“I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep,” Julian said. There it was again, and now it wasn’t just him daring to hope. It was one thing to let himself hope, but he wasn’t the one with the blade at his neck. If he promised to save Scarlett and failed, it would haunt him forever.
Her brow furrowed. “Let me ask a clearer question. Has she ever done anything exactly like this? You say it’s the most powerful curse she’s ever seen.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Julian said. “But she managed to figure out half a dozen of Armina’s curses in a matter of days. It won’t be for lack of trying.”
“So there’s a chance I still die,” Scarlett said evenly.
“Yes, but if we don’t do anything, you definitely die,” Paris said.“It’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Julian huffed. “Paris!”
Scarlett took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around the plastic water bottle until it crunched. “The world is not your friend, and you should always be prepared for it to betray you. It does no good to ignore the knife in its hand, even when the other holds flowers.”
He frowned. “Where did you hear that?”
“Kova,” Scarlett said. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, as if she was shutting out the world. Her breaths came slow and even, and he marveled at the soft, slow sound of her heartbeat. After a full minute, she finally opened her eyes and said, “I would rather you were honest than filling my head with false hope. What do we need in order to break it? Someone’s blood, certain ingredients?”
“Shoshanna has to work on you, but the power has been too much for her so far,” Julian said.
Scarlett’s brow arched. “What if I could get you some of Armina’s spellbooks?”
Misha nodded eagerly and blurted, “That would help.”
“Are you saying that because you want to see her notes?” Paris asked.
“Both,” Misha said. “Isn’t it easier to open a lock when you know the combination?”
“In return, I want you to do me a favor. I suppose it’s strange for me to bargain given that I’m the one who has a deadline,” Scarlett said. Then she smirked. “Deadline.”
Paris chuckled and said, “Some things never change.”
“I want you to help Kova. We go to Armina’s house and break him out. I’ll get her spellbooks and bring them back for Shoshanna,” Scarlett said. She swallowed hard. “But I can’t kill her. And you can’t either. Not until I have a chance to talk to her.”
“Scarlett, that’s not—” Paris started.
“I know that you hate her. And I also know that she’s the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had,” Scarlett said. “I’m willing to hear you out and entertain this insane story, but I can’t just shut off twenty-nine years and all my emotions overnight. And I’m not going to let you waltz in there and murder her in cold blood. Those are my conditions.”
Frustration rolled off Paris, but Julian held up his hand to silence him before he made a mess. “I understand. Why is Kova so important to you?”
And he told himself it was not because he was jealous. If she loved him, then that was her right. But he’d be lying if the thought didn’t make him angry, defeated even.
“I don’t have any real family that I know of. Armina raised me, and Kova was as close to a brother as I’ve had,” she said. “He was always good to me. Not always nice, but he pushed me to be stronger and faster. He used to tell me it was better to be prepared for cruelty and be surprised by kindness.”
Relief swept over him. That, too, made sense. His brothers had often teased him that Brigitte would have loved one of them if she hadn’t met Julian first, but they’d never have tried to take her. As soon as it became clear that she loved Julian, the rest of them had taken on the role of protecting her as best they could. For Kova, nothing would have changed, even if she didn’t remember the way he’d cared for her before.
“And it didn’t bother you that he was a vampire?” Misha asked.
She shook her head. “I saw from a young age what vampires could do. Armina told me that Kova’s bindings held back the evil part of him and left only the good parts, so he could be our ally. I know now that’s not what happened, but I always saw him as a good man who had an unfortunate problem. Like an addict trying to stay sober,” she said. “But if you’re telling me the truth, then she’s been hurting him for a long time.”
Paris nodded. “And Kova had nothing to do with Armina’s husband. He wasn’t even there. Weeks after Tobias died, Kova killed one of Armina’s apprentices in self-defense. She and her hunter accomplice nearly took off his head. That’s how he got that scar on his eye. Kova has never been soft, but he’s a decent man. He didn’t deserve what happened.”
“And Armina hurt the woman he loved?” she said quietly.
“Yes,” Paris said.
“Is she…is she dead?”
Paris met Julian’s eyes and raised his eyebrows, as if to say you tell her.
