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K IDAN CRADLED Y USEF’S HEAD IN THE BACK OF THE CAR AS T AJ RACED back to Uxlay. Iniko sat off to one side, bandaging herself with a self-practiced ritual. Slen held on to Yusef’s unburnt hand, quieting his painful moans.

“We’re almost there,” she’d say every once in a while.

Kidan’s stomach turned whenever she glanced at his right hand, which was raw and wrinkled like rotten almond.

“Drink.” Slen placed a bottle of Taj’s blood in front of him. In agony, he moved his head.

She managed to feed him a few drops, but his hand didn’t smooth. They’d waited too long, and Kidan feared the damage was irreversible.

Slen touched a shaking finger to her gashed throat. “They fed from us. Why didn’t they find our blood poisonous?”

Kidan wondered the same thing. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s all a lie that we have to make a graduation vow first.”

“No. A dranaic has fed on me before. They spat out my blood immediately, and their eyes bled for days.”

Their eyes met, brows drawn tight.

What had Susenyos said? That Kidan had unknowingly made some sort of vow? What vow had Slen and Yusef made?

Once Taj crossed onto Uxlay land, Kidan’s throat expanded, and air moved freely in her body. She never would have thought the sight of those shadowy towers would bring such relief.

Kidan handed Yusef over to Taj, who took off immediately along with Iniko, and Kidan and Slen ran across campus by themselves. A throbbing behind her eyes made her touch the back of her head. Her fingers came away wet. As if awakened by her touch, the pain turned sharp, like a knife had been plunged into the back of her skull.

She didn’t stop running, the pain making her vision of the campus walls ripple like the surface of water. And incredibly, her will won. The pain tucked itself away to be dealt with later. Kidan reached the infirmary, and a nurse rushed to treat them.

She escorted Slen away, angling her bitten neck back and calling for more nurses.

Kidan’s reflection in the far mirror was monstrous. Her clothes were covered in splotches of red. Some hers, some Samson’s from when she bit off his flesh. Her face, especially her mouth, was smeared with blood. She needed to wash. In the glass, she saw Susenyos open the door, storming in like a god come down to rain terror.

He searched the fluorescent hall, voice cracking like thunder. “Kidan!”

She turned, and he locked on her instantly. His eyes were ablaze with a thousand suns, the same wrath from Cossia Day draping him. Then he took in her bloodied appearance, and those eyes lost their intensity, darkening.

Kidan didn’t know she was hurrying toward him, running until her body slammed into his, arms tight around his neck. Susenyos made a deep sound in his throat at the impact.

Her tears absorbed into his coat. “I got your clue. Thank you.”

He stiffened for a long moment, then embraced her cautiously.

“You’re worrying me, little bird.”

Kidan stepped back at those words, suddenly embarrassed and aware of who she was embracing.

“Sorry…”

Susenyos touched her head, and Kidan jerked. He swore, pulling back, and studied his red hand.

“Kidan,” he said calmly, although his face was anything but. “You’re bleeding. Did he do this?”

The throbbing reached across her skull again, pulsing. She stepped farther away and stumbled. Susenyos reached out to right her. Her vision faded in and out, the hospital floor transforming into the abandoned community hall. She searched for the others, but they were gone.

“Yusef… Slen? Where are they?”

His jaw tightened. “They’re getting help. Come with me.”

She let him lead her to a closet—cleaning products and a strong chemical smell faintly alerted her senses—but she was fading, sliding closer to the floor as he closed the door.

“Hey.” He elongated his fangs and bit into his wrist. Blood glided down his brown skin. “You need to drink.”

She tried to focus on his eyes, which were sharp with growing alarm. The type of worry she didn’t deserve. The type she’d wanted when she told him she was poisoned. Gently, he brought his wrist to her mouth, and she licked, sucked at his skin. It was no different from how her own blood tasted, neither sweet nor sour. But it healed her, cleared her vision, and vanquished her pain. She managed to open her eyes without the need to close them again.

Once she was aware of herself, he took back his hand. He studied her face and mouth, even her braids, where blood had found its way in, brows pinching.

“We need to clean you up.”

“He said June wouldn’t want to see me. Do you think she’s angry I didn’t find her sooner?” Kidan stared deeply into those eyes. “He’s lying.”

Susenyos was quiet.

“He’s a liar.”

Again Susenyos said nothing.

“Kidan…” He hesitated, and it alarmed her. He never hedged his words, even when he should.

