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C OSSIA D AY IS AN OLD TRADITION CREATED TO APPEASE THE DRANAICS who claimed that Uxlay laws infringe on their more animalistic natures. They demanded, for a single day, a human-free fighting ring. Those who died on Cossia Day were to be forgotten.”

Susenyos adjusted the house sigil pin on his sleeve. The light and dark mountains shimmered like lost stars. His suit jacket was black, embroidered with gold thread, and it fit him well. His lips kept stretching.

“Why are you smiling?”

“I’m smiling because by the end of tonight, there will be fewer of my enemies alive.”

She shook her head, turning away to fix her dress at her vanity. His gaze heated her back.

“That dress is absolutely dangerous. Wait—” He took a startled breath. “Is that my crown on your lovely neck?”

Kidan had painted gold on her eyelids, enjoying the bold way it framed her eyes and complemented the liquid-like amber dress and fox mask. But her neck had been unbearably bare until she remembered the old gold and ruby crown crosses she’d fashioned.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

He crossed the space between them, tracing her collarbone, and the necklace decorated entirely with the riches that once belonged to his crown. His touch was cool, the backs of his fingers brushing against her jawline, staying there for a beat too long. She tilted her neck, exposing the flesh more, and his breath sharpened, black eyes burning.

She held his stare, reading his plain hunger, heart skipping. “Is there something you’d like to ask? We do have a deal.”

He turned away, shutting his eyes for a moment, and when he faced her again, his hunger was restrained. She frowned. She wanted to glimpse more of him, and the neck was where the deepest of desires hid. She pouted, touching her neck softly.

His gaze fell to her neck and swept along her figure. “Stop,” he warned. “Or we won’t make it to the event.”

Their eyes met in the mirror. What an impressive image they cut, she and her vampire. Her… vampire. She waited for the revulsion those words would usually stir, but there was none.

“Titus is going to die tonight.” Susenyos’s fingers contracted on her back.

Goose bumps spread down her arms.

“I need to talk to him first.”

“You will. But he will die tonight.”

His lethal tone left no room for reason. She nodded.

“The moment they know who you are, and that your blood is drinkable, they will drink from you until you’re dead. Don’t take off this mask.”

In the reflection, her bare collarbone appeared too human. Her chest rose and fell with her nerves. Inside her dress, strapped to her thigh, was Omar Umil’s impala horn. She wouldn’t go unprotected.

“Why is my blood drinkable?” she asked. “I haven’t attended a companionship ceremony to make a vow.”

His tone shifted, amused. “You have made a vow. You just don’t know it yet.”

She lifted her lashes at him, and he studied her with a quirked lip, always evading this question. At least tonight she would finally have an answer about June and Ramyn’s connection.

Outside the red sandstone Sost Buildings, Susenyos tucked her hand into the nook of his arm. The lights from the lion-shaped lamps lit the way toward the iron doors of the middle structure. At the entrance, each vampire received a note listing those wishing to challenge them tonight.

Kidan’s brows lifted when she saw Susenyos’s list. “Twenty-two?”

He shrugged. “I anger a lot of people.”

Kidan shook her head.

Cossia Day was the only time silver weapons were permitted, and the dranaics didn’t let it go to waste. Iniko wore a choker with silver spikes, two knives along her forearms, and an axe strapped to her back. Taj’s curved blade swung at his hip, and Susenyos had twin dragon blades. Dragon, he told her, for the way their edge was like textured hide, jagged like a wave.

Dark skin and silver. They were forsaken gods who’d stolen the teeth of the devil. And hell if they weren’t breathtaking.

Kidan liked the cleverness associated with silver in the myth of vampires. The brilliant Demasus planted seeds of misinformation, claiming the metal was toxic to vampires. As such, every town he passed through brought silver to defend against his armies. He acquired their foolish weapons and melted them to forge the most powerful blades. To this day, humans brandished the metal in the presence of vampires. Kidan herself had carried silver from some misguided belief of protection as a child.

