Page 88 of Eternal Ruin

Thick, blue-flamed candles cast long shadows on the walls. Then there was blood. Flowing in concentric circles on the ancient glass floor.

“To delight and awe the curious members, please show us you are a true acti,” the announcer said.

“I’m sorry?” Kidan said.

A gentle murmur traveled around. The announcer stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Your vampire should feed on you.”

The eagerness on the graduates’ faces was plain now. In their eyes, here was proof of what they’d learned in textbooks. Vampires, and the families cursed to feed them, were real.

She looked to Susenyos.

He shook his head in a firm no.

Her cheeks burned with the prolonged silence until a voice finally cut in, hard and laced with pity. “She doesn’t need to perform for you all. You have her transcripts. She has graduated Dranacti.”

Adjoa Piran was dressed in a flowing red dress, eyes sharp as she parted the robes. “Leave her alone.”

The announcer wore a sour look but said nothing.

Kidan’s veins shot with fire, staring at the woman who once smiled beside Daric the Cruel. She had a vampire companion with her as well—Sacro Tar. Kidan dimly recalled seeing him at a gathering, smartly analyzing Ramyn’s murder. Had he helped remove her parents’ hearts too?

Gruesomely propped up at their dinner table with everything intact except their hearts. It’s said the brutal holes were wide enough, you could peer right through them.

The urge to pull out Adjoa’s heart was overwhelming, and Kidan’s hatred must have been plain because Susenyos appeared before her, a blur of shadow. His voice low.

“Not the place, yené Roana.”

She shook her head, turning to the announcer. He asked her to read from the Arcane Code to the shadowed figures.

Her voice was rough and clipped, trying to shake off Adjoa’s gaze. “Marriage is an ivory tower, and only the divine can climb its stairs. It is the joining of two minds, like pressing two different books together, and letting their ink bleed into one another. My name is Kidan Adane and I hope to join my house to your order.”

When Kidan finished, she scanned the room for Adjoa but she had left the Abyss floor. She swore and turned sharply, colliding with a nervous boy carrying a glass of champagne. The drink spilled on her hand, bubbling and sticky.

“I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, rushing to pull out a napkin.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Kidan searched for Susenyos and found him with some acti girl she didn’t know. A frown crossed her lips when he bent his head, whispering intimately. Yusef was going straight for the alcohol by the corner bar.

“I’m Rahin,” the boy continued. “Graduated from Addis Ababa University. First year as an Abyss Order member.”

Kidan studied him. He was handsome, equal to her height, with a silk glove tucked inside his robe, ready to be offered. She imagined her father in this position, standing before her mother. Was this how any love story should begin? She needed to stop thinking about her parents but everything seemed to brush up against their memories, calling her to dig further.

“Rahin, I need a favor.”

His entire body straightened. “Anything.”

His eagerness made her voice soften. “My father was part of your order. Do you know where I can learn more about him?”

Rahin’s demeanor dimmed. “I’m sorry. First-years only have access to theses and documents from alums. No personal information.”

She smiled at the genuine disappointment in him. A force from her peripherycalled her attention. Susenyos was staring intently at her, no trace of playful amusement present. You’d think she’d publicly defanged him again—the way he glowered. Then her pupils shone. He was staring at them. Rahin and her together.

Was he jealous?

It shouldn’t have made her smile this much, but it did.

The acti Susenyos was talking to returned, saying a few words to him. A silver pin of a blue gemstone was fixed on her red dress, indicating she was from Luroz House. Susenyos led her out the door with a hand on her back. Kidan’s smile dropped at once. Was he going to feed on her?