Page 51 of Elysian

I had to take my time exiting the tub. Water dripped off me and plinked to the floor, so I rushed to grab the towel and wrapped it around myself. Officer Brandt still had not turned, so there was no concern of me being exposed.

Footsteps approached, and Hester and Vera returned. Sweat dampened Hester’s temples, plastering the tendrils to her skin. They reached me quickly, Vera veering off to grab something out of the case she had brought. The gas lamp light reflected off the surface of the fabric. She held the robe open for me.

I slid my arm through the sleeve and took over putting it on both shoulders. Once I was done, I tugged the towel free and pressed it into my hair while Vera tied the sash tightly at the front.

“Come sit on the stool. I must bind your hair.”

“I am happy to do it.”

Vera shook her head. “Lady Drusilla ordered a specific updo that will be difficult to do to yourself.”

I continued to dry my hair as I followed her to the stool on the other side of the tub, then sat with my back to her. Hester remained near the tub, cleaning and setting all the items used into a basin. Her arm, the one I had been touching when she screamed in pain, had a deep bruise.

It was exactly where I had been touching her.

No, that was impossible. I could not have done that. I closed my eyes as Vera began to drag the teeth of a comb through my hair. Based on her maneuvering and how she parted the strands, I could tell she was doing a braided coronet style.

“They never went away,” Vera murmured, touching the side of my neck.

I reached up and touched where she had. The slight bump where the scabs had fallen off remained from Cassiel’s bites. None of them had been magickally healed. Nor the ones littered across my body. They’d become faint scars.

As soon as Hester approached, I motioned to get her attention. Peeking at Officer Brandt told me he was not focused on me.

“Is the plan set?” I whispered.

Hester nodded, and Vera looked at her with pursed lips.

I turned to face Vera fully. “Is it? Truly?”

“Yes, we finished what we needed to, and we have separated the powder . . .” she trailed off, and her glance slid away.

There was something more there. “But?”

“I worry that Ida will not fulfill her part.”

“She will,” Hester insisted. They kept staring at each other silently. They had clearly argued this point many times.

“It is too late to doubt it,” I finally said. There was no undoing what she already knew. “We must have faith in her.”

We had no other choice. Vera’s shoulders relaxed, and she nodded. That was what I wanted. If she displayed concern, it would only draw too much focus. The council held a blueblood with the ability to detect lies, so it was best we remained as inconspicuous as possible.

“We must succeed,” I muttered.

Both girls remained silent, but I felt their trepidation in the way they moved. The gravity of what would occur soon settled like lead on my shoulders. There would be deaths . . .

I rubbed the coldness on my breastbone.

We must succeed.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Displayed

Isat perched on the cot, waiting. It was the day of the banquet. What the feeders and I had been plotting toward. This eve was our chance to escape. A single dawnlight had passed since they bathed me and brushed my hair. They had not taken me back to Cassiel, only left me with Al so he could continue drawing blood.

What Al had said still whirred through my mind: You will not need to worry when he feeds on you again. A bondmate’s bite will heal right up.

To think that my body had changed in nature seemed a foreign notion.