bitch , traitor , useless tool … perhaps his true talent was finding ways to insult me.

We danced around each other. I had grown stronger. My body had put on muscle. The dagger was no longer an extra weight in my hand, but rather an extension of my arm. Unfortunately, the dress made me slow, my footwork sloppy.

We clashed again and again, neither of us managing to land a blow. I caught his blade against mine and threw him back hard enough to stumble. I can do this .

“You know your mistake, Samara?” Titus sneered as he recovered from the blow.

I didn’t waste my breath answering.

“You can’t win against magic.”

With a flick of his fingers, he cast a spell. I froze as every part of my body seized. The dagger slipped from my fingers, landing harmlessly against the carpeted floor. Sweat dripped down my back as I tried to force my legs to move. But no matter how I tried, nothing worked.

“I don’t normally reveal my magic,” he admitted. “Poor form for a spymaster to give up his secrets. But since you’re dying, it hardly matters.”

“Poi… son…” My tongue was too large in my mouth, the word barely scraping through my teeth.

He strolled over to where I stood, helpless, twirling his blade in his hand. “Yes, Samara. That card was made with my own magic.”

He plunged his blade into my chest.