Page 49

K IDAN AND S USENYOS LOUNGED ON THE STUDY COUCH, FIRE BURNING close, and talked of all the ways a life could be extinguished without a sound. They had found new ground with this deal of theirs, and it was fitting that planning a murder was their first task together. They channeled all the venomous energy they had toward each other into a specific task, admiring their work like two surgeons over a bleeding body.

Their first target was Rufeal Makary. It was Kidan’s first ask.

She shared three ways of stifling murder: an inconspicuous weapon, a covert location, a cohesive story. In her raging state, she’d witnessed the hell that rained down when one of those pillars collapsed. Murder was a gossiping bitch, and she loved to talk. They had to starve her of all information.

Rufeal Makary was a busy student, surrounded by people often, unless he was working. The third room on the second floor of the Umil Art Museum was dedicated to mosaic art—Rufeal’s specialty. Shelves were stacked with ceramics and colored stone waiting to be shattered and rearranged into stunning pieces. One small stumble could lead to a loud crash. The room was also in clear view of the elevator, as well as a corner camera. But if Rufeal was to relocate to the west side of the building, where the cameras had a blind spot, they had their location.

The weapon proved much harder. It had to seem accidental so there would be no need for an investigation—or need to move the body, bury it, and lose control of the story.

Kidan tinkered with the idea of poison and liked the potential undetectability. Something in his mosaic glass or the walls of the room. It would take time, but Rufeal would soon be dead.

Susenyos watched her with a glass resting against his lips. “You’re dangerously becoming irresistible.”

She reached for the platter of fruit on the small table and bit into a strawberry.

“You’re not contributing to our discussion.”

“I’m distracted by how your dark mind works.”

She shot him a stern look. “Come on, you probably have an easier way of getting rid of him. Share.”

“That’s a hurtful assumption. I rarely spend so much time planning my kills.”

Her lip quivered slightly. He drew closer, his folded leg brushing against hers.

“Was that a smile?”

When she lifted her lashes, there was no trace of it.

“We need to know why the 13th is after you,” she said seriously.

His face lost its light, replaced with thundering clouds. “I always knew the families wouldn’t be happy with a vampire inheriting a house. It would be a first at Uxlay. But to go to such lengths to frame me… I didn’t think they were capable of it.”

She understood his frustration. “Omar Umil said the houses want independence, for each to set its own law.”

Susenyos straightened. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

He looked into the fire, expression troubled. “That would break the universal law. Uxlay would be vulnerable.” His voice darkened. “What the hell are they planning?”

“What I don’t get is why not just directly break the universal law? Why form a whole group?”

“Dean Faris would set her Sicions on any house that dared break the boundary law. If they plan to break it, which I doubt they’re even capable of, every house along the boundary must do it at the same time. So Dean Faris won’t have enough time to fix the leak.”

The calculation in his gaze made her shiver.

“They have June,” she said quietly. “Omar said they need an heiress and wouldn’t harm her.” Her bottom lip wobbled. “What do you think?”

Susenyos thought about it for a long time. “It’s likely. Especially since you’ve made it clear you’re not on their side. They will need June to come and master House Adane. If they have her, she’s alive.”

Kidan released a deep breath, grateful for his confirmation. “But who gave Mama Anoet your name?”

He rubbed his jaw. “Most likely the same vampire who killed Ramyn. Do you know who it is?”

Only Slen did.

“No, but I’ll find out,” she said with steely determination.

He smiled ruefully. “To think, all this time we shared an enemy. We’ve been played against each other for too long. Frankly, it’s insulting. When I find out who, exactly, planned all this, they will suffer a violent, slow death.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood at the lethal promise.

He gave her a careful look. “We must trust each other. No more games.”

The house creaked under the statement. Could she truly trust him? It was difficult and would take time. But they could take it slow. She nodded and settled further into the seat, throwing her head back so the firelight cast her golden.

Her body unwound, and her shoulders loosened. Kidan couldn’t remember the last time she felt this content in her home.

Her home. What an odd thought, to think of this nightmare of a house as hers.

“Back to Rufeal. I’d think having a vampire as partner comes with certain perks. I know you have strength and speed, but what else?” she asked.

“Am I already failing to meet your standards?” Susenyos replied. Kidan could hear his smile.

“Yusef said you have claws, but I know he’s messing with me.”

“We do have claws.”

She shifted higher, her gaze falling to his large hands. “You do? Can I see?”

With an amused glint in his eye, he held out his hand. Light green veins in the shape of lightning graced the rich brown skin. Then his clean, short nails were growing into wide claws, blackening at the tip as if dipped in coal. Her lips parted, and she traced the inked nails. Sharp enough to slice thread.

“How come I never see you use them?” Her voice rippled with fascination.

“Claws often mean we’ve let our nature take over completely, become more monster than human. Not many of us like it but… you clearly do.”

She withdrew her tracing hands at once. “I was just curious about your powers.”

His lip remained quirked. “The ability to create your own law within your home? Now, that’s true power.” He stretched out his hand. “Shall we?”

Kidan’s gut twisted. But this was their agreement. He helped her with the 13th. She helped him master the house. Every evening, they’d try to withstand the observatory. Together. The house demanded peace to be mastered.

