Page 111 of Devoured

I tremble with fury as Sin moves to her side, touching her shoulder and shaking his head, but Cora doesn’t care. Of course she doesn’t care.

“Come. Here,” Cora repeats. Baring her teeth in a cruel smile, she adds, “I will not ask you again.”

Sin releases Vanessa, and Calix tenses as she maneuvers past them both in order to reach the Wolf Queen. I feel as if my bones might explode out of my flesh. If Cora hurts her… I don’t care if it’s rash or inane—I’m going to attack.

Cora inhales deeply. She rolls back her shoulders, and she clenches her teeth in a hard, bright smile before turning to face the ambassadors. “Pardon me,” she says in that same soft voice. “I am sorry you had to witness such a terrible dinner. Please, allow me to make it up to you. Let’s have drinks in the throne room. Just my guests and me and Vanessa. Doesn’t that sound lovely?”

Rikki clears her throat, blinking rapidly and frowning. “I’m not sure…”

Ikenna doesn’t stow his fangs. His entire body has gone completely still, rigid, as he stares at the unconscious Delta. “Perhaps it would be best if we retired for the evening. It’s getting late.”

Cora peers out over the entirety of the Great Hall now, licking her lips as her own fangs recede. “Nonsense. The night has only just begun.” She strings her arms through Rikki’s and Ikenna’s, effectively trapping them against her as Vanessa stands there and stares. As Vanessa clenches her hands into fists and her lower lip trembles.

I can guess what Cora wants with her, and I’m only angry that we didn’t predict such an outcome to begin with.

We ruined Cora’s dinner. We threatened Cora’s control in front of a dozen ambassadors from all around the world. We proved that Castle Severi is full of mindless, soulless creatures. And now the only way Cora can clean up the mess is to use her precious weapon.

I seek Vanessa’s gaze from across the room. I try to silently ask her what she wants me to do. But her gaze won’t rise from the floor.

My blood boils. Watching her stand there, helpless. Watching Cora spin this in her favor again. I clutch a knife in my fist—but Portia glares at me. She shakes her head: no.

“Come along, Vanessa, darling.” Cora begins to sweep out of the room with her guests, but before she can leave, she looks over her shoulder at the rest of us. The rest of us, the mess, and the blood. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. I will not tolerate drunkenness, and I will not tolerate anyone endangering the lives of my treasured guests. When I return, if I see even a speck out of place, you will all be punished for it. Do you understand me?”

The entire hall responds in swift agreement, and Cora vanishes from the room with her guests. With Vanessa too.

I drop my knife on the table, and I hope we haven’t made things that much worse.

37

VANESSA

TONIGHT’S CELEBRATION NEVER HAPPENED.”

The door slams as Cora strides up the aisle toward the dais—slams, and then locks behind us. Her guests linger on the outskirts, glancing around the vast room uneasily, but I know better than to search for an escape. With Cora, fleeing is near impossible. She doesn’t bother perching on her throne either; she stands behind it. Her white knuckles clench around the ancient gold filigree. Her smile sharpens her words. Her blackened gaze daggers me straight in the chest. “Tonight went exactly according to plan.”

“Wh-what?” I stumble back a step.

Baron Ikenna stands closest to me, and his claws unsheathe as he realizes that Cora’s guests haven’t just been brought here. They’ve been locked inside.

And I’ve been trapped with them.

Calix, Portia, Evie, and I ran through so many potential scenarios for tonight, but we were always certain that, if we sowed enough chaos, there would be too much out of Cora’s reach to control. Too many werewolves. Too many guests. Too many variables. If we incited enough of a riot—and it feels as if we have—then Cora wouldn’t be able to use me to fix it. But looking at her now, those thoughts sink deep in my stomach.

Of course Cora is going to try and use me. Why else am I still alive?

Baron Ikenna prowls forward. His fangs pierce his lips as eyes glow a scathing burgundy. In a moment, he becomes someone else entirely—no longer well-mannered nobility but a werewolf. Terrifying and powerful and ready to draw blood. “Unlock the doors, Cora. Whatever you’re planning now, we are done with your riots and violence. Balam was right; this court is a disaster.”

She doesn’t answer him. Instead, she turns her attention fully on me. “You heard me, Vanessa. Tonight. Our supper. My court was never raucous. Our guests were satisfied. Everything went off without a hitch, and the ambassadors admire me all the more for it. Every single one of them has agreed to fight for me.” Her brows rise, and light from the torches refracts off her darkened crown. It nearly blinds me. “You may start with the baron. He seems eager, doesn’t he?” Her gaze flicks to his face, and her grin twists into something far deadlier when he snarls. “Now, Vanessa.”

But—I glance around the room, a shiver crawling up my spine—I don’t think I can. “There were so… so many people in attendance. I don’t think I can change an event that large. I’ve never—”

“I do not care what you have or haven’t done. I am your queen, and I have given you an order. You are going to resolve this, Vanessa Hart, and I won’t bother wasting more of my breath on threats. You already know what’s at stake.”

“What is going on here?” Countess Rikki asks. “Cora—please, explain yourself. Why did you bring us here?”

I swallow hard. For a moment tonight, when Evie caught my eye over her glass of untouched wine, I felt hopeful. Watching Jasper and Luca dissolve into madness, watching harmless blood splatter across Cora’s best tableware, I thought we were actually making progress. And we were. That’s why Cora is so pissed now. But—“I can’t,” I say softly. “Even if I change one person’s past, I don’t know if it will carry over to the rest. They all witnessed the supper themselves. They’ll have different perceptions of it. They’ll have different truths.” And I’ve still done little more than practice changing superfluous details. I don’t know what consequences there might be from this.

“Then, you can delve into each of their minds.” Cora’s claws scrape against the throne. “We can spend the entire night in this room if we must. What are twelve ambassadors to my most darling Truthseer?”