Page 5

Faster than I could track, Vail had his hand wrapped around Demetri’s throat as he slammed him against the bars of my cell, causing me to jump back. He flung the other Moroi to the floor and took one step towards him before halting and spinning around to pace to the other side of the dungeon.

Demetri had succeeded in getting both Vail and me to lose our tempers.

Instead of being upset, my ex-husband just let out a hoarse laugh as he rose to his feet, brushing away the dirt from his clothes and swiping his hair back. “You’re both so touchy.” He straightened the collar of his dark red shirt. “See you tomorrow, Samara. I’ll tell the prince you said hello.”

“Fucker!” I screamed as the heavy wood door closed behind him.

A second later, I was bending over and heaving up my breakfast. Then I straightened and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

It took me a minute to realize Vail had moved over to my cell and was holding a canteen through the bars.

I snatched it from him and rinsed out my mouth, then walked as far away from the vomit as possible.

“He’s bluffing,” Vail said quietly. “Draven scares the shit out of him. He’s only been to that level once, and he ran out the door like wraiths were chasing him.”

I didn’t say anything. Partly to annoy Vail, but mostly because the pain had reached a new level and it was taking all my concentration to stay upright and conscious. A sharp gasp exploded from my lips, and I decided that if I wanted to stay awake, I needed to sit down.

“What’s wrong?” Vail crouched outside my cell. Some of the silver had faded from his eyes, but they were still intense as he examined me, trying to find why I looked like a strong wind would blow me over. “Quit being fucking stubborn, Samara, and tell me what the fuck is wrong with you.”

“My cycle is here,” I ground out. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t figure it out once the blood started flowing, which would be any minute now, considering how bad the pain was.

“Shit.” His eyes widened. “What can I do?”

“Go back in time to when the humans were crafting the spell to turn us into Moroi and maybe tell them to tweak it a little bit so we don’t have to suffer through this bullshit every few months?”

“Samara,” he growled.

I rolled my eyes. “Just ask the kitchen staff. They’ll have some tea that will help with the pain.”

He rose without a word and headed towards the door.

“And Vail?” I waited until he looked over his shoulder at me. “Make sure I get some contraceptive tea in three days.”

His expression darkened, but he jerked his head in a tight nod before leaving me alone once more. The timing of my cycle was unfortunate for all kinds of reasons. I needed to be sharp right now, and that was hard to do while I was in constant pain. And what came next wouldn’t be much better.

Moroi were the most fertile in the weeks after our cycle.

Demetri didn’t want to marry me because he loved me; I suspected part of it was injured pride over how easily I had left him, but maybe he wanted an Heir—one that came from my bloodline and his.

I wouldn’t be marrying Demetri again, and I certainly wouldn’t be having a child with him.

He was too scared to step in the cell with me, but I still wanted to have the contraceptive tea just in case.

It would prevent all pregnancies until my next cycle.

And fuck, I better be out of here before then.

When the door opened half an hour later, I raised my head from where it had been hanging between my knees, expecting to see Vail. Instead, my body went still as I took in another familiar face.

“Hello, dear,” my aunt said politely. “I think we’re overdue for a chat.”

A collision of emotions slammed through me like a whirlwind. Hurt and confusion from the betrayal. Embarrassment and frustration for never having suspected her. And a boiling rage beneath all of that.

“Are we?” I fixed my features into a calm but distant expression. Ideally, I would have casually risen to my feet and stood before my aunt, but there was zero chance of that happening. Blood was seeping through my undergarments, and the cramps had shifted to a dull but constant pain.

I wouldn’t be moving anytime soon.

Carmilla’s dark green eyes swept over me, but whatever she was thinking was hidden behind her own mask.

So much of my own tactics when it came to political conversations were based on what I had learned from her.

I’d been a constant shadow in her presence growing up—sitting in on meetings and reading the letters she would send to other Houses—I’d absorbed every bit of knowledge and insight she’d been willing to bestow.

And she knew it.

I had never once doubted my aunt. Instead, I’d taken everything she’d told me at face value, whereas if another had spoken similar words, I would have looked closer.

And none of that had been by accident on her part.

I’d had plenty of time to reflect on my relationship with my aunt the past week, and I didn’t like what I’d seen.

How gullible I’d been.

“Don’t give me that look, Samara.” Carmilla waved a hand as she moved to stand in front of my cell, keeping just out of my reach. “It’s not as if I planned on putting you here.” She gestured at the dungeon walls.

“But it was one of the plans, wasn’t it?” I raised a dark eyebrow at her. “‘ If you only have one plan, you’ve already failed… ’” I impersonated her deep, throaty voice. “You might be a traitorous bitch, but I still remember the lessons.”

“I haven’t betrayed anyone,” she said in a calm, even tone that made me want to scream in her face.

For a second, my indifferent expression wavered before I wrestled my emotions back under control.

“Velika betrayed us all when she started dealing with the wraiths. When she lay with one of them and bore them a child.”

My mask shattered.

“So you blame Draven for the sins of his parents?” My voice vibrated with anger. “Do you know? Do you know what Velika did to him as a child? What that fucking crown is capable of?” I flicked my gaze up to the crown made of silver and gold that rested on my aunt’s dark hair.

Something tickled the back of my mind. It felt like standing alone in a forest when a predator was stalking you from the shadows.

Was she trying to use the crown on me?

A painful cramp flared, but I hid it behind the rage I was feeling as I tried to guard my thoughts. Although, based on what Draven had said, the crown didn’t work well on the House bloodlines, so I should be somewhat protected.

