Chapter 29
Calia and I ran to the library, catching Brielle, Elios, and Jasper in conversation. Their heads snapped up in alarm as we burst through the door, the latter reaching for his gun out of habit.
“She found something,” I said, holding the battered journal for the others to see. Rowena, Sloane, Ballard, and Castor quickly came in after us, undoubtedly hearing our exclamation as we raced through the manor. Elios took it from me, considerate of the crumbling edges as he opened the cover and scanned the pages.
“What is it?” Jasper asked, sniffing the air. “It smells old and musty.”
Elios’ gaze met mine as he looked over the edge of the book. “Where was this?”
“In Calia’s old room,” I said, running my hand across the back of my neck as I explained what had happened when we made the discovery. I was careful not to go into details, but as I felt Jasper’s eyes monitor me for impending doom, I knew he had realized what Calia and I had discussed. He walked around me, placing one hand on my shoulder as he stood in solidarity. I welcomed the touch and comfort as I patiently waited for Elios to speak.
He furrowed his brows, running his fingers over the yellowed pages. “This is unbelievable,” he whispered. “She detailed so many of their conversations…” He continued to flip through the pages, turning his eyes toward Castor. “Did you know about this?”
Calia’s uncle swallowed thickly, taking the journal from Elios. The corners of his mouth ticked down as he read. “I did, but—” His voice trailed off, looking at me.
Jasper gripped my shoulder, keeping me in place as the pieces fell together. “You enlisted Corvina to work for the Vail,” I whispered. “For her to spy on us and report our movements so that you could be prepared should my family make any move to break the curse.”
Corvina always carried a journal, scribbling in it when she thought no one was looking. When I would ask for her to share, she charmed me with her smile and batted my hand away, feigning timidity. I thought it endearing, hoping she would let me see her work one day.
She followed my mother around like a shadow, telling Leonora she knew she was not the first choice of wife for her son, but she was determined to make her proud. My mother had bought it, loving the attention Corvina gave her. They spent most days together, and I had never known what they did until the day they approached me about breaking the curse.
They had begged me for months, years, really, until I finally agreed. I told them it would not work, but I could not deny the glint in Corvina’s eye. Our relationship had become strained toward the end, and my mother had told me how unhappy she was to be bound in such a manner. Like a fool, I listened to them, unknowing that we were all being played like puppets by one another in the end.
Castor returned the journal to Elios, running a hand through his silver hair. “Yes,” he admitted, nodding toward the journal. “The Vail had attempted to infiltrate the D’Arcy’s inner circle for centuries, but there was not a vampyre alive who would stand against them, and they never let another faction close enough to be of use. It was not until Corvina was born, the mark of the curse placed upon her skin, that I knew the Vail would want to use her. But she always had a choice, and she chose to help.” He refused to look at Calia, who dared not take her eyes off her uncle. Her anger was palpable, rippling underneath her skin in a show of power I had not seen from her before.
I stepped closer, touching her back and rubbing my thumb over her tense muscles. “Easy,” I murmured in her ear. “You are shaking.”
“How did she even get the information out to you?” Jasper asked, leaning against one of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
“Anya’s father was a member of the Vail, and he would bring us Corvina’s correspondence on his trips into town. No one thought twice about his presence, and Anya was young enough that Corvina’s visits weren’t construed as odd,” Castor said, clasping his hands behind his back. “There was little to no concern regarding your father, but your mother had been on the Vail’s radar for decades. Her ancestors were Arowan D’Arcy’s greatest supporters, slaughtering thousands in his name throughout millennia. You were the enigma, leaving us questioning which parental figure you would take after. We had to err on the side of caution.”
“Your audacity knows no bounds,” I said, barking a laugh and stepping around Calia. How dare he act so cavalier, like he had not sent his flesh and blood into my life as a spy. “You seemed perfectly content to stand in my home and accuse me of wrongdoing, especially as you seemed to keep just as many secrets as I had. Tell me, when were you planning on enlightening us on this little revelation?”
Castor snarled, “Corvina’s correspondence stopped with the death of our liaison. We told her to be careful until we could find another way, but she was tenacious.” He nodded at the Elios, who scoured the journal at a table. “I didn’t know that existed until today.”
