I wait as seventeen names are revealed as well as those who vouch for them. Names I recognize. Powerful names.Knownnames.
Maxim answers when it’s my turn, “Victoria Vasov.”
“And who vouches for her?”
“Maxim Lyanov.”
A rush of whispers ricochet around the room.
His presence is unexpected.
But not unwanted and definitely known to them.
“Pledges, hold out your invitations for collection and accept a coin.”
The invitees pass around two deep, gilt-edged dishes. They toss the invitations into one and retrieve a coin from the other.
The coin, I recognize, is an antique.
The gold’s ancient. The etchings on it faded. A thin face peers back at me; time has erased his features, countless thumbs have mislaid the details, but on the reverse, engraved into the dull metalwork is the word “Hispania.”
“There are eighteen of you. Until such a time as the Veronians make a decision, you will remain in your houses—House Hispania and House Gaul. Only ten of you will ascend to a position of power within our clutch. No place is guaranteed. We accept the superior or none at all.”
More whispers arise at the declaration.
Alaric, for all that he’s hooded, revels in the confusion and excitement. He’s practically giddy.
“He needs to get a life,” I whisper to Maxim, who coughs to hide a laugh. Which tells me he picked up on the guy’s OTT delight.
Honestly, these morons believe their own press too much.
Disappointingly, I’m bored already. But it’s too soon for that so I tell myself to play nice.
This might feel like some kind of bizarre community theater night, but it’s important.Oooh, no! Like a murder mystery weekend!
“Step forward for the first initiation.”
Maxim squeezes my hand. “I’ll be waiting on the other side.”
“You know what’s going to happen, don’t you?”
In my ear, he hints, “I have one of them in a warehouse.”
“Youhaveone of them…” I deliberate. “You’re storing them for export?”
I feel the cold twitch of his lips on my cheek as he snags my purse out of my hands. “That’s one word for it.”
Surprised he told me, but pleased, I retreat a step. Which is when I realize… Maxim wants me to be inducted.
Curious.
I follow Alaric, who takes us to an antechamber where there are two openings—Hispania and Gaul.
I pass through Hispania.
It’s not a doorway as I first suspected, but a corridor. Lights beam around us, glowing hotter than the sun as we walk down the hallway. Squinting, I see the chamber is glassed-in and that the shadows beyond move.
So, they’re watching us.
