Page 45

Chapter 44

Adeline

A deline listened through her door, but she could barely make out the muffled sounds of Rolf and Juliette talking down the hall.

Juliette had known something was up the second she ran into the room. It was a rookie move, setting things on fire, knowing that the other vampires feared the flame, but it had worked. Except now Rolf was exchanging words with her?

Distrust , her mate sent down their bond. The sensation was so thick that Adeline took a step back. Distrust? Juliette? She closed her eyes and recounted the conversations they’d had. Juliette wouldn’t try anything, would she? She needed help getting out. She had a mate on the outside.

“No!” Juliette screamed.

And then there was a stampede of footsteps rushing down the hall. Adeline’s heart dropped.

Her nails turned to claws, and she clacked them together. She could leave her room and go find Rolf. His blood had given her enough sustenance; she was stronger now and could hold her own. She tried the handle. It clicked open.

Juliette hadn’t locked her in this time. It would be so easy for her to kill everyone out there. Her fingers wrapped around the knob. If she left and went to Rolf’s rescue, their entire plan would be exposed, and she would lose the tiniest upper hand she had.

Erik would know…

She dropped her hand and paced back and forth, clacking her nails together again as her mind whirled.

Assume you still have the upper hand. Don’t get involved. Not yet. Rolf can hold his own.

The handle clicked open. Juliette stepped inside, her face ashen and her movements jerky. She held a box on her hip, and she slipped into the room clumsily. Smoke stained her cheeks, and some of her clothes and her hair had been pulled from her tight bun.

She quipped, “Adeline.”

“Juliette,” Adeline replied, matching the tone.

Juliette closed and locked the door, then spun around. “Rolf is alive.”

The word bounced in her head—distrust, distrust, distrust.

“I know,” Adeline said.

“I wondered what the scent was and why it was so familiar,” Juliette continued, placing the box on the bed. She tried to smooth her skirts down and walked over to the vanity. Juliette began to clean her face. She spoke quickly. “And then I remembered where I had first smelled him. The cabin. And, curiously enough, once more down in the servants’ quarters. The scent was so different back in the cabin, less musk. But in the servants’ quarters, I swore he had been right next to me. I assumed it was just the castle playing tricks, but…then my keys went missing, and your room caught on fire only to have him step out from the shadows and confront me? It made him so much easier to scent this time, since he was right in front of me.”

Juliette’s nose wrinkled at each mention of his scent, almost as if she was disgusted to be close enough to smell him. Would Juliette smell Rolf in here? On her? Adeline was covered in so much soot and smoke that she doubted it. But still, there was a gnawing feeling that they would be discovered before their plan took place.

Distrust , the thread echoed again. But this time, it was Adeline sending it through.

“Wait… he’s here?” Adeline asked, hoping she sounded eager enough.

“Yes, but you knew that already, didn’t you?” Juliette looked at Adeline through the mirror.

“Which is why you’re not fighting against your enclosure to get out and find him.”

Adeline gave Juliette a tight smile. “I heard your voices outside the door.”

“He tried to set fire to your dress.”

Foolhardy popinjay. Adeline stifled a smile and the feeling of hope that blossomed in her chest. “Was he successful?”

“No, thankfully.” Juliette looked down at the box. Adeline suppressed a pout. Juliette continued, “And… currently, he’s being chased down by three of us.”

Us. Us. Us. That’s an interesting choice of words.

Rolf’s feeling of distrust lingered. He was the only one she could trust, and she was glad she hadn’t told Juliette any of her plans yet. A small mercy that she was a naturally secretive creature. And Juliette was still considering other vampires to be her kin.

She’s too entrenched. Rolf is right, I cannot trust her.

“And then what?” Adeline asked, even though she didn’t want to know. She could guess, given Erik’s propensity for extravagance and taste for torture, that once Rolf was caught, he would be put on display.

Her heart plunged.

Run, run, run, she sent down the thread.

All she got back was a growl.

Stubborn beast.

