Page 107 of You’re So Vein

Visions of the past or future are rare in Dusk Court. That kind of sight is more common among humans who can work magic.

Dora nods. “You can’t tell anyone. The Nevermore Coven knows about my power, but I don’t want anyone else knowing. The world can be dangerous for people like us. Like Hannah.”

Dread chills my already cool body. “You know what she is.”

Dora nods again. “I won’t tell anyone, but the Nevermore Coven may figure it out on their own. I know you need to keep this secret close, so I won’t ask you for more than you want to tell. Do you want to know what I saw?”

I lean forward, ready to do anything if it will keep Hannah safe. “If it concerns Hannah, then absolutely.”

“You’re in danger, and so is Komal.” Dora swallows. “I saw a shadow in the trees, watching you at your cottage. I saw you and Komal standing in front of the Dusk Court council. Tears stream down your face. I saw a perfect circle of blood on a flagstone floor. And I saw Hannah laid out over a large stone beneath the moonlight, a sword swinging for her throat.”

The Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven Group Chat

Arabella: I have remembered something that might be important, about the night I was nearly husked.

Mina: We’re listening.

Arabella: I have been thinking about Alyra’s death. Our new theory is that the husker is using a machine, perhaps to store blood. We concluded that our killer is unlikely to be human, since a human couldn’t overpower a vampire.

Beth: Correct.

Arabella: But John Astor saw the killer. He was taunting me with the knowledge, and I think he referred to the killer being human. But he also said something else interesting.

Maisie: We are all a-quiver with anticipation.

Arabella: He was speaking about Queen Cleopatra, how she hadn’t killed herself with a snake bite, as the stories say. All vampires know this because a snake couldn’t kill a vampire. It’s commonly assumed that she was husked by Octavian, and the “snake bite” was an allusion to his fangs, but Astor said something I haven’t heard before. He said that she was killed “with the only type of poison to work on Upyr, hidden in a hollow hair comb”.

Arabella: As far as I know, there is no poison that works on an Upyr. But remember the residue Jo found on Alyra, that wasn’t found on the other victims? What if the killer figured out that this poison would incapacitate Alyra?

Mina: What? Why didn’t you remember this until now?

Arabella: It was a traumatic event. I broke several nails. You’ll forgive me if some details are fuzzy.

Mina: We need to find out what this poison is.

Arabella: If such poison exists, only high-ranking Dusk Court vampires would know about it.

Maisie: Lilac might? But she won’t tell us. Either because she’s the killer or because the knowledge of a vampire poison in the wrong hands could be dangerous.

Mina: How are we going to figure this out?

Winnie: I know where we should begin.

41Komal

Winnie: Get in, bitches, we’re going to the vampire library.

AFTER OUR SUCCESSFUL LATE-NIGHT SHOPPING, most of the village businesses have changed their hours to open later and stay open past sunset. I’m babysitting the twins again while Preeti has her late-night clinic, so I take them to the shops. We share fish and chips with Beth and the Meriwether sisters while I try not to think about Augustin’s fire-rimmed eyes. At home, I hand them off to my sister, show her how to operate the microwave again, make sure Mamma and Papa (who’s back home again, thankfully) have their tea and that the dishes are done, then head to my cabin to get ready for tonight’s meeting at Black Crag.

I stop in my tracks as a shadow moves around my house. I reach for the spell bag in my pocket, but as the shadow swings around to face me, I nearly faint in surprise.

“Augustin, what are you doing?”

Seeing him makes me feel all warm on the inside, but I’m also confused as to why he’s dragging a large, leafy vine beneath my window. Or why Hannah is sitting on the steps, engrossed in the magic book she got from Spell The Tea.

“I’m setting up a security system,” Augustin says, as if it’s obvious.

“Er, with vines?”