Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Thalia stared out her window.
Night was falling, the clouds slowly dispersing like mist as the moon’s glow replaced them.
She hadn’t moved from her spot in hours.
Not after she’d written another letter to her mother.
She wasn’t even sure that what she’d said made sense.
She’d tried to inform the queen about the Houses.
How there were issues going on within them.
But every time she lifted her quill, watching the ink drip from its tip, all she’d been able to see was the blood of Adriana leaking from her ripped-out throat.
All she wanted to do was ask her mother Did you know?
Did the queen know that the House responsible for the horror of her husband’s and daughter’s murders was still standing?
Thalia’s nausea spiked.
And here she was, knowing that the lord who’d no doubt had a hand in her family’s butchery was still alive and that she couldn’t just go and put a stake through his head unless she wanted her whole mission to unravel at her feet.
Thalia pinched the bridge of her nose, ignoring the sudden ache coming on in her skull. Killing the lord without cause would start an internal war, that much was clear. She wasn’t strong enough to do it alone, not unless she wanted her own heart pulled from her chest.
There had to be some other recourse, something that could be done to get someone else to do it for her.
While Santorien seemed to be the peacekeeping House, they weren’t jumping at the chance to help House Gallinus with their financial issues.
Lord Amadeus seemed the easiest Vampyr to get on her side, or at least, he seemed more inclined to listen to her.
Perhaps she could plant some seeds in his head, turn him against House Gallinus.
Maybe she could figure out how to wield him and his House like puppets, like Lord Damien had done with that Vampyr.
Thalia shuddered, glancing down at the ring on her finger. She hadn’t forgotten what had happened in the throne room. How Lord Damien had seemed to compel that Vampyr to ruin his hand.
There was more to it than just the prince’s absence. Something to do with madness and sickness and whatever “bitten” thing Keegan had asked before Cassius escorted her out of the throne room.
The Vampyrs seemed desperate for something—angry. And anger often led to fear. Fear could be more lethal than any bite. If she could just figure out all these damn secrets they were keeping—
Movement in the woods caught her attention.
Thalia straightened, shuffling closer to the paned window. A flash of white hide flickered among the crimson leaves, nearly glowing against the moon hanging low overhead.
A shiver traveled down her spine as whatever was in the forest moved again, rustling the branches as it went.
The door creaking open had her whirling, hand going to her thigh where she kept her dagger strapped under her nightdress.
Cassius looked surprised to find her awake.
“What do you want?” Thalia’s voice was cold.
Cassius eased in, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against the wood, hands clasped behind his back. They hadn’t spoken since the throne room. Since he’d so gently taken her arm and led her from whatever mess she’d stumbled upon.
“I came to see if you were all right.” Cassius finally broke the silence.
Thalia’s lip curled. “All right? Do I seem all right to you?”
“I don’t want to fight you, Thalia.” Cassius sighed, the sound tightening her stomach further. “Something happened today. I want to know what it was. Believe it or not, I’m not trying to be your enemy.”
Enemy.
Thalia felt the retort on her tongue. The fact that he already was, based on his choices.
Maybe it was the shadows gathering in the corners, or the fact that the memories of that night thirteen years ago haunted her as much as his face did, that had her saying, “It was House Gallinus.”
Cassius’s brows knotted in understanding. “How did you figure it out?”
Thalia shook her head, pushing past the tightness in her throat. “It doesn’t matter.” She slowly lifted her gaze.
Cassius studied her, not in a lust-filled manner but as if he was searching for something amiss. Almost like he was concerned for her. The thought sent her stomach twisting further.
“Thirteen years ago,” Cassius said, “The prince’s father ruled—King Valeran. When the cracks first appeared in the Mages’ spell, the Houses thought that if they couldn’t find an answer in Agripa’s library, perhaps a union between the Vampyrs and humans could be used.”
“In what manner?” Thalia bit out.
“I don’t know. Perhaps to expand the forest so there would be a greater area for us to live without the fear of the light.
But the forest would cut into Agripa’s own land.
The prince was opposed to this idea. The humans and Vampyrs had always interacted tentatively.
There was already tension rising between the two realms. So, since the prince wouldn’t offer his own hand, House Gallinus stepped in. ”
Thalia fisted her hands, trying to ignore the image of Lord Adrian’s hateful face mocking hers.
