32. Aurelia
Stepmother had this habit.
Before important events, she would meet with a specific feeder.
One she would spend at least an hour with. She had a specific room, one on the other side of the house, far away from the king and her daughter.
She tried to keep it a secret, but the staff talked. Especially when they hated her as much as they did.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one whose life she tried to ruin. All it took was a little probing, and they spilled every single thing they knew about these meetings.
They thought it was an affair. Especially because of how giggly and satisfied she would be afterward.
An affair would be too simple, especially if I wanted to end her the way she tried to end me. But it was a start, and at first, all I truly needed was a warning.
So, I snuck into the room the staff pointed me to. It wasn’t very remarkable. A large bed with a seating area off to the side. It was obvious what the room was supposed to be used for.
If what the staff said was correct, she would be entering the room a few minutes after me. The feeder would come later.
I made myself comfortable against the bedpost. Normally, I would sit on the bed, but it looked unused. Actually, the whole room seemed to be untouched. There was even a specific musky scent in the air that told me there hadn’t been anyone in there for a long time.
Alarm bells rang in the back of my head. This room didn’t look used.
All of it had been too easy. The staff too willing to share.
I had been cornered too many times in the last few months to fully believe that the person that was going to walk through those doors was my stepmother.
I had Vesper waiting for me downstairs where the guests would be. I needed to do this alone. But the way she reacted when we separated…
I don’t think I’d seen Vesper act that way before. She had been…nervous. Maybe even a bit paranoid. Something happened. She hadn’t wanted to tell me about it, even after I told her how unhappy it made me when she kept her plans secret.
Fine. If she wanted to keep it to herself, she could. I would find out myself, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
The knob wiggled and had me reaching for the knife I kept hidden in my skirt. The same knife I used on the stepspawn, minus the magical drugs. Unfortunately, I used the last I had back then.
The door pushed open and instead of my stepmother, it was my newest handmaiden. She looked surprised to see me in here.
Of course it was too good to be true. I guess it’s showtime.
It had almost been too easy to lure her out.
“Princess,” she said in a hushed tone and slipped in, closing the door behind her. “You were supposed to be downstairs. The guests will be here any minut?—”
“You work fast,” I said with a smile, tilting my head and watching her.
“Excuse me?” she asked with a laugh. “Oh, you mean your hair? Well, Lady Dalia had pretty intricate?—”
I cut her off with a laugh.
“You think I didn’t ask my own friend about you?” I questioned, taking a step forward. My hand was tight around the dagger, ready to strike. “Not to mention how Vesper reacted to your presence. You truly think I’m some idiot who doesn’t see when a snake has infiltrated her ranks?”
Her expression slowly morphed into a smile that confirmed all my suspicions.
I shouldn’t have trusted Vesper as much as I did, but she hadn’t failed me at that point. She truly seemed to be worried about me and took her job to protect me seriously.
Since she’d been back, we’d been nearly inseparable. But because of that, I hadn’t been able to move freely. Or to pull the snake out of her nest.
This is for us. For Vesper and me.
“I’m not the snake,” she said and reached behind her to pull out a small dagger of her own. I could smell the magic on it. “I’m cleanup.”
I pulled out my own weapon. When she got a look at it, she let out a huff of laughter.
Cleanup. No wonder Vesper was so worried. She was protecting her own failure. It is kinda cute. But I could take it from here.
I had been running around in a panic since the wedding, freezing like a deer in headlights and falling into a hopeless spiral.
I wouldn’t be like that this time.
“Was that supposed to be for your stepmother?” she asked. “You’re really something else, aren’t you?”
I readied myself, recalling how Vesper attacked the night in my room. I was a vampire and had the upper hand, but they were trained in a way I never had been.
“It’s for you,” I said with a smile. “At least it is now. I just never expected you to move so fast.”
She shifted slightly, placing her feet apart and crouching. She was readying to attack.
“I gave your plaything a week, but after seeing the way she tried to out me, I decided to take matters into my own hands,” she admitted. “Pity—it was fun to see her squirm.”
She launched herself at me. I guess no more talking.
She was fast. Faster than Vesper. But I could use that and her own strength against her.
As soon as she was less than a foot away from me, I jerked to the side. Her dagger embedded into the post behind me. She’d swung so hard, she couldn’t pull it out right away. My free hand was on her wrist, my dagger hand pointing at her neck.
