Hours later, Maeva walks in. She hesitates when she sees me, before edging closer, eyes wet as she looks down at Leon.
“I’m sorry, Arvelle.” Her gaze doesn’t leave his mangled body. “He’s a good man.”
“He is.” Leon is a complicated man, but a good one. My voice is hoarse. Rough. She doesn’t speak again, and neither do I.
When she walks out the door without another word, I tell myself it’s relief that makes my chest ache. Nothing good happens to the people I care about. If they’re smart, they leave. If they’re not, they end up dead, kidnapped, or fighting for their lives.
“If you think you can hide from me, you’re wrong.” Bran’s voice is a dark, unwelcome intrusion.
Slowly, I turn. “How did you get in here?”
He gives me a bored look. When he attempts to move closer to the bed, I scramble to my feet.
“I want to see my brothers.”
“Worried I might have killed them after your failure?” He casts a dismissive look my way. “I haven’t. Yet.”
“Elva swore to keep them alive, unharmed, and as happy as they can possibly be without me by their sides.” I memorized my words carefully.
Bran sniffs. “And so she has. The clever one is healed, and the mouthy one is learning how to use his new power. Meanwhile, you still haven’t held up your end of the deal.” His expression turns terrible. Dread punches me, and I take a step back, but it’s too late.
An invisible fire spreads from my neck, down to my chest, burning like acid.
Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. Make itstop!
I must pass out, because when I open my eyes, I’m on the floor, with Bran looming over me. “We have a deal. I did my part. Now it’s time to do yours.” Pain explodes in my neck once more and I writhe on the marble.
Finally, the agony ends, but the shadow of it remains and I tremble, my body aching.
I let out a low, pained groan. “Why me, Bran? I know you’re working with the vampire rebels. Why not use them to target the emperor?”
Bran raises his eyebrow. I tense, expecting more pain, but he leans casually against the door. “Clever Arvelle. The rebels are busy fighting for a cause close to my own heart.”
“Sun madness.”
He gives a slight nod “Perhaps living in the darkness would be tolerable if vampires had never experienced basking in it before. But instead, we gradually lose its comfort, day by day, until even moments beneath it would turn us to ash. I have known many who have succumbed, losing their lives in their desperation to feel nature’s heat on their skin.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “You’re concerned about sun madness? This might surprise you, but your sun tonics are also maddening you.”
“The tonics are a temporary measure,” he snaps. “Soon, none of us will need them.”
“And then what?”
“And then the sigilmarked willpay. While we’re forced to hide from the sun, the sigilmarked bask in it. They’ve had this power the entire time and have kept it from us, making us scurry around in the darkness like rats. It’s the one thing they hold over vampires.”
My heart stutters. Tiernon told me any help the sigilmarked can offer is temporary. Was he wrong? Or is Bran delusional? I’m leaning toward the second option.
“Does the emperor know the sigilmarked can help you?”
“Yes. He refuses to negotiate. Refuses to give up any political ground to the sigilmarked. He believes we should all welcome the darkness and shun the sun. He sees our longing as weakness. But I will return the sun to our people.”
My heart thunders against my ribs. I have no idea how he thinks he’ll achievethat. But it’s obvious he’s committed to his cause.
More pain. I clench my teeth together, suppressing a desperate scream. Bran leans over me, his eyes wild. There’s no sign of the cold, apathetic vampire I met on my doorstep.
He’s desperate. And the more desperate someone is, the more dangerous they are.
“It’s only going to get worse, Arvelle,” Bran hisses. “The itch beneath your skin. Theneed. The pain. If you fail to fulfill your end of the bargain, it will turn you insane.”