Juliette shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Either Juliette genuinely had no idea, or she was being purposefully kept in the dark. Best to operate as if Juliette was working both sides, on purpose. Adeline would find a way to break her, though. After all, she had made a promise and planned to keep it. Whether Juliette would walk free would not be up to Adeline to decide.

Juliette must choose it herself. The best Adeline could do would be to show her the way.

Adeline softened, knowing how hard it had been for her to break Erik’s spell. She would need to approach this carefully, but quickly, since their time alone was limited.

“Is the dress in there?” Adeline gestured to the box.

Juliette straightened, tucking her hair back into place, smoothing the stray pieces, and took a deep breath. “Your dress. And your mask.”

“Mask?” Adeline’s chest tightened.

“For the reception,” Juliette explained. “Erik is hosting a masquerade before the festivities this evening.”

Adeline went quiet. The last human queen, the one she had killed, whose dress Erik wanted her to wear, had thrown a masquerade as part of her coronation celebrations. It had been a week since she was crowned. Two days after the queen had denied an allegiance with Erik. And it was the night Adeline was ordered to kill her.

I was right.

It was another not-so-subtle hint. It was meant to scare her. Terrify her into compliance. Show her that he was still in charge.

He won’t win. Not this time.

“A masquerade?” Adeline asked as Juliette pulled gloves on. “Will you be participating?”

With her gloved hands, Juliette reached into the box and withdrew the dress. It shimmered with silver thread. “We are all required to make an appearance, Addy. You know how these things are.”

She did.

Erik loved the spotlight. If he were planning something, he would want to do it in front of everyone. The wedding was her fate, signed, sealed, and delivered in a pretty package. And the masquerade was a front.

Juliette laid the dress down on the chaise, carefully spreading out the layers with her gloved hands. She must have seen Adeline staring because she held up some of the trim and said, “There’s real silver thread in here. Erik was worried about another vampire touching you like Campbell did. So he had the dwarves use pure silver thread as a warning.”

“A cage,” Adeline sighed.

What would happen if Erik touched the silver thread? She tried to remember if he had ever touched anything silver in front of her before. She couldn’t remember. Her shackles and chains that he’d kept her in while she was being “disciplined” had all been iron. She touched the silver chains on her wrists absently, the scars still faintly there, and wondered if it had always been dwarves enchanting the metals that she wore, for she never had an issue. It had always been iron that caused her skin to rupture. It would blister as if she had spent too long in the fields with her mother.

“You’ll be fine,” Juliette replied, stepping back. If she was unconcerned about Adeline being encased in silver, then the dwarves must have enchanted it specifically for her. She clapped her hands together and smiled at Adeline. “They did wonders on the alterations.”

Adeline murmured in agreement. It was a gorgeous dress, and were it any other occasion, Adeline might be compelled to enjoy wearing it. What had once been a frilly, outdated monster of tulle, lace, and frills had turned into an elegant ball gown. But as it was, it would restrict too much movement, and the skirts would surely get in the way.

She bent down to look more closely at the work the dwarves had done in such a short amount of time. Energy zapped as soon as she made contact with the lace, a spark traveling between Adeline’s fingers and the dress. Her chains clinked as she withdrew her hands, holding them close to her chest. Her eyes flicked to Juliette, but she had turned to grab something else from the box.

Adeline rubbed her hands together, hovering above the dress, wary about touching it again since the shock was still reverberating through her fingers. Delicate dwarven metalwork was woven into the dress, and it shimmered as energy thrummed underneath her hands.

Strong magic is woven into this fabric.

There was no telling what would happen should Adeline choose to put it on. Was the magic baneful or benevolent? Juliette seemed unbothered about Adeline wearing it, so she assumed that it would be fine, but her mother’s voice echoed in her head with a warning.

“Exercise caution, Adeline, especially around magic you are unfamiliar with.” Her mother had told her this often enough that it had become a mantra when she was a child, even though Adeline had always thought her mother’s teachings were superfluous. The last thing on her mind was mastering the craft her mother so carefully practiced. She had been a surly young woman, navigating an isolated life at the edge of a village that shunned them.

