Olivia nodded and tugged up the sleeves of her light sweater, exposing more faint scars on her forearms. “People who served Carrigan Shea did this to me. They kidnapped my sister, forced her to call me, and took me too. Sold tickets to bite us and got paid more because we’re twins,” she said, still holding Scarlett’s gaze. “And if you wanted to kill every last one of those vampires, I wouldn’t object. We both would have died if not for this court. They’ve protected us, and they’ve protected this whole city from dangers it doesn’t even know exist.”
“For as long as I’ve known about vampires, all I wanted was to protect people like you,” Scarlett said.
As she covered her scarred arms again, Olivia’s expression softened. “I believe you. I’ve met other hunters, and some of them are good people, just like some vampires are good people.” Then she reached out and squeezed Scarlett’s shoulder. “I know you’re not asking for advice, but I’m told that being bossy is sort of my thing. There’s so much going on right now that trying to figure it all out is going to make you crazy. We need to survive the next few days. I promise that you can trust us, and you can trust Julian. Once we’re past this—past your curse—then there will be time to breathe.”
Scarlett forced a smile. “I appreciate it, but I’m not sure you understand.”
“I think I do, better than you know,” Olivia said with a faint smile. “Maybe when we get a chance, I’ll tell you about it.”
With a sigh, Scarlett nodded to her and headed out of the office. When she reached the lobby, she found Kova alone, clutching a black umbrella in his still-marked hands. His eyes cut back to her, and his shoulders slumped. “Hi,” he said quietly. The look of pain in his eyes was enough to break her heart. Wasn’t the witch’s work supposed to fix him?
She stared up at him, then threw her arms around him. He stiffened, but then he embraced her tightly, his strong arms warm and solid around her. Even his scent had changed; he’d always carried a faint odor of Armina’s magic, but now he smelled clean and strong. Though it was new, it felt right.
When she pulled back, he lightly stroked her cheek. His eyes were ringed in shadow, and he looked beyond exhausted. “I’m so sorry for everything. For lying, for everything.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to be sorry for what she made you do. I didn’t get it until she brought me back and just put an enchanted shackle on me. Even that little bit of magic kept me from trying to escape. I can’t imagine what it was like for you,” she said. Her brow furrowed. “And now that it’s broken, you don’t want to murder and kill people?”
He laughed. “No, I do not. Maybe Armina Voss and Lux, but that has nothing to do with me being a vampire.” Then he glanced at his watch. “Do you know where to find Julian? I know where the others are, so he?—”
“I want to talk to you first if you don’t mind,” she said. His brows arched. “I haven’t been able to talk to you without her holding you back. Will you talk to me while I get something to eat?”
“Of course,” he said. “This way.”
Down the hall and up a set of stairs, they found a small kitchen with dingy tile and a small round table. A vase with fresh pink flowers made a token effort to cheer up the place, which was at least sparkling clean and smelled like citrus. She peered through the contents of the refrigerator and helped herself to a container of yogurt. Reaching past her, Kova took out a bag of blood and wrinkled his nose as he put it in the microwave over her head.
“Now that I can speak freely, you should know I absolutely prefer to drink from the vein and I intend to do so as soon as possible,” he said.
“With consent?”
“Of course,” he said. “Does that bother you?”
“Do you need my approval?”
“No, but I’d like to know that you don’t think I’m a monster,” he said.
“I don’t,” she said, though the thought of Kova sinking his teeth into someone was still slightly unsettling. After he took out his snack, they settled into the plastic chairs around the table. A single beam of sunlight broke between heavy curtains, and Kova shifted his chair until he was far from the beam. He took a delicate sip, sighed with relief, then raised an eyebrow. “What do you want to talk about?”
While Kova sipped at the bag of blood, she lightly scraped at the yogurt, barely catching a hint of it on the spoon. “I want to ask you some questions, and I want you to be honest. Don’t spare my feelings,” she said. His eyes widened as she continued, “Did you really care about me? Or did Armina order you to pretend?”
“I cared very much about you, and I still do,” he said without hesitating.
“Was that because you felt like you owed it to Julian or Brigitte, or because you actually cared about me?”
He sat back like she’d shoved him, brows knitting together. The pause was long enough to be its own answer, but he finally spoke. “You want honesty, right? At the beginning, it was loyalty to Julian. When I realized how she was manipulating magic to keep finding you, I wanted to protect you because I cared about Julian, and I stupidly thought that I could save him some grief. But this time, getting to watch you grow up…I cared about you. Regardless of her magic or the past, you are my family. Armina may have controlled me, but that is mine. I still love you dearly.”
Tears pricked at her eyes. “And you tried to tell me to run, more than once. But you couldn’t tell me why.” He nodded, a sad expression on his face. She let out a single hitching sob, then clapped her hand over her mouth. “I feel like my entire world has been shattered.”
“It has,” he said calmly. “I know that it’s complicated for you. Armina treated you like a daughter, and you saw a good side of her.”
“There is no good side. It was all a lie,” she said.
“That’s oversimplifying it, zaika. I think that some part of her did and still does care for you. And you shouldn’t feel stupid because you care for her, too. But you should also be realistic. No matter how much Armina Voss cares for you, she cares far moreabout herself and her vengeance. And what she has done is not a mistake made due to grief or a grim necessity of war. It is carefully calculated and protracted cruelty.And if she has her way, she’ll do it again and again until she dies,” he said. He fiddled with the plastic bag in his hands, shifting the crimson liquid back and forth.
“But I didn’t do anything to her,” Scarlett said, then shook her head. “God, that sounds so childish.”
He took a long drink from the bag, eyes closed with pleasure. “I know, and she knows that too. She doesn’t care. Her pain took over everything, and it rotted her from the inside. A long time ago, I think she was probably a decent person through and through, even if she was helping the Shieldsmen kill us. Now she’s just cruel and angry. It’s all she has left.”
She slowly ate from the yogurt, though it tasted bland and unpleasant with her emotions running wild. “You were with her for a long time. Did you see it happen before?”
