Page 46 of Fate’s Sweetest Curse (Mirrors of Fate #2)

You Asked for This

Hattie

Y ou asked for this, Hattie , I told myself, mustering up the courage to speak.

It was hard to find courage when Mariana was staring down at me so menacingly.

I reminded myself that she might’ve been threatening, but in all the instances we’d crossed paths, she hadn’t actually done anything.

It was a comfort to think that perhaps—as Faren had said—I wasn’t worth the effort of harming.

Then again, I hadn’t opened my mouth yet. If she decided I knew too much, perhaps she would find me worthy of silencing.

I decided to start with the most compelling reason for seeking her out—certainly she wouldn’t immediately kill me if I intrigued her, right?

“I need a favor,” I said.

“I’m not sure you have sufficient leverage to ask for favors, Hattie .” With practiced flare, Mariana twisted her fingers, spinning Uriel’s dagger across the back of her hand. “I’m doing you a favor just by letting you speak without this sad little knife lodged in your thigh.”

I gulped.

She smiled, all teeth.

“I need blood,” I managed.

She took a step toward me, lifting Uriel’s dagger a little higher. “That can be arranged.”

“Monster blood.”

She paused, big brown eyes narrowing. If she were anyone else, those eyes would be considered doe-like and quite pretty, but staring into them from my vantage, I could see how haunted they were. How troubled. How angry.

Mariana brushed a lock of her hair over her shoulder and lowered herself into a crouch, elbows on knees, facing me at eye level. “You have my attention.”

Great, because that’s not terrifying .

I lifted my chin. “I need cursed blood for an experiment.”

She let out a long sigh. “Right. You work with Phina.” She seemed vaguely disappointed by that, as if it meant she couldn’t rough me up.

Thank the Fates .

“Don’t look so relieved, you’re still approximately one revelation away from bleeding out in this alley.”

I bit my lips together.

Her smirk returned, and for a moment she simply watched me squirm. Then she tossed Uriel’s dagger up, caught it by the flat of the blade, and tucked it up her sleeve.

Mariana rose from her crouch and held out her hand. “Come on, then,” she said, as if dragging me into an alley and threatening me was a major inconvenience, and me sitting on my ass in the filth was more of a tantrum than obedient fear.

I stood up on my own, brushing my grimy palms on my skirts. The skin was scraped up, but not bloody; my knees, however, stung underneath my dress, and I felt a trickle of blood slide down my shin.

Though Mariana was shorter than me, her watchful gaze and intimidating presence made her seem bigger. Her apparent prowess reminded me of a wildcat, her body in a state of constant, deadly grace, forever tense and ready to pounce, shred, kill.

“Speak,” she demanded.

“You’re…friends with Phina?” I ventured .

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“But you know about her research.”

“Her charge occasionally intersects with mine,” Mariana said delicately, in the way most knights did when skirting around topics controlled by their Oaths.

“Curses and Hylder,” I clarified.

Her expression remained unreadable, if slightly amused; she was probably unable to give any indication about those subjects.

“Blank Fates, too?”

Her lip twitched. “What do you know?”

For a moment, I considered asking her about Noble’s Fate—but I didn’t want to call attention to him if she didn’t already know. Especially if her charge was to kill cursed beings. “I’m not answering that.”

She took a step forward—feline, predatory.

It took every ounce of self-control not to cow to her threatening posture, to keep my feet rooted in place. “Would you say that Phina’s research creates conflict within your Order?”

“Orders are never without conflict.” Her tone was patronizing, but it was the non-answer that I found most frustrating. Clearly, Mariana’s Oath prevented her from saying much of anything.

I folded my arms. “Can you get me the monster blood?”

“Those don’t exist,” she said coolly.

“Did your Oath make you say that?”

She hummed low in her throat.

“Will you help me or not?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t doubt your capabilities,” I said, jerking my chin in the direction of her shortsword. “Only your willingness—and the limits of your Oath.”

“You’re clever,” she said, as if that were unexpected.