They all feared us, Adeline thought bitterly. The villagers refused to let them into their society, but never hesitated when they needed something from their mother—whether it was an herbal remedy or a love spell. But the wards her mother had carved in the door never lied. They would shine when someone who wished them ill was near. One moment in particular had stuck with Adeline. But her memory was hazy, and the face of the man who threatened her mother that night blurred. If only she could see his face, she could?—

“Well, Adeline?” Juliette asked, holding up the mask. “What do you think?”

The mask was a crescent moon, turned skyward, resembling the symbol of the goddess of old, and encrusted with tiny diamonds that caught the light every which way, twinkling and glittering like stars in the night. Adeline’s breath caught in her throat. She had seen that symbol all over her house as a child growing up; her mother had carved it into every windowsill and doorway.

Her mother had a similar image burned into the skin underneath her left breast, but the crescent wasn’t pointing upward. It was pointing down, and there was a star in the center. Adeline had seen it often when it was wash day, the scar puckered and pink, peeking out from her mother’s chemise.

“I’m speechless,” Adeline replied, through the fragments of the memory that tried to push to the surface. Her hand drifted to the top of her thigh, grazing the brand that Erik had placed there.

She had fallen asleep reading to her sister near the fireplace. Her mother had covered them both with thick blankets and furs as the fire died down and the house had gone cold. But upon hearing a knock at the door, Adeline stirred and rolled over, her eyes slightly parted in pretend sleep.

“I know of your kind,” her mother said, refusing to take what the strange man at the door offered. He held out a sack in his hand, but her mother refused to touch it. The sigils on the door glimmered in the wood with defiance.

The stranger hissed, magic stinging his skin as he shoved his hand into their home, his finger pointing at her mother. Adeline almost leaped up, but something told her to stay hidden. “You have until the sun sets. I will return for her then.”

A tar-black horse whinnied as the stranger mounted to return to the protection of the trees, and both of them blended into the long shadows that formed before daylight struck.

“Come, Leena,” her mother whispered. “We must talk.”

Her mother had refused to sell either of her daughters to the stranger, and shortly after, Adeline had used the magic her mother had taught her and shoved her sister through a hole in the world into another place.

But what happened between saying goodbye to her sister and waking up covered in blood, screaming with hunger, while riding Erik in the middle of the woods?

She closed her eyes tightly, trying so hard to remember. The stranger’s face was just out of reach—if only she could remember what he looked like and why those details were so muddy. If only she were alone so she could think, but Juliette was saying something, pulling her back into the present.

“Is everything all right?” Juliette asked, reaching for Adeline.

She swatted Juliette’s hands away. “Leave me.”

“I can’t, I was under strict instructions to?—”

Juliette’s voice faded into the background as pressure built behind Adeline’s eyes, the longer she stared at the shimmering gown. Her fingers tingled, and she flexed her hands. Her skin itched—she wanted to scratch it off. Her heart beat rapidly, and her breath was short.

Was she having a nervous break?

Adeline had never experienced such a thing as this. But after Rolf and the mating bond, she was in unknown territory. Shadows climbed the walls, swallowing the light from behind Juliette. Adeline watched, transfixed, as they pressed in. They weren’t amorphous like she had previously thought.

No, the shadows moved like vines, climbing, clawing, clinging to the walls over Juliette’s shoulders. Worry lined Juliette’s features, but Adeline was entranced with the way the shadows turned when she moved her head.

Juliette rang a bell, and the shadows receded quickly, as did the itchiness of her skin and the pressure behind her eyes. Adeline blinked a few times, holding on to the post of her bed as she fought off a wave of dizziness.

The door opened, and fresh air blew the hair from Adeline’s face. She inhaled deeply. Rolf’s scent still lingered in the hallway outside.

Mate , she sent to Rolf, gratitude laced behind the word.

A beat, then two. And finally, a faint response from his end: Mate.

