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Maximillian’s mouth twisted into a sardonic grin. “Ahh, but vampires have been murdering each other for power for centuries. That’s simply part of the game.” The grin dropped from his face as he skimmed the backs of his knuckles along my cheek. “It’s a game I wish you didn’t have to play.”
His expression shifted to something softer, almost melancholy, and my heartstrings twanged in response. That intoxicating scent of his wrapped around me again, making me want to let myguard down, and I clung tightly to my anger, refusing to let him sway me.
It didn’t matter how many hospitals or greenhouses Maximillian built. He was still responsible for the human suffering I’d seen today, still every bit the type of monster I’d dedicated my life to fighting before Sebastian had locked me away. The bastard had just told me as much to my face. And yet he still expected me to help him.
“I don’t have to play,” I told him. “I don’t have to be part of your stupid game, or anyone else’s, for that matter. I’ve had enough of being a pawn, of being kept prisoner. As soon as the full moon comes, I’m gone.”
I shoved past him, storming out of the chamber and back to my rooms. And he let me go.
9
Ispent the next couple of days holed up in the library, my head buried in books and scrolls. Maximillian didn’t seek me out again, and neither did any of his lackeys. They were all busy preparing for some military agent of the emperor, who was coming to Lumina to collect a weapons shipment. That knowledge only cemented my resolve—any help I gave Lord Starclaw and his people would only contribute to more human suffering.
The books and scrolls I read confirmed most of what I’d learned so far—about the Eternal Night, the new territories, the magical witch barrier, and the barbaric laws that humans had to suffer under Vladimir’s rule. The more I read, the more murderous I felt toward the vampire ruler. As soon as I killed Sebastian and broke whatever hold he had over the witch clans, I would mobilize them and take down Vladimir. The vampire king would pay for his crimes, but on my terms. Not Maximillian’s.
Still, I had to admit that without actually traveling to Trivaea, I had very little information to go on. I needed to find a source of information about the witch realm. But who here could I talk tothat would have insider knowledge of the area, when it was cut off from the rest of Valentaera?
A rumbling purr distracted me from my thoughts, and I smiled as Jinx wound her way between my legs in greeting. She’d been my sole companion, curling up into bed so I could reach for her when the nightmares woke me, or keeping me company while I prowled the stacks for books on history and lineages. I scooped the cat up into my arms and set her on the table, and she dropped a quill onto the open book in front of me.
Sparrow,I thought, staring at the brown feather.
I clenched my jaw. Of course. Maximillian’s spymaster would have the knowledge, or knew where to get it, at least. I picked up the quill by its tip and spun it between my fingers. But how did I know I could trust his information? He was loyal to his Sire, not me, and would probably tell me whatever he thought would get me to help Maximillian rather than the truth.
Jinx jumped off the table, then pawed at my foot. “Another field trip?” I asked, reaching down to scratch her chin. She tilted her head, allowing the distraction for just a moment, then batted my hand away.
“Fine,” I grumbled, leaving the books behind. I expected her to take me to another secret passage, but instead she led me directly outside and to the training compound. As we approached the entrance, she rubbed against my legs again, and her body unraveled into ribbons of shadow that wrapped around me, blending my form seamlessly into the night.
Ahh. We’re doing reconnaissance, then.
I slipped inside the training yard, now invisible to any casual observer so long as I stuck to the shadowed areas. The yard wasan expanse of well-trodden earth, bordered by tall, weathered wooden fences that seemed to absorb the sounds of the city beyond. Sturdy posts jutted from the ground at intervals, each adorned with various training implements: swords, shields, and more exotic weapons, some of which I couldn't name. Off to one side of the yard, a series of obstacle courses had been constructed. Wooden beams for balance, ropes for climbing, and walls of varying heights designed to test agility and strength. Beyond that, archery targets stood at the ready, their surfaces pockmarked with the constant thud of arrows.
