Page 62

My plan was actually quite simple. Lure Carmilla to the temple, let Erendriel and his wraiths deal with her, secure the crown, and betray Erendriel.

Honor was for suckers.

I’d lie my ass off to save my people.

The problem—or rather one of the problems—was that you had to word things very carefully with the Fae. Draven had explained as much as he could before his head had damn near exploded from whatever magic was still forcing him to hold his tongue.

A bargain with the Fae had power, so I needed to craft my lie carefully.

If I pulled it off, I’d be able to boast that this gorgeous, twenty-three-year-old ass had outsmarted a centuries-old Fae who had stolen her throne.

If that wasn’t motivation, I didn’t know what was.

Yes, I ran on spite. No, I was not the least bit apologetic about it.

Kieran and Alaric had come and gone several times as they continued to negotiate Rynn’s return to the Alpha Pack.

Kieran, bless him, had tried to put in a stipulation that Rynn must be allowed to visit the Moroi realm whenever she wanted.

Bastian had pushed back on that, so we’d settled on once-a-month visits with exceptions for emergencies.

Those emergencies were explicitly listed because Alaric lived for the small details.

Vail was exploring the temple to better learn the layout, and Draven had gone to join him after answering as many of our questions as he could.

We’d also been looking for a way to break whatever magic was forcing him to hold his tongue, but so far, I hadn’t come across any explanations.

Granted, we’d only begun to scratch the surface of the knowledge this place stored.

If we survived everything with Carmilla and Erendriel, we might finally be able to learn how everything in Lunaria had come to be.

Cali breezed in at one point, saw Rynn and me conspiring over all the open texts, and promptly turned on her heel and walked back out. She mumbled something about seeing what “that treacherous asshole” was up to.

I assumed she meant Vail and yelled after her to not kill him.

She let out a string of curses, but I was confident that she wouldn’t, because if that had truly been her intention, she wouldn’t have said anything—and I was mostly confident she wouldn’t pick a fight with him either.

Though they could both stand to burn off some extra energy, so a brawl wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen right now.

“This is still a problem.” Rynn pointed to one of my notes that had several words boldly circled. Spell requires permission .

The transformation spell to turn one thing into another was complicated, and most of it was out of our league, given our basic understanding of magic. But several texts alluded to the spell being far simpler if whoever it was being performed on gave permission.

The soul crown wasn’t a person . . . but it wasn’t just an object either. I’d conversed with it and had felt its emotions. What if the soul crown wasn’t just named that because it could bind the will of others? What if the Fae had actually bestowed a soul into it?

My plan hinged on performing the transformation spell. If the crown could give us permission to turn it into something else, then that would drastically simplify things. Unfortunately, that created a new problem—how could I speak with the crown beforehand to determine if this was possible?

Because if we waited until the plan was in motion, there was a very real chance I’d end up dead.

Not my preferred outcome.

We were also running out of time. While we were relatively safe here in the temple, our allies were not.

Once Carmilla had a plan in place to deal with Cali, she’d figure a way to lure me out.

I knew she wanted to limit the loss of Moroi lives, but I also knew she could be a ruthless bitch when she wanted to be.

What if she found Alaric’s parents? Or used any of my friends from House Harker?

I needed to control the information about where I was, making sure it was leaked at just the right time in just the right way so she wouldn’t question it.

“Wait.” Rynn suddenly sat up straighter, drawing me out of my ponderings.

“‘While the Unseelie are adept at spying with their shadows, the Seelie have crafted a way to counterspy,’” she quoted.

“‘By mindwalking through the minds of sentient but simpleminded creatures, they can easily put themselves in the same rooms as their completely unaware enemies. This is why we have put defensive measures in place . . .’” She trailed off, skimming the page before flipping the book to look at the cover.

“I have no idea who wrote this, but it clearly wasn’t the Fae.

It’s like a history of them . . . before they came to Lunaria. ”

I glanced at the page, a frown forming on my lips. “It’s written in Seelie though.”

“Maybe it was translated?” We both stared at the book before looking around the room and its floor-to-ceiling shelves. “What in the fuck is this place?” Rynn murmured.

“We’ll just have to survive long enough to figure it out.” I grabbed the book and started scanning the pages until I found what I was looking for—a glyph. I read the words below it, which were simple enough. Focus and intention were key. I could do this.

“Should we wait until the others get back?” Rynn asked hesitantly.

“No, they’ll just distract me.” I rose from the table, taking the book with me, and sat on the floor, crossing my legs.

Then I set the book slightly to my right and bit my wrist until I tasted blood.

“Besides, when I checked on Roth an hour ago, they were close to cracking how that barrier spell works, and we’re going to need that. ”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Just don’t get yourself stuck in a mouse or something, okay? I can’t be friends with you if you’re food.”

I rolled my eyes as I dipped my fingers in the blood flowing from my wrist and drew the glyph on the floor. “Noted.”

Rynn moved to sit beside me. For all her concern, I could feel the excitement practically rolling off her. This was a new spell, unlike anything we’d ever done before.

