Chapter Seven
Leonora
“Why is your room so much bigger than mine?” I demanded as I walked through the intricately carved wooden door. Everything at court seemed to be carved into arches and whorls. There was no piece of furniture undecorated, nor any wall or corner unadorned. It was the sort of gaudy opulence I had only ever seen in churches and, well, this wasn’t exactly a place for the holy.
“We opted to share,” Emerson said, ushering me in and closing the door firmly behind her. I understood the feeling, something about this place gave me the creeps too, like there was power roiling in the air and ears in the walls.
“That’s a nice way of saying, they weren’t expecting us and didn’t have enough rooms,” Novalie muttered and I winced.
“Seriously? This place is huge, I’m sure there must be an extra room?—”
“It’s fine,” Emerson interrupted, glancing between me and Novalie as she bit her bottom lip. “I’d rather have the company. This place is…”
“It’s something else,” I agreed. The crackle of energy was nothing like the debut ball, this was the kind of power that made the hair on the back of your neck shift. “Well, at least you have plenty of room for the two of you in here, even if you do have to share the bed.”
“Are you kidding? We could fit like seven people in there,” Emerson said, her laugh slightly high pitched as she turned away. “But yeah, we’ll be fine.”
“How long do you think we’ll be here for?” Novalie said, sitting back into a mini armchair tucked in front of an empty mantle and kicking the other chair out slightly for me to sit in.
I shrugged. “No idea. As long as it takes for the council to listen to what I have to say, I assume.”
“You think that’s it? We’re not… in trouble or something?” Emerson sat on the bed and pulled a red decorative pillow to her chest, squeezing tightly. “Why’s it called court anyway? There’s not a vampire king, right? So why not, hub? Or hive? Or?—”
I shared a look with Novalie who gave me a helpless shrug in return. “I imagine the vampires think court sounds cooler. More refined. But actually yeah, there is a monarchy. Or there was, at least. But I don’t think they ruled? They were just old and powerful.”
“Where are they now?” Emerson pulled at a thread on the pillow and then replaced it guilty when the stitching made a ripping sound.
“Nobody knows,” Novalie chipped in. “Supposedly there’s an heir missing too who would have been around our age.”
Scowling, I debated whether or not to clue them in about the heir’s identity. Fuck it, it’s not like they would tell anyone. I concentrated, pulling my magick to the surface and placing a bubble around the three of us to conceal any sound from anyone listening in. “It’s Hayes.”
“Where?” Novalie said, glancing behind me to the closed door. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
“No,” I said, relatively patiently. “Hayes is the heir.”
Novalie’s eyes flared wide and she stared at me, perfectly still, before she began laughing. “You can’t be serious.”
“He turned into a fucking wolf and chased me around Ashvale.” Now both girls were gaping at me and I grimaced. I had a lot to catch them up on.
“That’s so?—”
“Fucking cool!” Novalie interrupted and Emerson shook her head.
“Terrifying,” she finished and I shrugged.
“It was both, I guess.”
“Your boyfriend is the lost heir,” Novalie said wonderingly and I stiffened. “Your boyfriend is like head of the council!”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I snapped and Novalie waved a hand airily. “And the only thing he’s head of is my shit list.”
“Semantics.”
There didn’t seem to be much point in arguing with her, so I kept my mouth shut and silently fumed as Novalie rambled on about whether they’d get to go to any good parties while they were there at court.
“We’re here to testify about a murder,” Emerson protested and Novalie rolled her eyes.
“Like a court of vampires is going to care about a little death. They have at least two ‘trials’ a day here. You know, like how they used to do public executions for entertainment?”
“Then why are we here?” Emerson looked between us, clearly unsure if Novalie was serious, and I took a steadying breath.
“Because they’re worried about what it means for them and their own power if Elowen really does have the means to create a kind of army of living vampires. Plus, Cal thinks?—”
“They’re interested in Leonora,” Novalie chipped in and I blinked, curious as to how she’d arrived at the same conclusion as the mage.
“Me?”
“Sure, you’re an outlier. You’ve proven yourself to be powerful, you saved Emerson, I bet they want to see if you’re a threat.”
“Cal agrees with you,” I muttered, thoughts flashing back to the cursed envelope I’d received. “But someone else didn’t want me here. I got a… threatening letter.” I needed to ask Cal what exactly it had been cursed with—though generally I tended to assume that everyone I met wanted to kill me. It was just easier that way lately.