Movement in the center of the yard drew my eye to where two figures sparred in a large, open space designed for hand-to-hand combat training. Lucius and Sparrow, I realized with a jolt, drawing closer to get a better look. I stuck to the edges, weaving my way between the straw dummies that were used for target practice and refinement. Picking a large one dressed in thick, padded armor, I took up a spot in its shadow so I could watch.
The two vampires were shirtless, and both had tattoos, though they moved too quickly for me to make out the designs. Dressed only in cotton trousers and boots, they moved in a deadly dance of rippling muscles and glinting weaponry. Lucius swung a battle-axe with his right hand, following up with slashes of the forearm blade on his left. His movements were devastating, each strike powerful enough to fell a warrior in one blow.
But Sparrow easily evaded Lucius’s attacks. His grin was nearly as sharp as the twin swords he wielded with deadly precision, and his movements were fluid, almost serpentine, as he weaved in and out of the larger vampire’s reach. Despite his smaller stature, Sparrow met each of Lucius's heavy strikes with the swift, slicing motions of his blades, deflecting the largervampire's attacks with an ease that belied the danger of each exchange.
“Do you think she’s ever going to come out of the library?” Sparrow asked in a conversational tone as he twirled out of Lucius’s reach.
Lucius growled, following Sparrow with a series of powerful swings. “You were too heavy-handed with her that day,” he said as he smashed the weapon against Sparrow’s blades, sending sparks flying between them.
The force of the impact reverberated through the training yard, but Sparrow absorbed it with a dancer's poise, his swords ringing in a high, clear note. “I was exactly the amount of heavy-handed I needed to be with her,” he countered, his tone calm despite the intensity with which they sparred. He ducked under another swing, his swords flashing in a counter-attack that Lucius narrowly avoided. “If I hadn’t used my power to bind her, she would have killed all four vampires in the square. Even I wouldn’t have been able to stop word of that from reaching the emperor.”
“Maybe so,” Lucius grunted as Sparrow slashed at his ribs. He swung his vambrace blade down to block the blow, then pivoted and brought his axe down for another strike. “But now she’s even more convinced we’re the enemy. I saw how excited she was when Eliza showed her the armory and the training grounds, yet she hasn’t touched them. She’s afraid of us.”
I blinked. Lucius had been watching me? When? He was a colossal man, nearly seven feet tall and built like a fortress, and I was certain I would have spotted him. But then again, he was a vampire. They had an uncanny ability to blend into the shadows, no matter their size, no magic required. And he knew thecompound far better than me, including any number of places to skulk and watch me without being seen.
Lucius lunged with a speed that would have been impossible for an ordinary man of his size, but Sparrow spun away before he could land a blow. “What do you care?” he retorted, his swords a blur as he parried another series of attacks. “You’ve been opposed to this plan from the start.”
“Because I know what it could cost him,” Lucius snarled. “It would be better if—”
The wind shifted, and both vampires stilled as the night breeze wafted my scent toward them. Now that they were no longer moving, I could make out their tattoos in the moonlight. I sucked in a sharp breath at the intricate tribal tattoos swirling up Lucius’s arms—bold, dark lines that curled and twisted around his muscles, evoking images of wolves in mid-prowl. I knew those tattoos, had seen many markings just like them during my childhood. Lucius was Ferae, but not just any Ferae—he belonged to the Wolven Tribe, the only place marked on the map in Ferae that was still free of vampire control.
The markings on Sparrow’s bronzed skin were very different. Swirling waves intertwined with images of marine life covered his arms and torso, and a sparrow with its wings spread wide was inked across the back of his shoulder, a small sun rising behind it. But on his chest was the most damning—a mermaid tail entwined with a black anchor. The emblem of the Blackwater Pirates.
“Looks like we’ve got an audience,” Sparrow sang, lowering his sword. His fangs flashed with a grin as he turned to look in exactly the direction I was standing in. “Why don’t you come out and play, Kitty-Cat?”
I scowled, and the shadows cloaking me sluiced off my body as Jinx regained her cat form. The two vampires startled as she sauntered into the center of the ring, her tail swishing as she swiveled her head to look at both of them.