Several servants entered her room. They carried trays full of jewels and accessories, hair tools, and pins. A servant walked behind Adeline and reached for the ribbons of her corset. But Adeline sidestepped, remembering the knife Rolf had given her and the mark on the underside of her breast.

No one could see her naked.

“I’ll dress myself tonight, Juliette.” Adeline lifted her chin defiantly, daring Juliette to object.

“No, Erik—” Juliette frowned. “He wou—he can’t…”

“Fuck, Erik.”

Even through their glamour, the servants’ hands stilled. The room got quiet.

Try me. Adeline gave Juliette a pointed look.

“You’re excused,” Juliette announced and rang a bell. The servants retreated, as silently as they had come. On their way out, they placed the trays of accessories and hair tools on the bed. When the door finally shut, Juliette turned on Adeline. “What do you think you’re doing? Erik will think something is amiss!”

Adeline rolled her eyes. She was past the point of caring. It was time to plan. “Let him.”

“What?” Juliette wrung her hands.

This two-faced act of hers is becoming tiresome.

“He expects me to be complicit. If he asks, just give him the message that I wanted to surprise him.” Adeline tossed her hair over her shoulder with an air of nonchalance despite the pit in her stomach.

Adeline began untying the ribbons of her corset slowly so she could unsnap the hooks without dropping the blade. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt and pushed it underneath the lip of the corset, wrapping the knife inside. Then she placed the corset gingerly on the chaise next to the dress and slipped off her chemise, keeping her arms tight against her body and covering her breasts.

“You don’t have to be shy in front of me, Addy,” Juliette whispered. Her face turned soft. “I’ve seen you naked before.”

“Yes, but a lot has changed between now and then,” Adeline replied. “You have a mate now.”

Juliette’s shoulders sagged as she sighed and looked out the window. Her face had gone pale, and her eyes were withdrawn, as if she were recalling a memory. A few moments passed, and when Adeline cleared her throat, Juliette flinched and spun around, her eyes wide.

“I’m—sorry. I must have…” Juliette waved her hand in the air before pressing her palms to the side of her head.

Adeline nodded. She knew how it felt to walk on eggshells every second of your life as you sidestepped around a destructive, volatile force of nature. You remained vigilant, always looking for the next threat, unable to fully relax. Every door slam, every heavy foot, every raised voice was the preamble to destruction that you would bear witness to. And no matter how quiet, how perfect, how docile you tried to be, it would always be your fault. Eventually, your nerves wore down so much that not even sleep was a reprieve.

It was one of the reasons why Adeline had sought out Juliette as a companion. Her gentle nature had been a balm to Adeline’s battered reality. With Juliette, Adeline had found someone who was unmarred by Erik’s ruthlessness. And their time together had given Adeline the courage she needed to finally step away.

But that was when Erik had swooped in and poisoned Juliette against her. If Adeline was going to finally kill Erik, she needed Juliette to trust her.

“Yes, and we wouldn’t want your new mate to question your faith in your relationship.”

Juliette frowned. “My faith?”

“Yes,” Adeline said again, the lie weaving itself seamlessly. “Before you mate, you have to be faithful to each other for at least one moon cycle. Everyone knows that.”

“No,” Juliette whispered, horror on her face. “No, that…that’s never been true.”

Tiny truths , she thought as her words blended with fabrication. She needed to plant the seeds of doubt deep within Juliette’s mind so she would start to question everything Erik had ever told her.

“It is,” Adeline insisted. “Otherwise, the mating bond won’t snap into place. You have to be thinking solely of the other person you’re mating with, or it won’t work.”

Adeline quickly slipped the chemise over her head while Juliette paced the room. Then she carefully grabbed the corset, her right hand holding the knife in place against her ribs.

“How do you know this?” Juliette asked, watching Adeline’s fingers work to fasten the clasps.

