Page 58

T HE ESTATE THAT T AMOL A JTAF OCCUPIED WAS PERCHED ON THE west border of campus, near the main Uxlay gate out to town. Its splendor and magnificence made Kidan’s blood boil. This should be Ramyn’s. But the world would keep taking unless its hands were singed.

Susenyos and Kidan parked several streets away. She unbuckled her seat belt.

“Easy, yené Roana,” Susenyos said, studying her focused gaze. “The Ajtafs have hundreds of dranaics. It won’t be easy to enter—”

She unlocked the door and got out. Susenyos swore in Amharic and followed.

“What, exactly, is your plan?”

“Give me your keys.”

He balked. “I’ve never seen you drive. Do you even know how?”

“Well enough to crash it.”

Susenyos blinked as if he’d heard wrong.

“I’m crashing the car with Tamol in it,” she explained. “You need to get back to the house, so they don’t blame you.”

His jaw remained open. “And you’ll be in the car?”

“Yes.”

The look of astonishment on his face would have been comical under any other circumstance. “That’s absolutely—”

“An ask.”

He stared at her like she was an alien, and held up a hand. “Forgive me for this, because there’s nothing I hate more than the following words, but did you forget you’re human? ”

She gave him a thin smile.

“It’s dangerous.” His face darkened. “We have time to plan better.”

“Planning is what made me miss my chance with Rufeal. Besides, you said yourself that spending time planning murders isn’t always the best approach.”

“Again, forgive me, but you’re human . The rules are entirely different.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not scared.”

“We can make sure you don’t get killed—”

“Do you know who the Nefrasi are?” she cut in.

His jaw snapped shut. Under the diffused light of the nearest lamppost, his face appeared grim, almost torn. “No.”

“So, questioning Tamol is the only way to find out,” she explained. They didn’t have time for this. “An accident is our best option. No one will suspect me, because I’ll be in there with him.”

“And if you die?” He let out a frustrated breath. “What then?”

This made her hesitate for a fraction of a second. “Let’s see what the fates decide.”

An exasperated laugh burst from him. “You’re still determined to dance on the edge of death.” When she didn’t respond, he shook his head. “Try not to die, little bird. The house might just be unbearable without you.”

Kidan glimpsed their reflection in the car’s window and wondered how they’d reached this point. They truly appeared in sync, partners.

“Make sure you leave,” she instructed. “Be somewhere public so the 13th can’t blame you.”

She took the keys and entered the sleek black sedan. Susenyos remained a shadow in her rearview mirror. A sad smile touched her face. Perhaps he’d never understand why Kidan had to keep pushing herself, inching toward death again and again so she could stand the feel of her own heartbeat. Just a taste and she’d be good to go.

She dialed Tamol’s number, all thoughts narrowing on her plan.

“It’s Kidan.”

“Kidan?” He didn’t sound asleep. Perhaps he was working. “It’s late.”

“Sorry.” She ruffled her voice to the tune of embarrassment. “But I’m leaving tonight. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Not really.” Her voice shook. “You said you could help me with some money? I want to talk about the Axum Archaeological Project.”

The crinkle of papers echoed. “Are you home?”

“I’m leaving Uxlay tonight. If you want to talk, I’ll be passing your house in a few minutes.”

He paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll be outside. Don’t leave without talking to me.”

She ended the call. Kidan rolled her shoulders, the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins. Night air from the rolled-down window swam in her braids and iced her cheeks. The corner of her lips arched. Finally, she was in control.

When she arrived, Tamol Ajtaf, dressed in a large jacket and pajama pants, fixed his glasses and squinted at her.

“We can talk inside.”

Tears came to her eyes. “No, I’m not spending another second at Uxlay. I’m going into town.”

He moved his jaw but forced a nod. Surprisingly, he’d brought a briefcase, which he held close as he got in the car. She tried not to smile when she pulled out.

“What happened?” His green eyes ran over her. “Was it Susenyos? I told Dean Faris he should have been removed from that house.”

She slid a glance at him. His eyes were bright with eagerness. “It’s everything. Not just him.”

He injected compassion into his tone. “Dranacti is difficult. I don’t blame you.”

Kidan’s grip tightened on the wheel as the gilded gates of Uxlay swung open. They took the winding road bracketed by trees to Zaf Haven.

“You said you could help me with the Axum project.”

“Right.” He clicked open his briefcase and brought out papers.

“A vampire has no business owning a house. Especially one such as Adane House. I don’t know what your family was thinking leaving it to Susenyos. Officially, you can’t sign away your shares until you graduate, but thankfully, you’re the last of your line—”

“I’m not the last of my line.” Fire raged in her eyes, and the road slipped in and out of her vision. “My sister is. June.”

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Right, but she’s not here, and you are the oldest, capable of signing away your house.”

“You know, Ramyn gave me the opposite advice. To stay and fight for what’s rightfully mine.”