“Her blood is on your hands just as much as mine,” I spat, clenching my fists at my side.
Castor’s face fell, the anger washing away with my declaration. Good. I hoped that guilt ate at him as it had me.
All I could hear were his words from that night, bringing my greatest shame to light in the worst way possible. The way my demons rejoiced in my culpability as memories of Corvina’s horror-stricken face flashed through my mind. They craved my mortification, drinking it in like the sweetest wine and forcing me to relive it over and over for their own selfish pleasures.
Jasper stepped in before Castor could fire back, placing a hand on my chest. For the first time, he was the voice of reason, not antagonization. “Now’s not the time, brother. For now,” he gestured toward the table, “let’s see what answers Corvina left us.”
Castor and I stared at one another, slowly nodding in agreement to put the conversation to rest for the time being. He stepped toward Calia, but she evaded him, walking toward Elios and taking a seat. “What does it say?” she asked, resting her chin in her hand. Her leg bounced uncontrollably underneath the table while she slid her other hand under her thigh.
Elios raised his brows, flipping between pages. “Some of this does not make sense. Many pages of random scribbling seem to repeat much of the information we already know—the importance of the moon cycle and the requirement of Darrow and D’Arcy blood, for instance—but,” he shook his head, looking to Calia. “You said she mentioned something about a blessing that night?”
Calia nodded, lifting her head and running her hand along her arm. I tracked the movement, noting how she dug her nails into the fabric of her sweater. “Yeah, she gave us two options. The first to, you know, consume each other’s blood until we were nearly dead…” She blushed, the heat creeping across her cheeks in a bright bloom.
Out of curiosity, I reached out for her mind as I had before. Her defenses were as impenetrable as ever, but as I attempted to focus back on the conversation, I heard a whisper of her thoughts.
“… the way he looks at me … feel of his teeth…”
The connection was weak, but it was there all the same. And while I only caught fragments, I could have wept at the sound of her voice in my mind again.
“The second was strange—more of a ceremony, I guess.” She paused, asking me to take over without voicing her question.
“My mother retrieved a chalice from a vault in my office, saying we could fill it with an offering of our blood. It would then be blessed under the blood moon by a descendant of the sorceress who enacted the curse.” I gestured toward Elios before sliding my hand into my pocket. “I assume she meant you?”
He did not answer my question, focusing on whatever pieces of the puzzle he was fitting together in his mind. “What was to be done with the blood afterward?” he asked, jotting something down.
“I don’t know,” Calia said slowly, sitting up straighter. “Leonora never said. Did she say anything to you?”
I shook my head, furrowing my brows for anything she might have said in passing. After Corvina’s death, I hardly paid attention to Leonora’s antics. Even when Calia and I wed, and my mother was forcing me to pursue a relationship, I only listened enough to keep her from chastising me.
“Not at all. I assume it would be ingested, likely by the donors,” I mused.
“But why would it need to be blessed?” he mused, whispering to himself hurriedly. He brought the metal barrel of the pen to his mouth and bit down. The sound of his chewing grated my nerves, feeling the strange metallic sound reverberate in my bones.
“Elios?” Calia asked, shifting nervously in her seat.
His body was deathly still, not a twitch to be seen. He said nothing, staring at pages until I wondered if he was still breathing. “She did not know…” he whispered, flipping toward the back where Corvina’s handwriting had grown frenzied.
“What is going on?” I asked, stepping up beside him. When he did not respond, I slammed my hand on the desk. Those around me jumped, staring at me as though I had lost my mind, but I could not stand around any longer with the current adrenaline levels coursing through my veins.
Elios slowly lifted his gaze to mine, and my knees grew weak at the fear staring back at me. “Did Leonora mention the blade before or after she told you of the ceremony?”
“After,” Calia said, furrowing her brows. “Everything happened so fast, but Castor stabbed Renwick and?—”
Elios cursed, letting the pen fall from his fingers. “Her crusade with Calia was never about breaking the curse,” he said slowly. “Because she would not have needed to if she stole the power of a god.”