“What?”

Susenyos’s jaw moved, and he turned away before facing her again.

“Your sister left you a message.”

Her stomach pitched. “What?”

He was being careful. “I don’t think it’s wise to see it now—”

“See it? What do you mean?”

He gave her a conflicted look and sighed. “She sent a video. It’s at the house.”

A video. The earth cracked beneath her feet. Of course, a video. That was how June always communicated. Kidan rushed out of the closet and out of the infirmary, ignoring his protests.

It took her five minutes to reach Adane House, feet pounding on the gravel like a drum. Breathless, she burst through the front door. The lounge was in utter chaos. Fire had engulfed all four corners. Walls were ripped in deep gashes and impaled by swords. Furniture was tipped and ruined as if a tornado had torn through it. There was so much rage, and it wasn’t hers.

Susenyos had been livid.

Air faded from her lungs as shattered glass from the chandelier crunched beneath. What the hell happened here?

That thought left her when June’s face appeared, projected on the living room screen.

“June?” Kidan whispered.

It wasn’t the house playing tricks on her. This was real.

Real.

Kidan rushed to study June’s face for any scars or bruises, any mark of abuse. Her clenched fists loosened. June’s cheeks were full of life, honeyed eyes bright. Her sister’s hair had grown past her shoulders. Relief and confusion flooded Kidan.

She walked slowly to the couch and restarted the video. It was a couple of minutes long.

Her finger trembled over the play button. She had to push her whole body forward to press it, every nerve and muscle working to lend her strength for what was to come.

“Hey, Kid. I don’t really know where to start.” June’s voice had changed, had become less shrill.

She pulled her sweater over her palms, shoulders hunched inward.

“I’m sorry for all of it. I really am. Where do I begin?” She drifted, and Kidan almost smiled at the familiar habit. June always started and stopped a thought in her old videos.

“Mama Anoet shouldn’t have done it. We all knew she needed the money, but she loved us. I don’t know why she changed, exactly. But I know how she treated you, watched you like you’d do something awful. Maybe it was the night you came home with your fists covered in blood, do you remember? After you fought those boys that put a dead rat in my locker. She was so upset.” June shook her head of the memory. “Anyway, she knew the Nefrasi were coming for you. They wanted the elder child, next in line to inherit. I didn’t think she’d agree to give you to them.”

The way the word “Nefrasi” rolled off her tongue with too much familiarity tightened Kidan’s gut.

“But I met them first and… something changed. I wasn’t afraid of them. Those awful nightmares I always get… stopped. I found the cure for my sickness. I couldn’t go back home, to school, making everyone worry. I wanted to see if I could be happy again, and maybe I could in Uxlay, living in the house our parents did, following their legacy.” June’s eyes found the camera again, staring into Kidan’s core. “They haven’t hurt me. No one has even drunk from my blood. They’re not what we thought they were. They take care of me as one of their own… like a family. I feel safe.”

Family. I couldn’t go back home. Kidan’s cheeks were wet. Silent tears leaked out of her, no different from a candle losing its wax.

“After I left, they started training me. They taught me Amharic and Aarac translations. I can read without breaking concentration and recite philosophy. They even made me fight, so I could protect myself. I was ready. Ready to enter Uxlay, and inherit House Adane. But then Aunt Silia suddenly died and the dean… ” June shook her head, a rueful smile present. “She brought you into Uxlay first.”

Kidan’s knees burned against the carpet as she crawled closer to the screen. June fell silent for ten seconds. It stretched for eons.

“If I’d told you I wanted to go with them, you’d have forced me to return. And I would’ve listened to you because I always did. For once, I wanted to decide on my own. I wanted you to believe I ran away. So that night, I packed my bags… ” She trailed off. “You were never supposed to be home.”

As June spoke, pieces of that awful night Kidan had buried away floated to the surface. June had gotten Kidan tickets to a metalworking seminar, but Kidan had returned halfway through her walk. She had the feeling of forgetting something, and that gnawing sensation wouldn’t leave her alone, so she’d retraced her steps all the way to their garden only to watch June underneath the moonlight, lips reddened with blood. Then Kidan had pounded on the locked door, shouting as the shadowy man gathered her sister and took off.

“You were supposed to be at the seminar,” June whispered with such deep regret Kidan almost believed it . “After that, I hoped you’d move on, or think I was dead. I couldn’t look back. If I did, I would have come running back. I couldn’t say no to you. Never could.”

