“He would have rather died than see Silas with an inch of power.” Dax waved his hand. “I know I saw his name plenty of times. Even one relating to a big shipment of pink peonies. Ever since his lungs started hurting, the healers insisted he spend more time in the garden. As if pollen helps with coughing.”
My insides twisted. Dax swore Uncle Maksim was safe and I knew he could handle himself, wounded or not, but not hearing from him chaffed something deep inside of me. He’d always been on my side, ever since my father had taken the crown.
“So that’s why he promised me some red roses next summer,” I whispered sadly.
Roses I’d probably never see again in my life–if I even got the chance to hug him again.
Yet I kept looking at the parchments, a growing unease stirring inside of me.
“If this fund existed, then why did Bia ask for extra gold?” I asked. “And who in Xamor’s name allowed it?”
Dax and I both stared.
“Silas,” we said at the same time.
He shook his head. “Bia’s not the kind of person to mess around with things like this. She worked hard all her life.”
“And Silas didn’t seem like the kind of person to bother stealing a throne, yet here we are.”
“This doesn’t feel right,” he argued. “She gave up too much to get a spot at the Academy and then make a name for herself to blow it all for gold.”
“Gold twists the mind, right?” I set the parchment on the table and pressed my finger to it. “My father asked me to find something wrong in the ledgers. This is wrong.”
We kept staring at each other, our stubbornness filling the entire room, neither backing down. We were so caught in this silent battle that we both flinched when a silvery thread wafted out of the journal.
My heart leapt as we both scrambled our seats closer, parchments abandoned to the sides–but not forgotten. I didn’t care what Dax said and the family ties we had to Bia, I was digging into this.
My breath caught as the silvery thread turned into an oval. But instead of Ryker’s sparking eyes, all I saw were glimpses of gold and flashes of haughty expressions I didn’t recognize as the portal jumped from face to face, seeking to settle on one.
I squinted my eyes, trying to make sense of the chaos.
But the quick movements only reminded me of the grim glimpses I caught on Sanctua Sirena as I ran for my life.
When the portal settled on a set of red doors, all I could see was blood.
The metallic stench of death flooded my senses so fast, my knees forgot I was sitting down and shook.
Screams erupted in my ears like they were happening right behind me.
The hiss of arrows was so powerful, I jerked in my seat as if they flew right past my ear.
“You alright?” Dax muttered.
“Fine. This jerkiness is giving me a headache.” I rubbed my temples, willing the grim images out of my mind. The pressure at the back of my skull was building again. “I should’ve asked Mrs. Thornbrew for something strong to get through this.”
“Already ahead of you.” He took out a metal flask from his satchel. As soon as he uncorked it, a stringent, bitter smell filled my bedroom, overpowering the phantom scent of blood. “A toast to the future Blood Brotherhood queen and the family who aren’t allowed to even be in the same room as her.”
Chapter 25
Allie
“You know what pisses me off?” I took another swig from the flask, grimacing again at the acrid taste. It felt like charred goat meat someone had left too long in the smoker.
That didn’t stop me from drinking, though. It mellowed the pulse in my skull and was frighteningly effective in dulling the roar in my heart.
Or pride.
I didn’t know which one hurt more right now.
