Page 36

I N THE S OUTHERN S OST B UILDINGS, SEVERAL GATHERINGS WERE HELD. Almost all were after-hours and by invitation. Every Friday night, dranaics mixed for an evening of enlightened conversation and gambling. The moment Susenyos guided Kidan into a dark room curtained with red tassels, sneers were directed at them. Clearly, they were both incredibly popular.

Kidan waited for him to bring up last night. Her body tensed, ready for the discomfort, but he made no mention of it. She couldn’t help but feel relief. He was letting it go.

They stopped by a man with glasses and a gray suit.

“Ah, Yonam. May I introduce you to Kidan Adane,” Susenyos said.

The man looked Kidan up and down. She was dressed in a simple black dress that rested above the knees.

“This building is for dranaics,” he said.

“Yes, well, she’s dying,” Susenyos replied with a smile. “We can have compassion for a dying girl, can’t we?”

The man’s eyes widened with interest. Kidan shivered at his gaze.

Susenyos turned, spotting someone in the crowd. “Keep her company for me. I’ll be back.”

Kidan tried to follow where he went, but the room had a single lamp, positioned in the middle. The outskirts were entirely dark, probably for nefarious business purposes.

Yonam gave her an unkind smile. “What will you do with your new vampire life? I assume you’re here for a life exchange.”

The question made her brain fog. Her high school counselor had once asked about her aspirations. Junior year, Kidan had enjoyed a woodworking and metal shop elective and discovered a new love. The joy of carving something out of nothing, the feel of hard and soft materials being torn, broken, welded, and remade, with endless possibilities so nothing was ever in its final form. It’d given her true peace. But the counselor had crinkled her nose when Kidan explained she wanted a job where she would get to destroy things and make them whole again.

“Hello?” The vampire Yonam frowned. “Did you hear me?”

She cleared the ball in her throat. “I haven’t thought about it.”

He tsked. “Of course you haven’t. Will you push for change? Fight in a war? Start a revolution? Or will you whore yourself out and be drunk on blood for eternity? Most women do.”

Kidan curled her fingers into a fist.

“Ignore him,” a familiar light voice said from behind.

Yonam’s lips puckered. “Speaking of whoring yourself out. How are the women, Taj? I hear you give yourself to anyone that gives you a sliver of attention.”

Taj, dressed in a fine dark jacket, seemed entirely unbothered. “Even if that’s true, you still won’t be one of them.”

Yonam’s disposition darkened so quickly that Kidan almost laughed. He squeezed his glass in anger and walked away.

Taj studied her for a minute. “You’re not going to ask me to give you my life?”

She slid him a glance. “Last time I asked you for something, you said no.”

His eyes danced. “A choice I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

She straightened her arched lip and changed the subject. “Did Ramyn Ajtaf also come to these events?”

Taj shifted his shoulders inward, crossing his arms suspiciously. “She did.”

Kidan kept her tone casual. “She comes here in search of a second life and loses hers first. That’s dark.”

“No one in their right mind would ever harm an acti. Even a dying one is still valuable.”

He was referring to their blood. Kidan’s throat closed up.

“Maybe she stopped being valuable. Saw something she shouldn’t have?”

Taj was about to speak when Iniko appeared at his shoulder. “Yos is looking for you.”

He sighed and left with a nod.

Iniko and Kidan faced the crowd, neither speaking. Unease bloomed between them.

“Susenyos shouldn’t have brought you here.” Her clipped voice made Kidan tense.

“Why?”

“It makes him look weak. Bringing the girl who waved his fangs like a war prize, admitting the last heiress of his house has been poisoned under his watch. No family will take him on now.”

“Maybe someone from my study group will make him their companion. If he saves my life, that is.”

Iniko’s lip curled. “Actis playing God. You only need us when a bad cold renders you sick.”

“You talk like you weren’t once human.”

A dangerous fire burned in Iniko’s eyes. She moved closer, her large red collar tickling Kidan’s neck.

“I fought for my immortality. It has cost me more than you could ever imagine. You hope to ask nicely and receive it.”

Kidan stared into ancient eyes that would cut her down if she said the wrong thing. Her lungs stuttered for air.