Acid rioted in Kidan’s gut. She didn’t want to hear any more, but she hung on every word, waiting, praying, for a reason for all this. An explanation.

“Then you showed up at Uxlay, accusing Susenyos Sagad of kidnapping me.” June bit her lip. “When I found out, I wanted to come to you right away, but Samson… he had another plan. He wanted you to get rid of Susenyos Sagad first. We all wanted that.” Her voice pinched a little. Kidan couldn’t tell why. “Adane House should be inherited by one of us, not Susenyos. So we used the 13th to frame him, link my disappearance with Ramyn Ajtaf’s death. I know it sounds cruel, but Susenyos has done awful things, hurt many people. We… I never expected you’d end up helping him instead.” Her brows drew together as if that was the oddest thing out of all this. “It doesn’t matter now. You should help Samson. Give him the Sun artifact. He has great plans that’ll help us all.” Her eyes lowered, a sad smile present, some fragment of the old June peeking through this unrecognizable version. “How is Mama Anoet? I hope you’ve forgiven her. I have. Now that you know everything, maybe I can come visit you.”

She was asking about Mama Anoet?

June didn’t know.

Kidan shook her head. No, this wasn’t her sister. It was the house again, playing on her fear. A concoction of her guilt and anxiety.

June hesitated as if she wanted to say more. Kidan leaned in, breath tight. June blinked away, and Kidan’s frozen frame reflected on the black screen.

No.

Kidan scrambled to start the video again. Listened more carefully. Searched for any sign of coercion or threat. June couldn’t be saying all this on her own. Air emptied from Kidan’s lungs. She played the video again and stared, at times hearing June, at times studying her mouth, her tucked fingers, nails clean and unbroken, her long, curling braids. She looked beautiful, healthier than ever. Kidan played it again and again and again.

“Kidan,” a voice called. She must have fallen asleep on the couch, because Susenyos was hovering over her. “You need to get up. Eat food, get cleaned up. There’s still blood all over you.”

She didn’t think she could ever get up. Every bone weighed more, each movement a harrowing task. When she ignored him, he sighed and left.

The hours bled into one another until her stomach cramped and seized. Hunger. She liked the sharp pain whenever she turned on the couch. It anchored her to this place, where she would remain trapped until her body decayed and rotted. Her eyes hurt from continuous screen strain.

The video switched off.

“Enough,” Susenyos said. “You can play it once you bathe and eat.”

He wanted her to be clean so badly, when all she wanted was to sink deeper into her filth. She got up, and her leg fell asleep. Susenyos caught her, but she pushed him off, trying to walk toward the screen and switch it on. His fingers dug into her shoulders, rooting her in place.

“Food. Bath. Then I’ll leave you alone.”

Kidan walked to the bathroom, mainly because she had to pee. Her reflection stopped her. Dried blood stuck to her mouth, chin, braids. She was disgusting. And no amount of water would ever wash this away.

The hallways flickered, leading her down the path to the glowing room—or perhaps warning her. The observatory burned her tears away and pulled at her heart like a tide. Kidan slid down on the cold floor.

The room feasted on her pain, stretching it around her like an impenetrable bubble. She glanced at her wrist, her bracelet gone. Had she imagined it all? She’d gotten better, hadn’t she?

But June hadn’t been taken. She had chosen to leave. And she’d plunged Kidan into the darkest period of her life. Kidan’s mind searched for a reason. A hidden reason for why June would be so cruel—but nothing came to mind.

Kidan’s head rested back against the wall. She’d once vowed to destroy such malice, the type festering inside herself and at Uxlay. But evil was everywhere.

“Kidan?” Susenyos opened the door.

His eyes raked over her with mild concern.

“She doesn’t know,” Kidan whispered in a haunted voice. “She doesn’t know what I’ve done to find her. Mama Anoet…” Her lip trembled. “June left me behind and didn’t look back. She doesn’t know what I’ve done, how many times I’ve died trying to find her.”

Susenyos crouched, voice tight with anger. “I know.”

“I’m tired.” A tear slipped free. “I’m so tired.”

His eyes echoed her pain, appeared to feel it just as potently. “Let me lend you my strength.”

He extended a hand and waited. It asked of her what she wanted to ask of herself: Can you continue for something other than June? It took her a very long time to reach toward him, desperate to know. His fingers curled around hers, large and warm.