Ice crackles beneath my skin. That’s the last title I would ever want.
Axe launches himself onto Preston, elbowing the guards who attempt to block him. "You're dead."
Naomi stiffens. "Sit down, Commander, or I will hold you in contempt. The witness will be allowed to speak and if you threaten his life again, there will be additional charges."
Heart thundering, I sink back into my seat along with the others. Preston strolls up to the platform and takes the empty chair next to Maurleen. "All of my files were stored onsite during the period when my family and I were being held by the Hawleys. My other work remains encrypted on my personal computer, which I believe has been wiped and confiscated by Bleeding Sun officials. Everything I am about to tell you can be corroborated by that research and the Servos Primae Lunari, seated to my right."
Shit.
Maurleen simmers. “You son of a bitch.”
Preston proceeds to explain to the Council how he had been previously contacted for an independent research opportunity. His part of the operation was simple. Expose subjects to Ludone and then examine blood samples taken from their bodies during the high. Kiersten had designed this strand of Ludone to isolate a magical property in the blood, one that would magnify pheromones that attract vampires. Instead, what he observedwas a strange phosphorescence, amplified by the night drug. Before he realized the third party was involved in a trafficking scheme, his family had been taken hostage.
I look away, praying to the gods that Preston doesn’t expose me further. My thoughts pull me back to Esmé’s warning:Remember what I said. Protect your secret, no matter the cost.
A roil in my stomach causes me to shudder, realizing now that the witch never meant concealing my identity as the Sponsa Noctis. She was referring to the hidden twist in the vampire’s curse. The lethal elixir running through my veins.
But as his testimony concludes, Preston doesn't make any mention of Kiersten’s “pets.” Lungs filling with relief, I ease back in my chair. Perhaps it remains that I’m the only the one who knows the most dangerous truth of all.
Unless . . .
The regent cuts sharp eyes to Maurleen the same moment I do. "If you live by a sacred oath to protect this human, why not come to Bleeding Sun sooner? Why not warn the Commander about the kidnapping or Kiersten's contract with the vampires?"
She hesitates. "My visions have limitations."
"But surely you knew about her capture and the tests? About Demitrya?"
Another elder shakes his head. "This accusation requires more proof other than a blood phenomenon and a witch with eccentric visions."
Maurleen’s eyes fill with tears as she shakes her head.
Like a true wolf, Naomi snaps, going in for the kill. "Did you or did you not foresee these events?"
"Answer her," Axe thunders in a voice I’ve only heard used against enemies.
She finds my eyes, lip quivering.
No. We trust each other. We always have. She wouldn't?—
"Yes, I knew. And for that I am so, so sorry."
I tear my eyes away, the truth slicing clean through me. This is why she fled before the induction. She knew. She kneweverything. Gods, for how long?
Since she drew that stupid snowflake? Wait.
“It’s Snow now.”
Fucking Kiersten.
How were any of us supposed to make that connection? How could she let this happen, knowing so many innocents would die?
Axe hurries to my side. My lungs burn as I hyperventilate, my heart wrenching with betrayal. I choke on sobs that rattle me to my core.
Axe takes my face in his big hands, begging me to listen to his voice. Only his voice. But Nell's rips through the chaos unraveling in my mind. I jerk my head just in time to see the frazzled witch rush over to us.
"Get the hell away from her," Nell snarls, her grey-blue eyes glowing with rage.
Maurleen backs away slowly, whispering, "I'm sorry, Vessa. From the bottom of my heart. I never meant—I tried to?—”