The smile on her face dropped when she realized what I was doing.
I opened my mouth wide and bit down right on the joint of her elbow. My fangs dug into her skin, slicing through it as easy as butter, until they hit bone. With one single bite, the bones cracked under my teeth.
Her pained scream split the air. I used her wrist to twist the broken arm behind her, while keeping my dagger at her throat. I got as close as possible to her face, a smile spreading across mine.
Her blood was sweet against my taste buds and sent a vibration through me. I was tempted to drain her just to watch her reaction.
It feels good. Her screams of anguish. Her pained expression. Knowing that I held her life in my hands.
It is addicting.
“How many others did you bring with you?” I asked. “And don’t try to say you just paid off my staff to mislead me into coming in here. How many?”
She let out a laugh.
“Not as dumb as you’ve been made out to be, huh?”
“How many?” I asked again. “Maybe if you’re honest, I’ll let you off easy.”
When she didn’t answer, I put more pressure on her arm. Her lips formed into a snarl.
“I take that back. Letting go of your own killer is a dumb fucking idea.”
I pushed the tip of the dagger into her throat. “I never said I’d let you go. But I could make your death less painful.”
There was no way she was getting out of here alive, but I needed to get more information out of her. I had to know exactly how many people in this palace were out for my head.
But what I didn’t expect was for her other hand to come out with another knife. I tried to jerk out of the way, but she pushed us both forward, causing us to fall on the bed.
I turned my head to the side as she brought the knife down to the mattress.
“I won’t return the favor,” she said with a sneer. “I don’t take pride in cleaning up messes. Nor do I enjoy this little competition your fuck toy has created for us.”
“Afraid someone else will get to me before you do?” I teased.
She gave me a smile. “Too late.”
She pulled the knife back, but as she was about to bring it down on me, she was jerked away.
I scrambled up just in time to catch Vesper disarming her. The anger on her face was unlike anything I’d seen before. Pure, unrestrained anger. There was only one way to calm something like that.
I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she looked.
“I should have killed you sooner,” Vesper growled. The girl jerked against her.
“Just get it over with,” she huffed.
“Not until you tell me who else is here. Three? Five?”
She let out a laugh. “You really don’t know, do you?”
I crossed the space between us and pointed the dagger at her stomach. Both their eyes flashed to me.
“What number are you?” I asked. This caused a playful look to pass over her face.
“Not dumb indeed,” she breathed. “I’m number thirteen.”
My gaze shot to Vesper. Thirteen? The look in her eyes told me she was just as surprised.
“Where are they?” Vesper asked and pushed her closer to my knife. The tip dug into her skin, breaking it and letting her bright red blood spill out. She let out a groan.
“Acting innocent in front of your girlfriend?” she asked with a laugh. “Tell her how you killed them. Tell her how you mutilated their bodies and dropped them off outside the property. My job wasn’t only to finish what you couldn’t do, it was to end you. They’re mad, Vesper, and they won’t stop until you are both dead.”
I knew Vesper hadn’t done it. She was a killer like them, but there was no way she would have been able to kill all of them.
I pushed the knife into her stomach to the hilt.
“You talk too much,” I growled. Pain flashed across her face as her mouth opened in a silent scream. Vesper covered both her mouth and nose, holding on tight until she slumped against us.
We stood there for a few moments in silence, both our minds reeling at not only what we had just done, but the threat that lay out there waiting for us.
It will never end.
“Who’s killing them?” I asked in a whisper.
Her expression hardened. “Only one person could.”
“It’s time to tell the fucking truth,” Vesper growled as she pushed Cedar against the wall.
The witch could have easily fought her off, but she let her hold the knife to her throat. She put her hands up, but unlike before, there was no smile on her face.
She was just as serious as we were.
The night air was cold, and I was forced to look over my shoulder at every rustle or sound for fear another one of Vesper’s colleagues would sneak up on us.
Cedar hadn’t been in her room when we first looked, but somehow we found her in the garden my mother once loved. The same one Vesper and I stayed in the night before my wedding.
I didn’t like the coincidence.
“Please tell me you dumped her body somewhere, so I don’t have to help you clean up,” she said with a sigh.
“You knew, and you didn’t warn us?” I asked, unable to keep the venom from my voice. Cedar looked at me with an annoyed expression.
