Then again—and I wouldn’t admit this toanyone, not even Henry—I think sunwalker spells are far more humane than my mama’s curse. The vampires clearly spiraled out of control twenty years ago, but forcing them to burn in the sunforever? It feels unjustly violent. Sunwalker spells are a happy medium: the vampires can’t easily kill, but they also won’t instantly die.
Henry lurches to a stop. This time, he doesn’t let me pass. He throws his arm in front of my chest, and I crash against it.
“Is that…” he trails off, frozen beside me.
It isn’t until he’s spoken that I notice the figure at the end of the corridor. I’d been lost in my thoughts, carelessly so, and I’d missed the obvious predator watching us from the shadows.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Cora informs the man.
It’s enough to draw a surprised breath from my lungs. I may not have seen Sebastian Vulce since I was a child, but I’ve heard stories of him in the years since Mama cursed him and his kind.
He is a monster. A villain. A cruel and vicious leader.
My pulse spikes. This man publicly hurt my mama. Made an example of her, of us. And yes, she’d put him in his place…but not without enraging him. Not without giving him a good reason to kill us without a spare thought.
Cora assured me we’d be safe here. She promised no harm would come to Henry or me, so long as we helped with the sunwalker spells.
Now, that feels like a foolish hope.
“I am not here to watch you,” he tells her. There’s something strange about the way he looks at her. His expression is one of concern and thinly veiled adoration. He looks at her as if she were a child.Hischild.
I shake my head, forcing the thought away. Vampires are many things—evil, violent, dangerous. They are not paternal or protective or gentle.
“No?” Cora asks. She crosses her arms over her chest, glancing back at me and Henry as we cower like children. “Well, then if you don’t mind, we’d appreciate privacy. You’re terrifying my guests.”
I grind my teeth and force myself to stand at full height. Mama would be repulsed at how I’m acting. I straighten my shoulders, step forward in a brief surge of confidence, and close the distance between us.
Sebastian is a frightening man, but he’s shorter than I am. I’m nearly a head taller, and I focus on that tiny, inconsequential detail to ground me.
“Elliot Lyrie,” I say, extending a hand.
Sebastian stares at my hand, face blank. His green eyes shift to mine, then to Cora’s. A flicker ofsomethingcrosses his face, but it’s too quick for me to decipher.
“Sebastian Vulce,” he finally returns. Rather than shaking my hand, he tilts his head, regarding me for a long, uncomfortable moment. “How’s your mother?”
Magic pulses through me, shooting from my chest and through my limbs. It coils in the base of my fingertips, desperate to slice through Vulce’s throat. I clamp my teeth and tighten both hands into fists. It’s taking everything—slow breaths, clenched muscles, steady eye contact—to keep from reacting. From launching every ounce of magic straight through Vulce’s chest until his heart lays at my feet.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Cora says. She steps between me and Sebastian, capturing my wrist in her hand. Her skin is soft and delicate, but her grip is strong. She pulls hard enough I have no choice but to follow after her.
Henry is only a step behind, giving Sebastian a wide berth aswe step into an open-air courtyard. I slip out of Cora’s hold, feeling a rush of relief as I step into the cool air. Sebastian remains in the doorway, half his face cast with sunlight.
We don’t know how many vampires have sunwalker spells. Mama’s been trying to figure out a number for years, but her spies have reported anything from five to a hundred. I mentally add this to my to-do list. Maybe Mama will be less infuriated if she knows I found useful information while risking my life.
Not if she knows I helped increase their numbers.
I take a deep breath and try to shake the anxiety from my lungs. It’s bad enough being here. But being aroundhimfeels like an unnecessary torture.
Cora leads us to a large stone table in the corner, positioned next to a vine-infested stone wall and a strip of elongated windows. Without taking my eyes off Sebastian, I sit beside Henry nearest the stone wall. Cora remains standing, turning away from us to nod at the vampire king.
“Master,” she says. Despite her nauseating nickname for the vile man, her voice is hard. Almost as if in warning.
“Signal if you need anything,” he says. His green eyes flicker over Henry, then me. His lip snarls before he forces his attention back to Cora. “Don’t give them your back again.”
If Cora responds, it’s not out loud. She sharply faces me and Henry, cheeks stained pink with blush. I’m so busy watching her, it takes me several seconds to realize Sebastian is gone.
“I told him not to come,” she says, glancing between us. Her blush grows darker, and it’s inexplicably charming. She’s apologizing for this terrible man like she’s a teenager being embarrassed by her father.
Murderer, I remind myself.Both of them. Murderers.