I tried not to feel insulted .

Mariana rested a casual palm on the hilt of her weapon. “What’s in it for me?”

“The pleasure of assisting an apprentice in need?”

She chuckled menacingly and took another step closer. “And what is it you actually need?”

I clenched my teeth, willing my jaw not to quiver. This is it , I told myself. This is your chance to lay it all out . I was walking the same path Viren had started down, and when I spoke next, I knew I was venturing past the point of no return.

“There’s Gildium in monster blood,” I began, holding Mariana’s withering gaze.

“What I can’t figure out is why . How did it get there?

And does the metal create the curse, or is it related in some other way?

” I rolled my shoulders back, relieved that my Oath had not yet limited my questioning; Mariana no-doubt knew far more than I did and was therefore safe to speak with plainly.

“I need to know the cause of curses so that I can undo them.”

“You’re bold, I’ll give you that.” Mariana’s demeanor softened. “But you know I can’t speak of—” She broke off and glanced down the length of the alley.

“Is this knowledge you possess?” I asked.

When she met my eyes again, she shook her head.

“Is it knowledge you’re actively seeking?”

“I am not an alchemist; I am a sword.”

For some reason, I didn’t think she meant no by that statement.

“Are you working with Phina?

“I already said I wasn’t an alchemist.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“All I know is that it burns,” she said tightly.

I perked up. “The blood? ”

She made a disgusted face, and I realized she must’ve tasted the warning of her Oath. Clearly, that nugget of information was all I was going to get on the topic.

“Has anyone ever requested blood from you or someone you know before?” I asked.

Mariana glanced down the alley again, lips pursed. When she met my eyes again, her expression was hard. Guarded. “I’m getting bored of this conversation. You don’t want me to get bored.”

“You haven’t killed me yet, so it must be somewhat interesting,” I joked, even though adrenaline hummed in my veins. “When you came to the Possum, you asked about blank Fates.”

She perked up, interested again. “Do you know—”

I held up a hand to silence her. She broke off, but her expression was dark and hostile, and I lowered my hand with a cringe.

She didn’t continue, though. She waited.

I balled my fists at my sides, trying to muster the bravery to ask the question I’d been building toward this whole time. “Do monsters have blank Fates?”

She snorted a laugh. “Fucking Fates, Hattie, you’re in over your head.”

Thinking only of Noble, I pressed, “Is that a yes?”

Her smile was small, mocking. “How do you imagine someone would investigate such a thing, hmm ?”

I felt my cheeks heat, but I persisted. “I already know they can warp Fate, but—”

“We’re done here.”

I shifted uncomfortably. “Fine. But if I continue to research this topic, will the Valiant…come for me?”

She scoffed. “When I’m sent to kill, I kill .”

Just as Faren had indicated. “So Viren…?”

“Don’t insult me.”

“The attacker did look like you.”

“Brown hair? Short stature?” she mocked. “Rather common description, don’t you think?”

“You sound defensive.”

“I am annoyed .”

That, I didn’t doubt. “Do you have any idea who, then?”

Mariana stepped closer, until we were almost chest to chest. She procured Uriel’s blade from her sleeve and angled the tip against my cheekbone. “No more questions.” With a flick, she removed the blade from my cheek, gripped my belt, and slid the dagger back into its sheath.

Then she turned on a heel and started down the alley.

Fear held my lungs hostage; it took me a moment to recover my breath. With a gasping inhale, I called out, “Are you going to get me what I requested?”

Mariana didn’t bother to reply as she strode down the length of the alley and disappeared around the corner—but something about the way she’d softened on the topic of researching monsters made me hopeful she’d deliver.

And even if she didn’t, our conversation had been enlightening. In fact, considering I was still standing and did not have a knife in my thigh, this night had gone spectacularly well.

Sparing one last glance in the direction Mariana had gone, I turned the opposite way, coming out of the alley onto Rose Street.

Perfect , I thought. I was only a few blocks away from my next destination.