“It wasn’t Lord Adrian’s idea,” Cassius continued, “although the Vampyr is brash enough to do it. It was his father’s.”
Thalia sucked in a sharp breath, rage blanketing her mind like a cloud.
“His father hated humans, thought them to be a mistake the Mages created. He believed humans to be less than the Vampyrs and were taking up land that rightfully should be Vaccarium’s. He concocted a plan to try and kill the Cesarian line. To force your territory under the Vampyrs’ rule.”
“He nearly succeeded,” Thalia got out.
Deep regret speared itself across Cassius’s handsome features.
“When they returned after the failed mission, Lord Adrian’s father was executed, staked right in front of his own family.
The prince offered Lord Adrian a deal: He, and his son Julian, could either quell the grumblings of House Gallinus, or he would meet the same fate as his father. ”
“I see.”
“The prince should have killed him,” Cassius said bluntly. “Lord Adrian may not have had a part in what happened to your family, but he didn’t stop his father. Even when word got out about what the lord planned to do.”
Thalia’s lip curled again. “And that was all his punishment? To be removed and set up as a lord? Did you know this?” she hissed, stepping away from the window. “Did you know what he did to my family?”
Cassius’s face darkened. “I knew the day I arrived here.”
Thalia felt as though he’d struck her. “And yet you so willingly work with him?”
“I don’t willingly do anything,” Cassius snarled, stalking toward her. “As soon as I became hand, I removed both him and Julian from the prince’s council.”
His words stopped her. “What?”
“Do you really think I could ever willingly work with someone like them? To know how horribly depraved they are to want humans dead—to want you dead?” Cassius’s eyes glowed, a thin sliver of blue barely visible around the black of his irises.
“I wanted to rip his throat out—both of them. I still do. And I would have if the prince hadn’t stopped me. This was the only option I could take.”
Thalia couldn’t face the emotions in Cassius’s face—didn’t want to dwell on the truth laid out like a map.
She’d told him that he should have died.
He’d ruined himself, cut a wound so deep she still bled from it.
It didn’t make sense how he could be so ready to avenge her family, yet chose to betray her and turn into one of the very creatures she’d sworn to fight.
Too many things hung in the air between them. The threads that stretched between them tightened. At any moment, one of them would snap and send them both down the path of darkness.
Thalia turned away, wiping at her face. “I have another letter to send in the morning.”
Cassius’s eyes lingered on the desk where the letter to her mother sat. The wax seal seemed to suck in the moonlight. “All right.”
“Did you send the other one?” Thalia asked, turning back. Cassius nodded. She studied him, wondering if he was lying. But tiredness wrapped around her shoulders, and maybe she didn’t want to fight with him either. She struggled with her next words. “Did I—have I received anything from home?”
“No.”
Just like that, her stomach twisted. It had been days since she’d arrived in Vaccarium. And her mother hadn’t even cared to see how she was? To see if she was still alive? She pushed past the burning gathering in her throat.
“Were you expecting something?” Cassius asked softly.
She didn’t want to hear the softness in his voice. To see the quiet understanding of her pain at not hearing from her mother. It shouldn’t bother her so much. She had a duty to keep. A vow she’d made. Feelings had no place in her mission.
She forcibly cleared her throat. “What’s the prince’s name?”
Cassius shifted at the change in topic. “Prince Aeneas of House Lorenzia, why?”
“He sent me another gift today.” She nodded to the seating area, where a black marble chess set sat on the low-lying table before the fire. “He never signs his name. Why?” She turned to Cassius, finding his face carefully guarded.
“Dramatics, I’d assume,” Cassius finally said.
Despite the bleak horror she’d uncovered about her family’s murder, Thalia snorted. The sound made Cassius’s lips quirk. “Did you tell him I liked to play?”
Cassius hesitated before nodding. “Do you hate me for that?”
Hate.
Thalia swallowed, looking away. Because she was supposed to hate him. But after his reveal—the way he’d handled Lord Adrian—that hate seemed to flicker ever so slightly.
“No. No, I don’t hate you for that,” Thalia said softly. She focused on the chess set so she wouldn’t have to see the relief in his eyes. “Do you want to play?” She glanced back, and Cassius gave a slow nod.
Before she lost her nerve, she moved to the sitting area, sinking onto one of the velvet armchairs.