“This is my best opportunity to search for clues while he’s busy with his guests.” I kept my explanation vague. “And for that, I need a new face, a new scent, a neweverything.”
Emilia’s dark eyes slid to me, amused. “You’re very determined for a dead female.”
“A dead female who wants answers,” I countered. “I need information Giovanni has. The location of the Fossa, a money trail, a fucking name…anythingI can use to track Dante down.”
“I see you’re determined to die twice. You DiRavellos, overachievers to the very last.” She huffed out a humorless laugh.
“Emilia.Please.” This could be my only chance to slip inside Father’s study, and I’d only need two minutes to crack the safe. Five, tops.
“Fine.” She sighed dramatically.
“Where are your guardians, by the way? Did they agree to this plan… or did you slip away on one of your little… quests?”
My eyes shot to hers, and this time, she laughed for real. “Don’t look so surprised, little one, I know your every move. Nothing escapes my attention, not even a certain problematic princess.”
I studied Emilia closely. My ally for now, but possibly my enemy by tomorrow.And was she bluffing? Or had I been followed without my knowing?
“I’m running out of time.”Or rather, Dante was running out of time.“Can you do what I asked?” I sounded breathless. “Can you change me into someone else?”
“I can do anything if you are sure.” She tapped a red-nailed finger on her chin. “I can alter your face. Your scent. Wrap you in enough glamour, even a mirror won’t recognize you. But the moment you step across that threshold, your countdown begins. But I warn you, if Giovanni sees through…”
“He won’t,” I insisted, more confidently than I felt. “There will be hundreds of vampires there from all three dynasties. I’ll blend in with the crowd. Now, do we have a deal? One small favor for a future debt owed?”
“Hardly a small favor, princessa.”
She was going to do it. The lure of having me so deep in her debt I could never crawl out was irresistible.
But that was a problem for the Emberline of tomorrow. Tonight’s Emberline had a plan, and she wasn’t going to fail.
Emilia’s slow smile sent goose bumps rising on my skin. “Yes, I will make you into someone else. Follow me inside. This won’t be fast or simple, I’m afraid.” Her eyes brightened. “Or pain-free.”
We left the balcony for her private chamber—a room full of shadows and candlelight, all dark wood and guttering candles and deep red fabrics. The scent of sex clung to the heavy curtains and the intricate carvings on the furniture, and I shivered.
My thoughts went to dark places, given the only other living things on this island were about two hundred silent, creepy monks with sigils tattooed on their throats.
Still, who was I to yuck another’s yum?
A silvered mirror leaned against the far wall, framed in black wood carved with intertwined serpents, the symbol of her empire. I caught my reflection as we approached—pale face, dark eyes red-rimmed from too many sleepless nights, hair piled on my head.
I’d lost weight these past weeks, my clothes hung loose, collarbone jutting sharply.
Emilia circled me, lips pursed.
“You can’t go in as a D’Immortali member since they’ll all be in attendance,” she decided, “And you need to be forgettable. Pretty enough to blend in with the blue bloods, unremarkable enough to be dismissed.”
“I know how to blend in with the other bloodsuckers. I’ve only been doing it my entire life,” I sniped.
“Hush.” Long, cool fingers brushed my jaw, tilting my face toward the candlelight. She studied my features like a sculptor contemplating raw stone, chisel in hand, an idea in her head. Somehow, I didn’t want to be the block of marble right now, not with that cruel glint in her eyes.
But Emilia was the only one who could give me what I needed most tonight—time. I had to root through Giovanni’s safe—my father’s safe, just mere weeks ago. If there was a direct link between my uncle and the Fossa, I would find it there.
Then I’d get my husband out and burn the fucking place down.
“We’ll start with the obvious,” she murmured. “Hair.”
That didn’t sound too bad.
She lifted a hand and whispered a spell under her breath. Power stirred, the hairs along my arms rising as a cold breath wrapped around me. For a heartbeat, the world was baked in ozone, then my scalp began to burn like she’d set me on fire.