“I found it in a book in an ancient library.” Adeline shrugged, watching as the cracks in Juliette’s resolve grew. “When I was researching the history of the were-shifters. I had to know when they would be weakest. I picked up several texts that mentioned the specifications for mating bonds for fae creatures. When the were-shifters are in rut, they tend to be more careless. Blinded by lust, if you will.”

“But vampires are different…We’re only considered fae because of our immortality,” Juliette countered, but the slight frown on her forehead was enough for Adeline to keep pushing, to see if Juliette would crack.

“Ah, but we also have magic,” Adeline countered. “Technically, only fae creatures have magic.”

There had been many mentions of mating rituals between fae creatures. When fae mated, their power would get stronger, and their connection with each other would strengthen. But there was nothing written about mating between vampires. Let alone vampires mating with other fae. There was only hearsay, but the lore Adeline knew only assumed that it was similar to a fae mating ritual.

Because vampires lived in covens, their choice to mate with a solitary partner was driven more out of a craving for control than for love. They weren’t the type of creatures to settle down and choose a mate for eternity.

Her decision to mate with Rolf didn’t feel that way. It had been instinctual, born out of a desire to be with him, purely out of love. There had been no desire for power beyond that of connection.

She rubbed her sternum through the corset, absently. The thread still tingled.

But Erik wants to mate with me…

Adeline could see it unraveling so clearly now. He thought he could finally force her hand and become even more powerful by completing a mating bond. Then, once it snapped into place and his magic was secured, he’d kill her in front of everyone as a warning.

But once he figured out that she was already mated, she was going to be killed regardless. Having Juliette act out of fear was only a small part of Adeline’s plan, but she needed it to work. And a part of her hated herself for what she had to do next.

The lies poured out of Adeline. “There is little known of vampire mates. But in the text I read, the author had witnessed a mating bond between vampires and was very specific. Since vampires are immortal and our magic is so distinct, if you try to mate before the month is done, the bond could kill you.”

“The bond would kill me?” Juliette’s face turned white. “Why…why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Why would they? You’ve kept your mate a secret, have you not?” Adeline tied off her corset and walked over to Juliette. She grabbed her ex-lover’s hands and squeezed. “Why do you think Erik hasn’t been able to mate with me?”

“No,” Juliette whispered.

“Yes, he’s tried ever since I was turned.” Adeline didn’t know, now, if she was lying anymore. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that Erik had tried to mate with her before but had never been successful. Was there some truth to the lies she was telling, and mating had to be consensual between two creatures? She knew that vampires had magic unlike that of the rest of the fae, and that mating bonds between fae creatures could enhance their natural magic. But…

“But…” Juliette trailed off, her eyes going distant again.

“I’ve been promiscuous on purpose ,” Adeline whispered. The lie was too easy. It wouldn’t take long for Adeline to get the information she needed to bring Erik down. All Adeline had to do was land the final blow. “So long as I took a new lover frequently, the mating bonds would never be able to take hold. It was one of the reasons I sought you out.”

“No.” Juliette stepped back as if Adeline had slapped her. “I thought…You told me…”

Adeline shrugged, but inside, she hated warping her memories with Juliette into a farce. But if it got her what she wanted, then she hoped it would be worth the betrayal. “It was an easy way for me to avoid being mated to Erik. Every moment I spent with you helped me stay out of his grasp.”

Juliette looked like Adeline had stabbed her through the heart. “You said you loved me. You said you were going to help me.”

“And I am, because I did love you…Once,” Adeline said. She looked at Juliette earnestly, punctuating her words carefully so Juliette knew she could still be trusted. “And I promised you I would help.”

Juliette’s shoulders sagged. Adeline stepped forward and cupped her ex-lover’s cheek, dragging her thumb across it to wipe the newly formed tears away.

“Did what we had mean nothing to you, then?”

Adeline’s tongue grew heavy. This lie would be the worst she would tell her former lover. “You were always just a means to an end.”

“A means to an end?” Juliette’s voice was a whisper.

Adeline swallowed, forcing her face to remain neutral and uncaring. If Juliette knew how much she had meant to Adeline, the game would be over.

