Page 125 of You’re So Vein

A fairy tale.

A nightmare.

A trick. Dante can’t be trusted.

“They don’t exist,” I growl.

“That’s what good little Upyr children are told,” Dante says in that condescending tone of his. Once that tone made me desperate to learn from him, but now it makes me want to turn him inside out. “I had access to the hidden parts of our archives. I know the truth. The Ordo Exsecrati – the Accursed Order – was a secret society of vampire soldiers. In the Middle Ages, they were tasked with ridding the world of Dhampir vampire hunters. Eventually, the Dhampir were all but wiped out, the Vatican disbanded their sacred order, and the Ordo Exsecrati fell into myth. But rumours have surfaced over the years that the Ordo Exsecrati never disbanded, and that they still serve as a secret army to eliminate vampire hunters. For years, I suspected Kael to be one of them, and when I heard that he volunteered for the delegation, I knew I had to come, too. I came to warn you.”

“Why didn’t you say all this when you warned me?” Komal asked.

“I didn’t know what Augustin had already told you.” Dante flashes a look at me that’s almost pitying. “You know how vampires are about their secrets.”

“But why is this order such a secret?” Komal’s friend Beth asks, hugging Komal to her chest. “If Dhampir are so dangerous to vampires, why bother with all the cloak and dagger stuff?”

“Because to kill another vampire is to break our sacred laws,” says Dante. “And even though they’re believed to be corrupt and evil, a Dhampir carries Upyr blood. Those who take the life of Dhampir risk the Mora, so the order has to operate in secret.”

“How do we know that you’re telling the truth?” I demand, moving my body in front of Komal in case Dante decides to come for her.

“Because of this.” Dante unbuttons the top of his shirt, revealing a square of olive skin covered in swirling, colourful tattoos. He tugs a chain from the depths of his clothing and dangles the vial it holds in front of my face.

“I keep it on me always,” he whispers. “You recognise it?”

I trace my fingers over the vial that Isabelle carried around her neck. It contains a few droplets of blood. I always assumed my parents had given it to her as a symbol that she would become part of our family.

“I gave this to her.” Dante tucks the vial back into his collar. “It contains a drop of my blood and hers – a promise that we would be together for eternity.”

His voice cracks over the word eternity.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Komal says quietly, her eyes bright from the shadow of her friend’s embrace.

As I stare at that vial, a wave of complicated feelings envelops me. First, an old jealousy that Dante, my first love, gave the vial to her and not to me. But Komal touches my arm, and the envy washes away. What I had with Dante is gone, and what I have with Komal is real – was real – and could have been forever if not for Kael Morrigan. Next comes the horror at remembering what happened to Isabelle, and then a bone-deep sadness, both that Isabelle had kept her love secret to spare my feelings, and so I never got to be happy for her, and that she never got to live as one of us. And then, the great, aching loss.

My sister. My parents. I miss them every day. I wish Hannah had been able to know them.

Hannah.

If Kael is Ordo Exsecrati, what has he done to her?

“If you truly loved my sister, how can you now sit in the same room as that vile creature?” I growl. “You drink and converse with Kael as though you are comrades, not enemies.”

“It’s not been easy, trust me. But I needed to be certain what he knew about the child.”

My heart stutters. “What child?”

“We’re past the time for pretending. I know you’ve been hiding her. I know Kael has taken her,” Dante says. “Isabelle’s child. My child.”

No.

“There’s no use pretending, Augustin. I saw her in the room when I entered, in a bassinet cloaked in invisibility. Invisibility was your father’s trick. With his last ounce of strength, he must have cast the spell to hide the infant from Kael. I saw her there and understood immediately what she was, and then I threw myself through the window and went after Kael, but he was too far ahead and too strong a swimmer. When I returned to the castle, both you and the child were gone, your clothes and books gone. There was only a hastily scribbled note telling some bullshit story about your family leaving court. I knew then that you – beautiful, infuriating, high-minded Augustin – you’d done what I couldn’t. You’d taken my daughter somewhere safe.”

I can’t speak. I can’t breathe. I’m warm all over, and a vampire is not supposed to be warm. A strange scent, like dirt and patchouli, assaults my nostrils. The world bends, the trees rustle. Komal’s hand on my arm is the only thing tethering me to earth. But even with the pain blooming in my chest, I think of Hannah and feel nothing but love. She’s mine, no matter what her blood says. None of this matters as long as I find her.

“I’ve kept tabs on you. I’ve known you were here for years, but I never came to look for you because…” Dante squeezes his eyes shut. “Because I’m a coward, and because I didn’t want to know the truth. Because I didn’t want to accidentally lead any Ordo Exsecrati here. Because until I saw her this week, I believed the myths about Dhampir. I didn’t want to know that my beautiful Isabelle had birthed a monster.”

“Hannah isn’t a monster!” Komal lunges at Dante, her tiny fist raised. “She’s bright and perfect and—”

“Hannah.” Dante sighs. “A beautiful name. Isabelle’s middle name.”