I still can’t believe she’s agreed to this. My hands tremble. If Gustavsson remembers me, and I have a feeling he does, he’ll reveal my identity. Perhaps a part of it. He might say my name, and all of Aliz’s questions will come tumbling out.
Hopefully those questions will be answeredafterwe get rid of the mark.
I take a deep breath and reach back within myself until I’m the same vampire hunter I was before reaching Tynahine. When I could slip into a blood party and convince anyone I wanted to follow me off into a dark and dangerous place.
I start to cross the ballroom, and before I reach the stage, I bump into Elia, whose costume is a long muslin gown, Roman inspired. The sort of thing she probably wore in her youth, two thousand years ago. Her hair is half up and half down, silver threaded throughout it. She looks like a goddess, the little half-moon on her head telling me she’s meant to be Diana.
“Good luck,” she whispers. She was the one who was able to convince Aliz. I squeeze her hands, trying to find the words to thank her. Instead, I just nod and walkon.
The stage looms above me. The four musicians are in ruffled suits from the eighteenth century, with short trousers and knee-high stockings. Capes fall behind them, and their instruments are decorated with skulls and spiders. One of them has even put on a powdered wig.
Gustavsson is in the same getup, though his is a little less flamboyant. Instead of silver or green, his suit is black and white. And when his eyes meet mine, I know I’ve got him.
“Professor?” I call up. His fluid playing, which until now hadn’t faltered at all, stutters, the scent of my blood turning his eyes crimson. I’ve done something a little risky, enough for all the vampiresaround me to turn and stare, too: I’ve made a small cut on my palm, which healed immediately, but left a film of blood.
“What is it, Cassie?” he asks. “Haven’t seen you in class.” His voice crawls under my skin, familiar. But I keep my face set in a mild picture of lust.
“I’ve been dying to see you,” I say. “How long are you playing for?”
He looks at me, aghast. I presson.
“I want to continue ourconversation.”
“Won’t Miss Astra mind?” he asks, glancing across the ballroom. I shake my head.
“She doesn’t have to know.”
He raises a brow and then looks at his fellow musicians. They stare at me, thirst staining their eyes red, but they don’t stop playing. “I can escape at the end of this pavane,” Gustavsson says. “One minute.”
I glance up at the crystal ceiling, the moon hanging between the branches and red fairy lights. We’re going to get rid of it. At the other end of the ballroom, I spot Elia drawing Julia into conversation, possibly to keep her from seeingme.
“Where shall we go?” asks Gustavsson. “There’s a lovely maze out there.”
He jumps down, leaving the quartet as a trio.
“Upstairs,” I say. “I want to see the rest of the palace.” I press my hand, with its drying blood, to his, and he inhales me a little deeper.
“Wherever you want, then, Cassie,” he says. He grabs my wrist and pulls me through the crowd. I get déjà vu as I walk behind him, trying to keep up. My stomach burns.
Is this what happened on prom night? Did Vicki stand in a corner and watch as he dragged me, willingly, to another end of the hotel?
My throat tightens as I try to clear my mind of what might have happened. Of what he did that I no longer remember.
“It’s closed off,” he says, sounding disappointed when we reach the bottom of the grand staircase.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never broken the rules,” I chide, climbing over the red rope. He lets out a short laugh.
“See, I told you you were going to get me into trouble,” he says.
“Isn’t that what you want?” I ask, running up the marble stairs, past the portrait of Ada Astra, who watches as he chases after me. I laugh, speeding up, my heart thumping. I feel my pulse in my ears, nausea crawling up my chest.
I just need to get him into Ada Astra’s room. Then we shut the door and kill him.
I spot a silver arrow behind one of the statues. Hopefully I won’t have to use it. Hopefully Aliz hasn’t forgotten her own skills and we’ll get it over with quickly.
“I don’t remember you being this fun last time, Rebecca!” he calls, just as I’m about to reach the end of the hall, where Aliz is hiding.
The sound of my name almost knocks me off my feet, and before I can even think of how to respond he grabs the back of my head, threading his fingers into the pleated crown, and slams me against one of the mirrors.