They made their way to outside the glowing room. Apprehension tightened Kidan’s stomach. The last time she went in there, June fed her the blue pill.

“How long do we have to stay in there?”

“For as long as we can.”

Her bones went weak.

“My family… Why did they set the law on you?”

“So I would remain and guard your House forever.”

It almost sounded cruel. If he’d stood by their side for decades, why didn’t they trust him? As if he read her mind, he spoke in a low voice, arms crossed.

“Your parents couldn’t pass down this house to someone who didn’t value humans. They needed to cure me of that fatal flaw, and what better lesson was there than to become one?” He skewed his mouth at the word and glared at the pale room. “So this place strips me of my immortality. It brings me face-to-face with death.”

“But they only set the law on you. Not the other Adane dranaics. Why?”

He wiped a hand across his face. “Your family found me on the run. They worried that if danger came, I’d abandon them. They wanted to make sure I never leave.”

On the run… from what?

“Wait, you can’t leave?”

“I did, once. Then I returned to find one of the rooms had changed.”

She caught on slowly. “You endangered the house by leaving.”

He rubbed his jaw, anger gnawing at him. “The language of the law is purposefully vague, so I never know what action triggers it. I must be very careful. Otherwise, it’ll keep taking from me piece by piece. Room by room.”

Kidan’s brows scrunched. “Why not leave Uxlay and never return? The law only takes place within this house, right? You just have to make sure to never come back.”

His face gathered a storm. “No, Uxlay is the only safe place.”

Safe? This place was safe?

“Against what?”

He breathed out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t tell you any more. I wish I could. But even this might trigger the law and cost me another room.”

His fingers closed and released with desperation. Kidan’s brows drew. She recalled those nights he lay half dead until Etete dragged him out. He’d convinced everyone he was untouchable, free to do as he pleased, yet was no different from her, bound to a promise, a word.

Kidan walked in, bracing against the dead cold. Susenyos followed shortly after, sucking in a sharp breath. They settled on the floor, the moon beating on their brown skin, and let the swords fall on them.

It began with June. Sleeping, lifeless. Then Mama Anoet, screaming, dying. The entire world afraid of Kidan.

Kidan bit her lip so hard that the flesh tore and bled. Susenyos handled his pain better, eyes shut. The only indication that he was hurting were his fingers tightening into fists, veins streaking along his arms.

The image plaguing Kidan morphed into a familiar face—her own. Kidan with red pupils and a bleeding mouth. This version of Kidan didn’t watch June from behind a window—she was the one biting into June’s neck, coloring her lips. This Kidan killed her foster mother and rioted with rage, not grief or regret. She held only contempt toward her sister and ached to teach her a lesson for abandoning her. She wanted to tear out of her skin and rain down terror. This Kidan had to die.

June’s ghost came to her, a knife in her hand, moons for eyes. Kidan’s hand wrapped around the hilt, and June helped her guide it to Susenyos’s chest.

There.

Then the knife was turning, Kidan’s arm bending to touch her own heart.

There.

Kidan tried to plead with her conscience. They could still serve good, but June didn’t listen in this room. Her eyes burned into Kidan, igniting like an inferno. Kidan gasped, the urge to scream climbing up her throat. Pain and scream went together. It was the only release, the only way out. She couldn’t keep it in. She had to leave.

Susenyos’s eyes flew open. Neither could speak, but his gaze told her to hold on. To stay. She begged him to leave, her cheeks wet now.

Do it now. Kill him. Kill all evil.

June’s words thundered.

Kidan lunged, attacking Susenyos with a feral grunt. His eyebrows shot upward as he struggled to restrain her. Her hand was empty of a knife, but that didn’t stop her. She clawed and scratched at him, making contact with his cheek and drawing warm blood. He hissed, shoving her aside. The force slammed the illusion and they both bolted to the exit, throwing themselves into the hallway and gasping.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” he panted, touching his cheek and rubbing blood between fingers with disgust. The skin was already webbing itself, healing.

“I don’t know what happened,” Kidan whispered, eyes blown wide open. “I couldn’t control myself.”

He nodded like he understood. “You’re looking for a way to end the pain. Unfortunately for me, you think killing me is the answer.”

He held her gaze, expression unreadable. Not just him. Her too. The knife had pointed to her heart.

“I hear it too,” he said, after a while. “That instinct, deep down, telling you to do whatever you can to end the pain.”

“What does it tell you to do?”

He hesitated, fisting his hands, then releasing them. “Turn back time and save my people from death.”

So this was at the heart of his torture. Kidan glimpsed the key chain around his neck, leading to his people’s clothes and treasures. Her eyes creased with the loss of it.

“But you… can’t.”

“Then you see the problem.” He stared at the room with enough flame to incinerate it to dust. “You rest.”

She leaned against the wall, grateful. Susenyos walked inside and settled in the haunted room. His face pinched and his palms bled, but he pushed, hour after hour.

Their minds might have synced, but their hearts couldn’t be more different. He fought for his immortality. She fought for death.

And the room would be torn apart by their natures.