I couldn’t even choke out the rest of what I wanted tosay. He’ll never murder another mother. He’ll never leave another half-breed child to suffer the silence of a stilled heartbeat.
We both startled at a few knocks coming from the prince’s front door. I gasped and turned, reality crashing down on me. The body remained, the stench of blood thick in the air. There was no disguising this. No version of events where we walked away untouched.
I saw exactly what would happen in my mind’s eye: As Prince Lazrael wouldn’t answer the door, the servants would soon force their way into his quarters. My mentor and I would be caught at the scene of the crime and dragged before my grandmother. She’d destroy us for what we’d done…worse than any punishment she’d inflicted before?—
Razira took hold of my cheeks, forcing me to look at her. “Breathe,” she reminded me and demonstrated. I tried to get my jerky breaths to match her slower, steadier ones. “Do you remember the escape plan?”
Another series of knocks, these more forceful. The voices outside were lifted in alarm.
“The c-courtyard,” I managed. The loose stone in Queen Nemea’s rose-filled graveyard. In my time here, it was the only exit I knew of that wasn’t under heavy guard.
She left the study and gestured toward the closest window. “Fly away, dove. Don’t look back.”
“W-what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. It was all worth it, to see such evil silenced.”
“Razira, no…” I couldn’t lose her too, not after she’d made sure I survived when my mother did not.
“Do you want them to take you too? Go! Now!” she shouted. From someone who so rarely raised her voice, thevolume shook me to my foundation and spurred me into motion. I opened the window and slipped into the night just as the sound of splintering wood sounded behind me.
I went against her wishes and looked back. She’d turned to meet her fate with fear in her eyes and her chin raised in pride.
The echo of our parting drew tears to my eyes. To leave my first mentor behind for the torture and death that should’ve been my punishment… I’d thought the only thing I could do to repent was grow strong and silence more evils. To turn the House of the Sanguine to ashes and set her spirit free in the process.
“I have not been here the whole time,” Razira said, answering an unspoken question I’d forgotten upon getting lost in the past. “Queen Nemea tortured the truth from me, then had me partially flayed as a feast for the carrion birds. I’d have been dead if it weren’t for Damien.”
“Damien…” I echoed, trying to place the name.
“My first mate. He gave me his blood and venom before I died from my wounds.” She traced the savage one over her throat with a delicate fingertip. “And protected me while my body turned, unaware whether I would survive the process. With my illusions, I’ve disguised my true identity until recently. I hid amongst them and found a place for myself, which has only solidified now that Nemea’s died.”
“I killed her.” My voice still sounded distant to my ears, even though reality was overwhelming me.
I tried to focus on what mattered. Razira knew who I was, and still, she smiled at me. We weren’t enemies in this competition after all. How surreal it was that circumstances could change and yet we remained the same within them.
“I’d hoped it was you. I gave you the best start to life I could, and in return, your actions allowed me to returnas this new version of myself. I only wish we could’ve reconnected before we entered this competition.”
Tears stung the corners of my eyes. I stood, and she did the same, waiting as I rounded the table. When we hugged, she held me cradled to her like I imagined my mother would, had she lived.
“I’m sorry I left you behind,” I said, shoulders jumping with a soft sob. “If I could’ve done things differently that night, I would’ve. We should’ve gone together.”
“Shh. Let the past lie,” she murmured. “Just look at you now. Eva would be proud to see the woman you turned out to be.”
“Do you really think so?” She was, perhaps, the only person alive who could share the spirit of my mother’s favor.
“Of course, dove.” Razira gave me one last squeeze before we parted. “And now that we’ve been honest with one another, we can work toward our goals together.”
Revenge.I nodded and drew up the chair next to her, now that I’d dampened my last one with tea. “Who are you here to kill?”
“Would it surprise you if I said most of the bloodsuckers here?”
I shook my head. “Me, too.” Now that I had no reason to hide my hunger for human food, I reached for the finger foods.
“We could work together. Double the retribution in half the time. How does that sound?”
I almost brought a piece of cheese to my mouth but found I didn’t really want it. My belly was still queasy from my memory. Back when I’d felt like a monster for ending a single life. Now that I’d felled many vampires, I’d almost forgotten the overwhelming guilt of my first kill.
I set the food down and forced a smile. “Sounds great to me. Who were you thinking of starting with?”