As if in answer to my thoughts, there was a knock at the door that cut off the girls’ questions. My jaw tightened and the three of us shared a wary look before Emerson approached where I stood and opened the door just behind me.
“Nobody here,” she said, sounding almost disappointed. “There’s just this?—”
I caught her hand, not really registering the too-fast movement as my skin tingled with awareness. I knew what I’d find before I even looked down. Was this what Cal had been able to sense? This… prickling energy, like pinpricks against my skin?
“It’s addressed to you,” Emerson said, glancing down at the hand I still hand on hers. I gently tugged her back and away from the door before I let go and pulled out my phone. The camera made a fake shutter sound as I snapped the photo and sent it to Cal with the simple caption— Novalie’s room.
The curse on the other letter I’d received had faded, expiring in the time it had taken me to actually find it. But this aged envelope was fresh and I couldn’t help sticking my head out of the doorway and looking both ways. My room was directly opposite Novalie and Emerson’s. They could easily have dropped it there, but somehow they’d known I was here . I couldn’t see anyone in the hall, only the lingering scent of something sharp and floral left behind of the messenger. Though, I doubted the person feeling so murderous would bother to drop their own letters off. But then, how did the messenger touch it without suffering the ill effects of whatever had been etched into the paper?
A pop of sound signalled Cal’s arrival, the familiar static of his magick brushing over me in a wash that was surprisingly soothing. “Did you touch it?”
I shook my head and Cal moved to stand next to me, pushing his hair back and out of his face and then scrubbing the same hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I caught Emerson before she could.”
He squatted down, looking at the envelope in the same way one might a bomb. “I doubt it would have mattered,” he muttered and Emerson gasped as he reached out and plucked the letter up from the floor with his bare hands. “It’s been keyed to your magick.”
“And that means?” Novalie said, voice dry but her face a little paler than usual.
“It means that this is personal. They don’t want collateral damage.”
“What exactly would it have done if I’d touched it?” My voice sounded calm even as my vision narrowed into darkness. Rage could be a powerful tool, but lately it often made me act first and think later.
Cal’s gaze was shrewd as he watched me, like he could tell I was battling to keep my emotions in check. “I don’t know.”
I bit my tongue, counting to ten before I responded so I wouldn’t snap unnecessarily. “What can you tell?”
“That it was supposed to kill you, nobody else.” He reached for my hand and I jerked back, surprised, before letting him take it and guide my palm into the air next to the letter. “Can you feel that?”
“It feels… uncomfortable,” I said, closing my eyes to better focus on the sensation before I opened them again to see him nodding.
“Everything is made up of energy and if you focus, you can get a read on its purpose, even the maker’s signature.”
“You grabbed me,” Emerson chimed in, nodding. “Before I could touch it, before you knew what it was.”
“It felt wrong,” I murmured and Cal looked pleased, a warmth in his eyes that might have been pride.
“We’ll make a mage out of you yet,” he mused and I rolled my eyes. “Do you want me to open it?”
I blinked. I’d been so busy thinking about what it was that I hadn’t even considered what might be inside. “Yes.”
The rustle of the paper felt loud as we watched Cal, tension rising to palpable levels when his face smoothed out and the muscle in his jaw popped. “It’s blank.”
“Hard to read when you’re dead, I suppose.”
Cal threw me a look that I ignored. I wasn’t happy with this, but making a sarcastic comment and remaining calm was better than what the other part of me wanted to do. Something a lot bloodier that involved a lot less talking and a lot more screaming.
“Leonora—”
“I’m fine,” I bit out and pushed down the urge to go and kill something. Slowly. “It’s fine. Thanks for coming.” He blinked and then gave a stiff nod. Fuck, had I really been such an arse to him that a simple thanks was enough to shake him? “I’m going to my room.”
“Do you want company?”
I couldn’t turn around, didn’t want to see the concern in Emerson’s gentle eyes, so I just shook my head as I stepped outside. “No. Thanks.” I closed the door behind me before they could say anything else and walked the short few paces to my own room. I just needed to get inside, before I lost it.
The handle turned and the cool air hit me at the same time as his scent. The door thudded closed and I couldn’t help the growl that escaped me as I took in the form lounging on my bed. I could only assume Cal had brought him along after receiving my text.
“Anyone would think you aren’t happy to see me, love.”