“I warned Vesper!” she whined. “She was the one who decided to not listen.”
The air felt cold against my skin. Vesper knew they were coming? She didn’t tell me. Again.
My eyes shifted to the contract killer, but she seemed just as off guard as I was.
Who is telling the truth here?
“You said to watch out,” Vesper growled. “You never said another one was coming. Or that she was the thirteenth.”
Cedar’s eyes shifted to the side. I moved so I was in direct sight.
“You’ve been killing them,” I accused. “You knew they were coming, and you started killing them. Is that what you were sent here to do?”
Obviously, Vesper wasn’t doing this. I didn’t expect her to be that much of a liar. The urge to distrust her was strong, like with everyone else in my life…but she saved me. More than once. That had to mean something.
Cedar let out a huff.
“I don’t kill hunters in my free time,” she muttered under her breath.
Vesper didn’t correct her this time.
“You’re the only one who could.”
Cedar gave her a look, a deep frown appearing on her face.
“I said I was on your side,” she said, pushing Vesper off her. I smelled the magic before I saw Vesper being forced away from the witch by a gust of air. “Why do you think I was covering your tattoo for you? None of those other idiots even thought to do the same. They were dead on arrival.”
Vesper froze. Why? What is she getting at? I don’t understand.
Cedar seemed to get that I was confused.
“Your father knows,” she told us. “At least about these guys. I mean, tattooing yourself with animals of the zodiac isn’t really a subtle way to announce your affiliation.”
That’s what it was. It became clear then. I had heard about them in passing, but it had never been spelled out so clearly nor did I ever think I needed to worry about a silly human organization.
“But there were thirteen,” I offered. “Shouldn’t that mean they’re running out of people to send? There are only supposed to be twelve animals.”
Cedar snapped her fingers.
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “There were thirteen. Tell us, Vesper. Why were there so many?”
The grinding of Vesper’s teeth hit my senses.
“Each family gets assigned one,” she explained, her head tilting just enough so I could see her face. “These families, as long as they don’t piss off the organization, can stay in as long as they like. Others will get replaced when their usefulness wears off. There are some families out there who have been active for over seven generations. We aren’t a small organization.”
We aren’t a small organization. That means they will come for me, and they won’t stop. Hundreds of them. But why me? What had I done?
I had spent my entire life trying to save myself by melding into the role my father required of me. I hadn’t gone out to start any wars, or killed any humans, and the blackmail parties held almost no importance.
“Why do they want me dead?” I asked, my voice dropping low.
Cedar looked at Vesper who let out a sigh. A discomfort spread across Vesper’s features and had her body twitching. “I don’t know why, just that it was prophesied.”
I raised a brow at her.
“They get their jobs through seers,” Cedar explained. Vesper shot her a look.
I still don’t trust the witch, but maybe we need her. She knows too much.
“And you know that how?” I asked. Cedar took a step back and raised her hands again, a nervous laugh coming from her.
“Whoa, I’m here to help remember?”
“Honesty,” Vesper growled, taking a step forward. “I need it if I’m going to keep her alive. I need to know how to stop them from coming.”
“They won’t stop,” Cedar answered. “They never will. And in return, her father will continue killing them. Unless, of course, this war you started is enough to distract him. One already got in, so it wouldn’t be a surprising conclusion.”
“There has to be something you know that could help us,” I pressed. Panic was rising in me now. If Father knew about these people, Vesper wouldn’t be safe. If I stayed here, and knowing now one of them was already in, I wouldn’t be safe either.
Cedar gave me a pity-filled look.
“Vesper knows how to end it,” she whispered. My eyes shot to her.
“Then do it,” I commanded. “This has to stop. My life?—”
“She’s lying,” Vesper said quickly and took a step toward me.
Lying? The witch might have been cunning but there was nothing to indicate she had spoken a lie.
“You do know it,” she said. “You just don’t want to face it.”
Vesper shot her a glare. Tension skyrocketed and Vesper looked like she was seriously considering ending the witch’s life.
“Tell me what it is,” I begged her. Her jaw clenched, her face conflicted.
“She has to complete the prophecy.”
Vesper didn’t look back at Cedar as she led me away. I was numb, unable to fight her pull. Unwilling to.
Does that mean I have to die?