“I can smell unwillingness on you.” Iniko’s breath fanned Kidan’s cheek. “You already carry a dead heart.”

Kidan’s throat bobbed. Even as Iniko melted into the crowd, her words echoed close, cruel, and true. Kidan knew it was impossible for her to want to live. To continue this wretched existence and loathe herself to the point of exhaustion. It would only be a matter of time before Susenyos noticed it too.

She ordered a drink and sat down, wondering what Ramyn must have gone through, parading for these vampires to give her their life. A card slid onto Kidan’s table, interrupting her thoughts. On the front, 13th was printed. On the back:

If you want another chance at life, come alone.

Building 34, Level 2, Room 1.

Kidan gasped softly. Tamol Ajtaf had given her a card about the 13th.

She searched for Susenyos but couldn’t find him. She slipped the card under her glass and left. If Susenyos was a member, it wouldn’t help, but if she didn’t return from Building 34, at least there was a clue left behind.

It took her five minutes to reach the room. A pretty young girl from House Delarus opened the door. Kidan recognized her from Ramyn’s funeral—she was one of the protesters asking for protection law changes. She’d been the one to confront Dean Faris and be escorted away by security.

“Come in,” she said.

A quiet gathering was taking place at multiple low-lit tables, with whiskey and cigars present at each station. The smell of cigar smoke turned her stomach—too close to Mama Anoet’s burning skin.

A familiar pair of pinprick eyes across the room startled her.

Koril Qaros approached and took her hands. “I’m very sorry to hear about your illness.”

Slen’s father… was here. She fumbled trying to hide her surprise.

Breathe, smile. No, not smile. She was supposed to be sad. Afraid. Dying.

“Thank… you.”

“How are you holding up?”

Kidan wanted to yank herself from his calloused hands. All she could see was how roughly they had grabbed Ramyn and slapped Slen’s brother. Marred Slen’s palms with painful cracks. The flat dissociation in Slen’s eyes struck her again. Kidan had seen her fair share of horrors and still didn’t float by as invisible and untethered as her study partner did. She understood why now. Her mouth soured, imagining several ways of relieving Slen’s father of these troubling hands.

“I’m staying positive,” she said instead. “Hoping for a life exchange.”

He nodded compassionately. “I hope you get it. I hear the list is particularly long this year. Let’s have a drink.”

Kidan wiped away the dark energy of his hands when he turned.

They sat down at a table. “I heard you went to the Southern Sost with Susenyos Sagad.”

Already?

“I had no other choice.” She adopted meekness. “I… don’t know anyone else.”

Koril Qaros sipped his whiskey. “Unfortunately, Susenyos is not welcomed by many dranaics, given his violent history. I’m afraid being seen with him hurts your chances.”

So Susenyos wasn’t welcomed here. But what exactly was “here”? What group was the 13th, and why were Tamol Ajtaf and Koril Qaros members?

“I think I know of a dranaic that would be willing to give their life for you.”

“Really?” She made her voice rise an octave.

“It won’t be easy,” Koril said, almost grim. “Every afternoon, I want us to meet here, see if we can help each other. Gradually, I’ll introduce you to other members and see what we can do about your situation.”

“What exactly is the 13th?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. There are many exclusive groups formed within Uxlay. The 13th aim to help indebted or failed graduates and, now, sick students like yourself.”

“Did Ramyn come here?” Kidan asked without thinking.

The easy smile he’d plastered on strained a little. “Yes. Tragic what happened to her. We’d almost found her a life exchange.”

Her stomach contracted with rage.

Breathe. Relax.

She’d almost managed it when he said something that made her want to smash his glass across his skull.

“I’ve heard about your sister, June. It’s a dangerous time for young girls. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you find her.”

Kidan drew triangles along her thighs and forced out, “Thank you.”

Koril stood, fastening a button on his expensive suit. “If Susenyos gives you trouble, the law is there for you. Don’t hesitate to protect yourself from him.”

Odd , Kidan thought as he escorted her out. A day ago, she’d have loved to have anyone by her side against Susenyos. Yet Koril Qaros was a beast of his own making.