Following the instructions from the text, I rested my fingertips on the blood of the outer circle of the glyph that vaguely resembled an eye. Then I closed my eyes and focused on my intention, feeling it wrap around the magic that flowed through my veins before pushing it into the glyph.

Sometimes, when I’m sleeping soundly, I jerk awake with the intense feeling of falling.

This was exactly like that.

When my eyes flew open seconds later, they were not my eyes . . . and I couldn’t even close them.

Well, this was weird.

My body wrapped around a vine and continued its upward climb along a stone wall.

There was a quick tongue flick, and suddenly, I was processing a bunch of different scents from the air.

The blooming flowers, the dust that collected in the cracks of the stones, and the delicious bird perched somewhere above me.

Moons fucking damn me.

I was sharing the mind of a snake. With a careful, gentle nudge, I requested that it turn its head so I could look at myself.

A flicker of annoyance brushed against my mind, but then the world tilted and I was looking down at a long, scaled body with an iridescent sheen, rainbows dancing across my scales with every movement.

Well, at least I was a pretty snake.

Umm, sorry about this? I thought loudly. Promise you’ll get that tasty snack of a bird later. I just need to borrow you for a few minutes.

More annoyance.

Apparently, snakes had a one-track mind when it came to food.

I didn’t exactly take over control of the snake’s body, it was more like I prodded it into doing what I wanted. We continued climbing up the vine for another few feet and then slid through a window, curling our tail around the bars and dangling into the room.

When I’d formed my intention for the spell, I’d focused on getting as close to the crown as possible. Despite Rynn’s joke about me not taking over a mouse . . . I’d totally thought I was going to end up in a mouse. They were everywhere, so it had seemed like a logical assumption.

Rynn had a thing about snakes though, so I’d have to lie to her about this.

I looked through the serpent’s eyes at the room we were hanging in. It didn’t see colors the way I was used to. The blues and greens felt so much more vivid, and its depth perception was different than mine. Despite the differences, I was able to make everything out just fine.

We were high up in a small space; the ground was almost twenty feet below us and the walls were circular.

A turret, maybe? Probably one close to the top of the Sovereign House?

Because that’s definitely where we were.

I’d recognized enough of the landscape when we’d been outside to confirm our whereabouts.

There was nothing else in the room besides the table in the center. It was made of the same stone as the floor and walls, and resting on its smooth surface was the soul crown.

Samara? a familiar voice tentatively asked.

Yes? I had no idea why I’d answered the crown’s question with one of my own. If I had hands, I would have been slapping my own face right now.

Why do you feel . . . strange?

Probably because I’m sharing the mind of a snake. It’s my first time doing this, so I'm still figuring out the quirks.

The snake started to curve back towards the bars as I felt its interest in the bird renew. Gently, I tugged back.

Stay. Just a little longer , I promised.

A chuckle rumbled through my mind, and the snake’s head turned back towards the crown. Of course this is the beast you would choose.

It wasn’t a choice, actually, I admitted. This slithery friend just happened to be the creature closest to you.

No. The crown’s amusement danced through my mind. Our mind? I wasn’t exactly sure if the snake understood amusement. Your bloodline has long been associated with slithery friends . The last true Seelie King—your grandfather—was known as The Serpent King before he was banished to Lunaria.

Oh. It was strange to think of a grandfather in general, let alone one that had been Fae—and the Seelie King at that.

There weren’t a lot of multigenerational families in Lunaria.

I was a fifth generation Moroi, and it wasn’t until the fourth generation that the Moroi themselves had stabilized and stopped turning Strigoi every time something looked at them the wrong way.

You came back , the crown whispered.

I told you I would.

I know those . . . rangers, I believe you call them . . . were your friends. You begged me to help, but I . . . There was nothing I could do.

The crown had thought I’d completely abandoned them because of what had happened with Adrienne, Emil, and Nyx, but I’d heard their sorrow that day—felt it. The crown had monstrous magic . . . but they didn’t want to be a monster.

Talis , I thought softly.

I . . . I do not know this word.

When I was growing up, my parents were often busy, but we had one tradition. Once a month, we would sneak up onto one of the rooftops at House Harker to watch the stars. I actually knew most of the constellations because a friend taught me, but I never told them that.

For a second, I felt my connection to the snake waver, as if the emotions were too much for it. Vail had been the one to point out and name every star in the night sky. His parents had been just as busy as mine. For a long time, it had just been the two of us. Before life had torn us apart.

But I still listened with rapt attention as my father pointed out his favorite star every time , I continued.

The crown didn’t say anything but I could feel their presence.

It wasn’t the brightest star in the sky.

Some nights, it was so dim, you could barely see it.

Most of the constellations have Fae names, but this one had been named in the common tongue by the humans who had lived here. Talis. Their word for hope.

Talis , the crown said slowly, as if tasting the word. I like it.

Good . Because I think it would be a good name for you.

Another beat of silence. I have existed for a long time . . . belonged to your family for generations. Nobody has ever thought to gift me with a name.

It’s a new dawn, Talis. Perhaps it’s time we change things.

I then told Talis my plan and what I would be asking of them. What they would have to sacrifice.

Yes , they said immediately once I was done. But I have one request . . .