“You believe they would completely sever ties?”
I didn’t answer immediately. It was a fear I had not voiced, even to myself. Casimir, Zane, and Koa had no true obligations to me beyond blood. If they flourished away from the court, they might decide to remain permanently separate from it. Separate fromme. Our relationship was strained, and it was entirely my fault.
Sebastian read my silence correctly because he sighed.
“If you wanted them to stay, you wouldn’t have offered them the contract.”
“No,” I admitted, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want them tochooseto stay. I know it’s hard to imagine after all I’ve done, but I don’t want to lose them. I didn’t realize it until Kaori made me see it, but now that I do, I find it almost unbearable.”
He regarded me for a long moment before shifting the subject.
“Have you considered what kind of girl Arabesque will send?”
“Not a blood daughter, certainly,” I scoffed. “No more than I would send you. I told them as much.”
“It’s likely to be someone who has little power in her household, but it will have to be a relation ofsomekind.” He leaned forward, thoughtful. “Maybe that’s for the best. The three of them are harder than ever. More closed off, even with me, and we’ve always had a good relationship. Maybe a wife will soften them. And if she is not a power player or a haughty heir groomed to rule? Well, that could work out even better.”
“And if she’s a Dark witch or bound to Arabesque’s service or betrays them or—”
“You know the answer to that as well as I do,” he chuckled lightly. “She won’t live to see the moon-damned sunrise.”
“Although I am well aware that this may blow up in our faces, I would like them to findsomepeace. Perhaps not in their new bride, but at least at the estate we purchased for them.”
“I can’t see them picnicking by the lake, but yes, it’s peaceful enough. Ko will like the library we stocked, and it’ll do Casi good to unwind a little. As for Zane, well, maybe he’ll get lost in the hedge maze for a few weeks and emerge a new man.”
My lips wanted to twitch at that, and Sebastian studied me again, this time with something quieter in his gaze.
“You don’t want them to end up as you once were.”
Grief flickered in my chest, old and familiar. When I lost Catalina, I lost myself, too. The monster I’d become…
“No,” I murmured. “I do not.”
“Then let’s hope this arrangement gives them more than just freedom from politics.”
I nodded, but in my heart, I did not know if hope would be enough.
4. Signed in Blood
Seri
“My office, Serafina.Now.”
Arabesque’s voice echoing down the hall immediately made my heart thunder in my chest, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of bone and fear.
I hurried along as fast as I could, knowing I couldn’t take another punishment if I displeased her, but each step felt like I was wading through molasses, my body on the edge of collapse.
Four days ago, I’d stumbled across her meeting with a rogue werewolf, and she’d been furious. Even though I only caught a few moments of their conversation, she had disciplined me for ‘cultivating curiosity’ by siphoning me down to a mere drop of magic.
Then, as I lay there in a helpless stupor, she’d turned the rogue loose to teach me ‘the meaning of pain.’
Except for my split bottom lip, my clothes hid my injuries, but they still throbbed mercilessly, especially the long gash on my upper arm from the rogue’s claw. I was almost sure it was infected, and I didn’t know how to treat it. I also thought it might be responsible for the fever I had that lingered no matter how much ginger tea I drank.
All of that I could manage, but it was the threat to Josslyn that made me cower to Arabesque’s every demand.
“I’ll have him teach you how easily your baby sister bruises.”
“Cribs make good coffins, little dove.”