But then again . . . he’d been basing that on only half of the crown. Now that Carmilla had both pieces, could she control me? Was that why she wore it today?

“You truly are remarkable.” Carmilla tilted her head as she studied me.

“I know you’re frightened right now. Probably about this”—she raised her hand and touched the crown—“but you hide it well. Your temper was always your greatest weakness though. I never could break you of that. Something you inherited from your mother, unfortunately.”

“Did you ever care for me?” I held my chin high. “Or have I always been nothing but a political pawn for you to groom? The way you did Vail?”

During the long hours I’d had down here to myself, I’d alternated between plotting different ways out and thinking about my childhood after my parents had died.

Vail and I had been friends prior to the death of our parents.

He’d been enraged at me for my actions the night they’d died—my decision to stop him from going out in a doomed attempt to save them—but we could have recovered from that given time.

We could have worked through our grief together. Instead, it had torn us apart.

And Carmilla had played a role in that. She’d been the stand-in parental figure for both of us.

It’d given her the opportunity to whisper just the right words in our ears to create a divide in our friendship.

She’d fanned the flames of Vail’s anger, while at the same time hammering into me how important it was to be strong and not show any signs of weakness.

To be the perfect Heir the way my parents would have wanted.

Vail and I had both been too close to her to see it then, and he was clearly still blind to it, but I saw things clearly now.

She could take her pretty lies and manipulative compliments and choke on them.

“Don’t be so melodramatic.” A half smirk curled up at the corners of her lips as she dropped her hand from the crown.

“I only wanted what was best for you, and look how far the two of you rose! If I’d allowed you to remain friends, you wouldn’t have reached down deep to find the motivation necessary to recover from a loss like that. ”

“Did you play a role in the death of our parents?” I pushed.

“Velika ordered it.” She shrugged and absently studied her nails.

“My sister had been a thorn in her side for too long. Mariona never told me what precisely she was looking for,” Carmilla mused.

“As much as my sister loved me, she didn’t entirely trust me.

” Those calculating eyes slid to me. “Your sweet, trusting nature, you inherited from your father.”

The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth as I bit down hard to keep a torrent of swear words from tumbling out.

Apparently, Carmilla was testing for all the sore spots tonight.

The question was . . . why? My aunt didn’t have casual conversations.

I understood that now better than ever before.

She’d come down here for a specific purpose, and all her words were crafted to achieve it.

It also didn’t escape my attention that she hadn’t answered the question about if she’d played a role in my and Vail’s parents’ deaths.

She’d only said Velika had ordered it, but that left plenty of room for her to still be involved.

It made me suspect that she had at the very least known about the order .

. . and done nothing to stop it. But I dropped it for now.

Let her believe I thought Velika was solely responsible. I might be able to use it later.

I knew how to play the long game too.

“Perhaps we can continue this conversation under better . . . circumstances.” She walked forward and brushed her fingers against my cell. “I would have come down here sooner, but I’ve been busy getting this House in order.” Once again, my eyes flicked up to the crown.

A crown of two parts. Glittering gold and frosted silver.

One half to see a soul. Another half to bind it.

Those were the words Roth had found in their research.

Velika had only possessed the half that bound souls, which meant she’d had to use blood magic to get the binding to settle—something about the ability to see souls made the bindings work better.

There was so much we didn’t understand about the crown, but clearly, Carmilla wasn’t wasting any time testing it out.

I had to warn House Harker and the other Houses; otherwise, my aunt could stroll through their doors and enslave them all within an afternoon.

I couldn’t pull a complete about-face and suddenly give in to her demands, but getting out of this cell, even under supervision, would help me gather information and improve my odds of escaping.

“And what exactly are these better circumstances ?” I drawled, my voice deepening towards the end when the muscles in my lower abdomen painfully clenched again. I once again cursed the poor timing of my cycle.

“A dinner.” Carmilla smiled. “In three days, when you’re feeling better.”

I matched her polite smile. “Wonderful. Can’t wait.”

It wasn’t surprising that Carmilla knew I was on my cycle.

I had no open wounds, and she could no doubt smell the blood.

Plus, my aunt had known me my entire life, so she knew what it looked like when I was trying to hide my pain.

The fact that she knew it had just started was interesting.

Had Vail told her? Or had she seen him collecting supplies for me and inferred what was going on from that?

“Demetri will be delighted to see you.”

My smile turned sharp. So that’s what she wanted. Me to be around Demetri when my cycle had just ended, when I'd be in a lust-filled haze.

“I’ll be happy to see him again too.” I let my bloodlust rise until I knew my eyes had turned black. “Perhaps I can finish what I started in that throne room.”

When I’d done my best to cut his dick off.

Carmilla laughed and touched the crown again. I tensed. Would I know if the crown’s magic was working on me? Would I feel my free will slipping away? I didn’t feel any different, but the fear that I wouldn’t know was almost too much to bear.

That alien presence brushed against my mind again, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“I have much to attend to over the next couple of days.” Carmilla’s hands fell from the crown as the corners of her mouth pinched slightly, fighting a frown.

“I’ll have servants come down for you in two days so you can get cleaned up.

Perhaps afterwards, we can see about keeping you somewhere else—under supervision of course—depending on how dinner goes. ”

Then she launched into a speech about how she truly did care about the Moroi.

That she was doing what had to be done for the survival of all, and if I’d just see that, I could be of help to her.

It wasn’t my aunt’s speech I was paying attention to though.

It was the other voice drifting through my mind. One that felt ancient and devious.

Hello, my little forgotten one.