They made their way into the blood courting room. It hadn’t changed since last time. Several booths still circled the opulent space, with red curtains ready to be drawn for privacy. In the center was a raised stage.

Once they settled in a corner lounge, Taj shot her a grin. “An acti coming here on Cossia Day. Do you have nine hearts?”

“Just one. It’s pretty dead, though.”

If possible, his grin widened. “You do know you look incredible in that dress, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Just checking.”

Kidan’s lip tugged in amusement.

Slen and Yusef, along with everyone else, were taking a break between terms for a week. There were no actis on the campus grounds. Kidan shivered. She might as well be the sole human in the world with an invitation to hell.

Susenyos leaned into Taj’s ear. Taj straightened up and cast his attention around, and his smile faded. A large, bearded dranaic was staring right at him.

“Taj, should I start with you?” The dranaic flashed his wide fangs, approaching. “If I win, you get to join House Makary and leave the Qaros rats. If you win, I’ll join your house.”

“So I lose either way?”

“Scared?”

“Only of your mustache,” Taj muttered.

The dranaic shoved his face in front of Taj, smelling of meat. Iniko pushed him away with her boot, and he stumbled to the side, baring his teeth.

“Don’t touch him.” She narrowed her eyes.

“It’s no secret who you would have picked. It’s great that Foul Child died before she became a true acti,” the mountainous dranaic spat.

Kidan’s ears perked up. Foul Child?

“You’re too old to gossip like a teenager, Asuris.” Iniko’s dismissal only lengthened a vein on his temple.

“Gossip? We in House Makary don’t forget what Helen Makary looked like. No one forgets hair like midnight waves and that heart-shaped mouth. That Ajtaf child resembled her more every day.”

“Insult my house again and I will wet my blade.” Iniko reached behind for her axe.

Iniko was in House Ajtaf. Were they talking about Ramyn?

Asuris pulled out one of the two large blades strapped to his thighs.

“A simple test should tell us the truth. If House Ajtaf is innocent, its leader shouldn’t fear for his head.”

Iniko stood so quickly that a sharp wind cut into Kidan’s shoulder. Susenyos seized her hand and brought her closer to his seat. Kidan stilled for a beat at the sudden gesture before settling beside him.

“You should mind your tongue, Asuris. Iniko hasn’t wet her blade in years,” Susenyos said.

Asuris showed no fear. “You remember what we did to the Foul Children back then. The point is, be glad Koril killed that girl before she inherited her houses, or I would’ve—”

Iniko backhanded him into the open space. The force of the blow rippled Kidan’s dress and ruffled Susenyos’s collar. Asuris sprang to his feet, snarling, and freed his weapons. The chatter around the room died immediately. Every dranaic leaned forward, the scent of violence making them bare their teeth. Death wasn’t given to them easily, the laws of Uxlay restricting them from open murder. But even now their lives weren’t wasted. The dranaics defeated tonight would be taken into the Mot Zebeya Courts at once and give their lives to whomever was next on the life exchange list. The process of it all was impressive. How carefully they made sure immortality continued.

“Isn’t it bad she’s out of practice?” Kidan asked, almost worried.

“On the contrary, she’s stronger for it. Each time we use our blood to coat silver, it takes a long time to become potent again. Iniko tempers herself and unleashes her wrath in spectacular fashion. Watch.” Susenyos’s voice dripped with delight. “Blood-licked silver never misses its mark.”

Iniko slipped out a knife from her forearm, brought it to her tongue, and cut. Red glided along its gleaming edge. When she flicked it, the weapon shot forward with incredible aim. But Asuris dodged, and it skewered the opposite wall. Iniko tilted her head, and the knife that was planted in the wall teetered and loosened itself, spinning and throwing itself into Asuris’s back, making him growl. Kidan’s mouth dropped. They could control blood-licked silver without touching it.

