Page 101 of Devoured

“There’s no chance of that when she can use you to mess with their minds or erase their existence,” Evie says. “The paralyzations did nothing to her.”

“They made her behead a princess,” I argue. “They frightened her.”

“And no one else cared!”

“That’s… not exactly true,” Portia says. She glances up at Calix. “Where did Cora send Valja?”

“She released her to her brother, their king,” Calix says. “It was a hostage negotiation. Cora kept some of their soldiers, but Valja went home with the rest.”

Portia grins. “She’s worried about the Antarctic court. If they fall, then Mexico might join them. They could persuade South America to fight with us.” She sits up tall. “Guatemala could be all she has left near her home territory. Cora is afraid. She’s just not showing it.”

“She craves strength and power,” Calix says. “She is a coward hiding behind bloodshed, nothing more and nothing less. It would be easy for her to rule the mortal realm, but it would be easier for her to have the seven werewolf courts on her side.” He looks at me for a long moment, thinking. And he isn’t really seeing me at all. He’s strategizing, I realize with a curious tilt of my head. Considering the different paths and possible outcomes. Not an oracle like Lyra, but cunning all the same.

No one speaks until he blinks, frowning, and seems to resurface from his thoughts. “And the way to prove to those courts that they should never join her is to show them just how soulless she really is.” He nods to himself. “Right now, she’s entertaining them. Flattering them and lying to them with a perfect performance of benevolent queendom. But imagine if those envoys witnessed fights in the corridors and blood on the walls. Imagine if they heard her ravings, witnessed her torment, and knew it would spread to them. If we proved that she can’t even control her own court, and they took that information home to their regents…”

“Stars above,” Portia whispers, staring at him. “That’s it. We don’t need to kill her werewolves, and we don’t need politics. We need to sow discord. Cora doesn’t stand a chance at keeping up the facade once her temper flares. They just need to see the truth of her.”

“And if she catches us?” Evie asks. “If she suspects us?”

“Cora won’t move on any of us without proof,” Portia says. “Not with South America and Antarctica—or Vanessa’s powers—hanging in the balance.” Her gaze flicks to my scarred wrists before landing apologetically upon my face. She grimaces. “Calix won’t have the same protection.”

“So we don’t give her proof.” I glance between them—all of them—Evie and Portia and Calix. They can see the larger puzzle, but they can’t see the smaller pieces. They can’t see themselves. An Alchemist, an Earthcharmer, and a General. We have everything we need right here.

“We won’t get caught,” I say firmly. “Because we won’t be the ones sowing discord.” I slide the map away from Evie, spinning it around to focus on the different passageways, the rooms, the entrances and exits. “Cora has spent months puppeteering her wolf pack. We’ll do the same. We’ll pull the strings, and they’ll wreak the havoc. They can hardly control themselves as it is.”

“It might not work,” Evie says.

“Actually… it might.” Calix strides across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. “Cora wants the Mating Rite to happen above all else, which is why she’s testing Vanessa now. She wants to prove Vanessa’s powers before she makes Vanessa’s place in this court permanent—another reason she won’t kill you,” he adds to me. “She can’t have people stealing her strongest weapon.”

“You told him?” Portia nudges my leg gently.

“I didn’t have to. She had me torture Calix tonight.”

Evie inhales sharply. “What?” She glances back at her map before cursing. “We were looking for you. You weren’t in your room, so we were planning a way to scour the halls without being caught.”

My chest warms at that. I offer her a small grin. “Thanks.”

Her eyes move from the bite on my shoulder to my face, and I swear an apology darkens her maroon eyes. “This has to end before the Mating Rite,” Evie says. “There’s no other way forward.”

Calix glances at her, holding her gaze as he nods once. “I agree.”

She nearly laughs at that. “I suppose hell has frozen over, then, blood traitor.”

“That it has, Princess.”

Evie glares at the ceiling and huffs out a long, beleaguered sigh. “I hope I get to drive a stake through Cora’s blackened heart.”

“Get in line,” Portia mutters.

And the four of us sit in her room until dawn, planning how to sabotage the Wolf Queen and her precious court.

34

VANESSA

I WALK TO MY ROOM ALONE JUST AFTER SUNRISE, thoughts buzzing through my head like bees. I attempt to swat them away and silence them. Calix said we don’t know who in this castle might share Arielle’s mind-reading abilities, so we need to cloak our thoughts. I try so hard that I end up doing long division, counting prime numbers, even recalling what I can remember from biology on the zones of the ocean and their depths.

Unfortunately, I’m too distracted, and I forget to pay attention when I open the door to Sin’s room. I don’t remember he could very well be inside.