“So you’re wanting to find a cure?” Marcus asked, his head lifting. The Vampyr tried to surge forward, but given the tight space and her restraints, the chains only rattled.
The queen sighed. “I thought that as head librarian, you would be smarter than this.” She stepped nearer to the cage, and the Vampyr jerked. “This Vampyr is sick. And you know what happens with sickness?”
Marcus made a face. “It spreads?”
“Precisely. The question is, how fast can it spread?”
Thalia’s stomach dropped. She didn’t realize she’d stepped into the room until she blurted out, “You can’t.”
The queen whirled, and Marcus stared at her wide-eyed. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Thalia could have sworn her mother had aged at least ten years. “Thalia,” she said, displeasure morphing her features. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
“And you shouldn’t have her.” Thalia pointed a shaking finger.
The Vampyr lifted her matted head, dried blood crusted around the mask, the clamps squeezing her brain to the point of bursting.
“This creature was captured in Agripa,” the queen got out. “As such, it is mine to do with as I wish.”
Thalia shook her head, forcing the bile from her throat. “You don’t—you don’t understand. She has—she has—”
“A sickness?” The queen stepped toward her, and Thalia froze. “What do you know about it?”
“I—” Thalia faltered.
The queen’s eyes narrowed. “Thalia, what have you discovered in Vaccarium?”
Thalia shook her head, cursing herself. She should have brought Cassius. Should be better at lying—“Nothing.”
The queen paused, tilting her head, the motion making Thalia sick. “Marcus, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d like a moment alone with my daughter.”
Marcus glanced at Thalia, his hesitancy palpable. But it was clear he had no idea what was going on or what her mother was trying to do. Thalia dipped her chin and Marcus rose, gathering his books before he left up the stairs.
They stared at each other. Mother and daughter. Two halves of a tarnished mirror, reflecting the cracks and flaws in each other’s facades.
The queen finally sank onto the seat Marcus had vacated as if it were a throne. The bitten Vampyr behind her shrank back. “Shall we discuss it, then?”
“Discuss what?” Thalia bit out.
“The fact you’ve discovered a way to destroy our greatest enemy, yet you haven’t lifted a finger?”
Thalia forced her trembling hands behind her back. “I haven’t had the chance to meet the prince. He’s often away from his court.”
“Ah yes, how convenient for you.”
“I’ve tried,” Thalia said, her heart rate rising further. But her stomach twisted at the halfhearted answer. Because, deep down, she knew she could have done more. “I’ve tried to find a weakness amongst the courts. Have tried to find out when he might return so I can kill him as you asked.”
“But have you?” her mother countered.
“Have I what?”
The queen shook her head, features twisting. “Don’t play dumb with me.”
Thalia waited, willing the claws wrapping around her throat to leave.
The queen’s piercing gaze lifted to hers. “What have you done in Vaccarium to try and save us from this blight? What have youdoneto ensure that what happened to your father, yoursister, never happens again?”
Thalia’s jaw ached from how tightly she clenched her teeth. “The courts do not like the prince.”
The queen raised a well-groomed brow. “Yes, your quaint little letters informed me as much.” So she had received her daughter’s intel and truly hadn’t bothered to see how she fared. Thalia’s heart stuttered. “And did you try stirring up more discord amongst them? You say the prince is away; surely a lack of leadership would be easy to twist and spread?”
