“Why not?”
“If you want her broken, there are easier ways.”
“Broken?” Jasmine’s laugh is loud. “No, no, no. I want her whole. I want to see if the Smith line is what they say it is. The Accord was built by liars and traitors and the desperate. I should know! They lied to me. They lied about me.” She glares at me. “You know they lied about me, don’t you?”
It’s in my best interest to nod, and she seems satisfied.
“I want to hold it up to the light and see the truth. I want proof. You, Ash, are going to give me that proof.”
She stands up, suddenly restless.
“Do you know what it’s like to be lost in the woods?” Jasmine asks, out of nowhere. She paces behind the desk, then circles back, eyes gone distant with memory. “I was a child. My family left me there. Said it was a test. The dark was full of things that wanted to eat me, and for a long time, I wanted them to. But I was clever. I found a creature. We were friends, and I broke its neck.” She mimes the motion, a grotesque mimicking of what she did to Helena. “I used the blood. I said the right words. And the woods opened up, and I walked right out.” Jasmine grins, eyes fixed on something I can’t see. “That’s the secret, Ash. If you want to survive, you have to do the thing that no one else will do. You have to be willing to let them lie about you.”
She sits again. “That’s what I want for Rose. I want her to find her own way out. Like I did.” Jasmine leans back, boots up, and this time she’s grinning wide.
I have no idea what to say to all of that. For once, I’m at a loss. Jasmine doesn’t care. She’s already bored with me, her focus drifting to the door.
When I turn to see what she’s looking at, I see a snake as thick as my arm, scales the color of corroded copper, tongue flicking in and out as it glides across the floor. It coils up the desk leg, then settles around Jasmine’s neck like a living scarf. She doesn’t flinch, just begins stroking the snake’s head. It blinks at her as she boops its snout with her index finger.
I clear my throat, suddenly wanting to be anywhere else besides here.
Jasmine ignores me now, murmuring to the snake, her mind already God knows where.
As I leave, I take one last look back.
Jasmine is reclined in the chair, feet up, one hand stroking the snake, the other waving back and forth like she’s conducting an orchestra. She’s humming, and her eyes are manic and bright.
Whatever the world thought of Victoria or Helena, whatever terrors they inspired, Jasmine is something else entirely.
Something much worse.
Nine
Ash
The room I’ve claimed as my own since arriving here doesn’t offer much in the way of warmth and comfort. The walls are bare, except for a single painting I found in the basement, a hunting scene with dogs tearing into a stag, blood in the grass. I liked the sense of inevitability.
Right now, I’m sitting at the desk in front of the window, waiting. There’s nothing to do but wait. I’ve been expecting her all night, but she was ‘occupied’ with her ghost. That half-there man who could never satisfy her the way I will. She waited until dawn, and now I can feel her moving through the halls, her magic along with her. I smile, feeling the taste of anticipation on my tongue.
Three minutes later, there’s a pounding on the door.
Rose looks angry, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling. She’s wearing a ridiculous outfit of threadbare shorts and a huge t-shirt that hides her curves from me, which makes me irritated.
She doesn’t bother with a greeting. “Why?”
I cock a brow. “Good morning to you too, Rose.”
“Don’t play with me!” Every inch of her is turned up to eleven. “My magic, why can I feel it? Not just the tiny drip you usually give me.” She shakes her hands, gold light flickering at her fingertips. “What game are you playing?”
Sometimes it’s more effective to give someone silence when they are demanding an answer. She hates it, hates being the one who doesn’t know. She stalks closer, bracing her hands on the desk, like she’s trying to keep herself from launching across it at my throat.
“Rose,” I say in warning. “Sit down.”
She refuses, standing her ground. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
I fold my hands, considering her. It shouldn’t be possible to feel someone else’s adrenaline, but I feel everything that comes from her. Everything. I felt her euphoria when she climaxed last night, right before I smashed my fist into the wall. The connection between us is painful. Rapturously painful. And now, she feels too exposed, too powerful, and it’s scaring the shit out of her.
“I did exactly what you’re accusing me of. I loosened your collar, Rose. Let out the leash.” I let my gaze drift over her, deliberately slow. “You wanted more power. I decided to oblige you.”