He avoided her eyes, gathering his contracts. “Well, sometimes the best thing to do is stand aside.”

Kidan’s foot pressed on the accelerator. Just a little. She didn’t understand how family could turn on one another for trivial things like money or power. Tamol had been so terrified of Ramyn’s potential, he’d sabotaged her without knowing what she’d become.

Her knuckles turned white. “Who are the Nefrasi?”

The papers pinched in his grip. “What?”

“The Nefrasi. I know they support the 13th. Who are they?”

“I’ve never heard of them.”

They took a very sharp turn, and his body swayed, the suitcase smacking against his door loudly.

A tendril of fear tightened his voice. “You should slow down.”

“I know you poisoned Ramyn and ruined her chance of inheriting Ajtaf House. I’ll tell Dean Faris if you don’t tell me who the Nefrasi are.”

He blinked, shocked, then—as most men did—called her bluff. “ I will have you arrested for defamation.”

Kidan pressed harder on the gas and gave the wheel a little shake. Their shoulders swayed violently along with the car.

“What are you doing?” he shouted.

“I don’t think you understand what you’ve walked into.”

His words came slowly, fluttering like wings. “Stop the car right now.”

“Tell me about the Nefrasi or I’ll end it.” When he said nothing, she added more pressure to the pedal. “You don’t think I’ll do it? Test me.”

He fisted his fingers, and for a moment she thought he’d grab the wheel, but then he relaxed.

“Okay, okay. Slow down. I’ll tell you.”

Kidan eased up. Only a little.

Tamol loosened a breath. “All I know is it’s a group outside Uxlay. They fund our initiatives when we don’t want to use our Uxlay accounts.”

Outside Uxlay. “What do they want?”

“The same as the 13th,” he bit out impatiently. “A new structure of inheritance and rights to ownership. The ability to set our own laws inside our houses, like the Founding Houses. Of course, you wouldn’t understand.”

“The universal law protects Uxlay’s boundary.”

“ We are what the outside world needs protection from.” He glowered. “Why should we give up that power?”

“And Ramyn? Did you poison her because you couldn’t stand that she might command two houses one day?”

He stared ahead, eyes unreadable. He was too smart to confirm or deny.

Kidan gritted her teeth. “Where’s June?”

A frown twisted his thin mouth. “Your sister? How should I know?”

“I know the 13th or Nefrasi or whatever the fuck you call yourselves have her.”

He stared at her, brows drawn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s right. You don’t understand familial love.”

Twin headlights flashed bright, blinding them as they nearly collided with a passing car. Tamol gripped his seat belt tightly.

“You need to slow down!”

“Tell me where June is.”

“I don’t know!”

Fine.

If he was done talking, so was she. The thundering roll of the accelerator vibrated under her feet. Kidan could have spared his life if he’d had a true reason to betray Ramyn. If he’d been protecting someone else. But his choice to sacrifice his family was nothing but an act of greed. Mama Anoet might as well have been sitting next to her.

Kidan swerved off the road and launched into the thick trees. As the world exploded in twisted metal and glass, his scream rose and abruptly cut, failing to reach whatever he’d been praying to.

When Kidan’s eyes fluttered shut, her body was crushed under something. She was ice-cold, the night moon burning her face. The fresh earth beneath reached its ashen fingers toward her, trying to draw her into its belly for warmth. It promised rebirth, a second life, if only she sank inward. Her bleeding lungs stopped working.

The gates of death were adorned with fresh rosemary, as in Mama Anoet’s garden. There was an irritating sound, faint as butterfly wings but growing sturdier, pulsing like a heartbeat, then like a lion-skin drum. It was a warning, calling for Kidan to return to the surface. She couldn’t see who or what it was. Didn’t care. She was at the end.

Still, it beat a manic rhythm like the devil was at its feet. Without her will, it guided her back, away from the fresh-smelling gates and back to the sky, pounding all the way. It stole into her body, beating inside her like a second heart.

Kidan opened her eyes. A figure hovered across her face. Susenyos’s edges had blurred like Yusef’s charcoal drawings, brows furrowed.

“I could have sworn your heart stopped,” he whispered, lifting his bleeding wrist from her mouth.

The taste of his blood pooled under her tongue. She wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing here, but her jaw wouldn’t move. None of her limbs listened to her command.

“Easy, Kidan. No need to speak. Your eyes have a language of their own.”

He searched behind him, a background misted with dust and broken lights. When she drifted again, his strong fingers slipped under the crook of her neck.

“No, keep those eyes open,” he ordered. “Tally all the faults with my performance, outline your revenges on me, imagine your perfect murders upon my heart. But keep those eyes open.”

It was difficult to do so. Her lashes carried heavy snow, demanded to close. But every time she tried to leave him, he brought her back with the scent of violence. There was no need for promises of love or for quiet tenderness. Neither was allowed to feel the smallest spark of those afflictions. But perhaps their souls were made to be in eternal company. In devotion, in worship, in lust of brutality.