Page 118 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

“But why the preoccupation with her magick?” Phineas asked. “Especially as far back as sixteen years ago? How long have Conrad and Aster been close friends?”

It reminded me of when Phineas had told us something was missing. He had questioned why a chaos witch allied with the born only now wielded their godlike magick.

Phineas had asked the right questions. His intuition was sharp—that was undeniable—like that of a witch. I could see now why Kylo tolerated his prickliness and rudeness.

“All lords may be against the turned, but are all lords loyal to King Earle?” Phineas asked. He leaned back, crossed his arms, and stared at the far wall with a look of vague pensiveness. He twirled a hand, oblivious to the way he held our interest. “And how does this tie in with what is occurring in Valentin? The growth of oppressive, Lillian-centered religiosity,the Servants, and the ever-expanding slave trade? The shadows have whispered all manner of peculiarities. In Earle’s council. In Aristelle…”

Kylo was literally on the edge of his seat, leaning forward, almost as if holding his breath. He caught me staring, and that adorable little dimple formed with a crooked half-smile.

Phineas continued his stare at no one, brows drawn. He tilted his head slightly, sighed, then nodded to himself as if engaged in a lively internal dialogue.

“Phineas! Enough with the drama,” Blade grumbled. “Out with it.”

Phineas slowly panned to Blade, lips turned down. “I suspect an attempted coup may be in the cards. The dissent in King Earle’s council grows stronger as unrest permeates through the realm. Earle is said to be afflicted with madness, more than mere obsession with preserving his legacy. There is talk that a millennium under his rule has beenplenty.”

“Dissenters in the council,” Kylo murmured. “That’s rare. And the connection to Valentin?”

Phineas nodded, eyes glued on the table as he steepled his fingers in a pose of deep thought. “I’m still investigating. A leader has risen on the born side of Aristelle, a man named Durian. He’s a religious fanatic, pushing a holy book called theBook of Lillianthat contains the so-called word of the Dark Mother. He claims it’s an ancient book that predicts his own rise to power and declares Valentin as rightfully belonging to Lillian’s children. It’s a political propaganda device, obviously.”

“Are you familiar?” Kylo asked me.

The conversation made me tense, the past’s phantom limbs trailing down my spine. I shook my head. “Not with those names. We read similar texts, though. Detailing how mortals were born to serve vampires.”

“What you’ve heard is true,” Phineas said, nodding toward Blade. “I predict a larger conflict in Valentin than their ongoing skirmishes. As Kylo said, we don’t know enough to factor that into our current trajectory.” He paused. “However, it does mean a perfect storm of instability is brewing for the crown. Durian will not be the only born leader who rises from this Lillianic revivalist fervor. Earle may have let protections for mortals continue to slip over the past century, but he has never officially condoned slavery or the Servants of Lillian cult. These institutions undermine traditional customs of seduction, courtesans, and mortal-vampire interdependence. Yet if more and more elites are turning to taboo methods of satisfying vampiric urges, I would imagine these born might grow tired of needing to conceal their lifestyles. They’d prefer to practice their lawlessness out in the open like the commoners.”

“And with Earle’s alleged madness, they have the perfect surface-level reason for staging a coup,” Blade said.

Phineas nodded. He appeared to be done speaking, which allowed my mind to finally whirl and spin.

I knew Kylo and I had similarly obsessive brains, always searching for the connections and patterns in any set of information. For better or for worse.

He looked at me, and I scanned those thoughtful blue eyes.

“The bulk of the Servants of Lillian cults are in rural lands, away from Prospyrus,” Kylo said, words leaving his lips rapidly. “Isolde, obviously, but also in the lands surrounding Etherdale—lands under Conrad’s control. Etherdale has always pissed off Conrad because it’s a stain on his rule, something he’s never been able to control the way he’s ultimately desired. Earle is a problem because of what he has allowed to fester under his reign, but I cannot deny that mortals are treated the best in his capital city. It would make sense that an ambitious born, orgroup of born, may be looking to capitalize on instability to take Ravenia for themselves.”

“To instate an even worse ruler thanEarle?” I said, horrified.

“Oppression disguised as religion would be the end of this realm as we know it,” Blade said. “There would no longer be protections or mortal-run anything. What Conrad is doing to Etherdale would be a microcosm of an authoritarian Ravenia, far more disastrous than the monarchy. Witch hunts would become widespread, erasing any coven or shifter pack that doesn’t submit to the born. Slavery would be the norm, not an underground practice. Mortal loyalists have no idea what they’re welcoming when they open the door to vampires like Conrad.”

“Hold on,” I said. “So the connection to Aster, his preoccupation with powerful witches, their apparent disregard of the turned altogether…” I studied Kylo. “Theirsights are set on overthrowing Earle too?”

Kylo released a breath. He calculated. The room stared at him, waiting. “Potentially. We need proof. But it makes sense.”

“Proof means possible leverage,” Blade agreed. “We could use this to our advantage.”

I was trying to keep up, but I was also computing where the hellIfit into all of this. Aster was undeniably a creep.

But was he also a usurper?

It didn’t seem like that was the basis of his interest in me, but if it were, then he obviously wouldn’t show it.

I hadn’t consumed nearly enough coffee for this.

My stomach twisted into knots, my heart panging. Originally, I’d been so certain that I’d led Juliette to Princeton. But now I wondered how much of Aster’s narrative was true, and how much was a cover-up for an intertwining of fates that existed before he even knew I was still alive.

When he’d visited me as a child, he’d come with other frightening vampires. But I couldn’t remember their faces, norwere they ever introduced to me. Could one of them have been Conrad? And Conrad had said he’dnever marry again. Had he been married to another vampire, or a mortal? Was he just as involved with the Servants as Aster was?

I looked down. The enchanted correspondence letter stared back at me. I didn’t know how much blame was mine to carry, but it wouldn’t change my future either way.