When she gaped at Susenyos, his eyes twinkled. “Told you.”

Asuris pulled out the knife like it was an annoying tick and licked his large blade.

He threw in a fast, whizzing arc. Iniko deflected it with her axe, but the force sent her back a couple of steps and cut her hands.

“Shake it off, love.” Taj clapped from the sidelines. “Knock that caterpillar off his face!”

“Be quiet ,” she grunted, throwing her next weapon with terrifying precision.

Their match made Kidan incredibly aware of her mortality. How soft her flesh was, sinking with the press of a finger and hurting at the prick of a needle. Was skin truly the only protection humans had? Even her hard parts—skull, bones, teeth—needed to be on the outside if she ever stood a chance.

“What are you drawing there?” Susenyos murmured.

She hadn’t realized it, but she was tracing a square on his thigh. He took her hand and stretched out the fingers.

“What do these symbols mean, little bird? It’s not the first time you’ve drawn them.”

“Nothing,” she whispered back, making his lips quirk.

“He said the head of House Ajtaf had to pay the cost,” Kidan said, thinking. “That’s Ramyn’s father.”

Kidan gathered that the dranaics knew a lot about the families’ affairs but chose to keep quiet. Even at the 13th meetings, it was communicated with a smirk, the exchange of loaded looks. She’d heard them call Ramyn’s father Tesasus, though that wasn’t his name. Tesasus was a seventeenth-century king with fifty-five wives. Marriage was rarely between one man and one woman in acti tradition. Yet the head of House Ajtaf took it further, marrying five wives. Most of Ramyn’s brothers were her half-siblings.

Kidan turned to Susenyos. “So, what are Foul Children?”

Susenyos hesitated before speaking, face dark. “Marriage between actis is forbidden. Actis are supposed to marry and procreate with humans from the outside world… Foul Children are the result of that law being broken. In the past, Foul Children were given to vampires to be enjoyed and killed. Their existence threatened to end a bloodline, and they had to suffer to deter others. Now the parents are punished instead.”

Her eyes widened as she pieced together Asuris’s accusation. “Ramyn was born from two houses?”

“We are prohibited from spreading such rumors outside Cossia Day. Iniko might still kill me if she knew I was telling you.”

“Being heiress to two major houses would have made her powerful.” Kidan voiced this idea out loud—and another crystallized, cruel and cold. “Everyone would see her as a threat.”

This got her a rueful smile, not as fully formed but there, in the arch of the lips. “Hell, isn’t it? The politics of the families.”

“You know something else.”

The clash of blades came from behind her ear, silver dancing in his black eyes. His gaze dropped for a moment, giving her the answer.

“Is that why she was poisoned as a child? Who would… do something like that—” Kidan stopped, her understanding settling like a sour drink. “Her brothers.”

Kidan had glimpsed something at Ramyn’s funeral, a disquieting gleam to her brothers’ eyes. She clenched her jaw so hard that her gums vibrated. Ramyn had had no clue that the monsters were her own family. Kidan’s fingers tapped out a triangle shape erratically.

“Easy, yené Roana.” He unfurled her fingers.

Kidan knew which brother would be responsible for it all—Tamol. She’d smelled his greed and ambition the day he’d asked about the Axum Archaeological Project instead of mourning Ramyn. Of course he wouldn’t let his sister inherit two houses. But Kidan still needed confirmation.

“It’s Tamol, isn’t it?”

“That’s who Iniko suspects, yes.”

She relaxed a little, but her rage didn’t dim entirely. They watched Iniko perform a thousand slashes with her choker necklace until her opponent was nothing but writhing flesh. Kidan’s thighs trembled. It would be the last time she pissed off Iniko.

Taj put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. “Iniko Obu, everyone. Don’t ever fuck with her.”

He jumped onstage, seized her face, and kissed her temple. Exiting, she handed him the axe, her lips curving slightly.

Iniko retreated into one of the corridors, and Kidan followed.