The truth was that without Juliette, Adeline would have never found Colin. She would have never gotten the courage to leave. She would have never realized that she was capable of being loved. Juliette had shown her as much in their stolen time together. And, in a way, Adeline supposed she should feel more gratitude toward Jules. She had thought, especially with the strange way Juliette had acted back in the cabin when the hunting coven had shown up, that everything was the same between them.

How wrong Adeline had been. How weak. How easily fooled. That familiar weight of guilt settled on her shoulders once more. Would she ever forgive herself for leaving Juliette to take up the mantle she had been so eager to get rid of?

No, doubt has no place here. You need Juliette for this to work. Don’t muck this up.

“You can stop pretending now.” Adeline turned, giving Juliette her back. The time was done for games. If Juliette couldn’t own up to her deceit, then Adeline would force it out of her. Her nails started to grow, and she clicked them together at her side. She added, “You’ve always been a terrible actor.”

“Fine.”

Wait a minute. It was that easy?

Perhaps Juliette was tired of it all, too. Perhaps being under Erik’s thumb was wearing her down too much. Curious, Adeline pivoted to face Juliette.

“Thank the gods we’re done with pretense,” Adeline said. “You have too many tells. I should never have left you alone with him.”

“Why? Because you were his favorite?” Juliette sneered, but there was nothing malicious in her tone.

“Favorite? I was only his favorite when I could give him something. No, I should never have left you alone with him because you were too naive. Too pure, even as a vampire.”

Juliette scoffed. “Well, that’s ruined now, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so.” Adeline shrugged. “What did he promise you, Jules?”

Adeline let the unspoken name hang in the air between them.

Juliette pursed her lips. Her green eyes flared with defiance.

Adeline counted on her fingers as she asked, “Your own coven? The safety of your lover? Power? Money? Freedom?”

Juliette flinched at the last word.

Adeline chortled.

Freedom. Juliette wouldn’t have figured it out until it was too late, but she had all but handed Erik the keys to her life.

“I have had almost a hundred years being on my own with him.” Juliette’s face was hard. Her eyes stared off into space as she added, “A hundred years to learn things you never thought to teach me. A hundred years to figure out how to handle him. A hundred years to not be so naive.”

A chill swept down Adeline’s spine. What has he done to her?

“But there’s one thing you’re not considering,” Adeline said, leaning back against the poster of the bed. “You’ve given him all the power.”

Juliette blanched. “No. That’s not true. He has no idea?—“

“About your mate?” Adeline ventured a guess, but the way Juliette’s eyes flashed with fear told her she had hit a nerve. She mocked Erik as she asked, “Why would you want your freedom so badly, Juliette. What could be so awful about having a free place to stay? You have food, you have a bed, you have a free roof over your head. And all I ask in return is…”

“My loyalty.” Juliette finished and clapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes went wide when she realized what it all meant. “No.”

“He knows, Jules.”

“No.” Her voice broke. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie?”

“Because…because Rolf is still alive and you’re planning something. Because you hate me. You want to see me fail. Because Erik is going to kill you anyway and—” Juliette stopped.

Adeline nodded. “I know he is.”

“But why aren’t you fighting back? Rolf is still out there!” Juliette gestured erratically.

Good. Let her get upset. Let her question everything, even though this is breaking my heart.

Adeline shrugged, a perfect mask of indifference on her face. “You sent your vampires after him. He doesn’t have anywhere else he can go. The chances of him getting free from this place are not in his favor. Or mine.” Adeline grabbed the dress. “Help me dress for my death.”

Juliette said nothing as the tears slipped silently down her cheeks.

She looked so pathetic, and it annoyed Adeline to no end. But funnily enough, she didn’t feel vengeful toward Juliette. Instead, Juliette’s sadness only increased Adeline’s hatred toward Erik. She was tired of him playing with others’ emotions and lives like toys to be discarded.

It ended with her. No one else would be subject to his brutality ever again.

Tonight will be my wedding and his death.