“I think it’s clear Walter Pruce didn’t want Gracie anywhere near us,” Cora says. She stretches her fingers across the table, looking at the small scars on her knuckles, rather than at me. “Smart man.”
“Clearly not smart enough,” is my only response. I shove from the table, striding through the sunlit courtyard. “We’ll meet here again soon.”
“Will she be here next time?” Cora calls. She’s taunting me, and it soothes the tension in my chest.
I’m not good at forming relationships, alliances. It’s part of what got me into this fucking mess in the first place. Oskar loves me as a father might his son. Beatrice enjoys my cock more than my mind. And the rest of my circle fears me too much to be considered friends.
Cora might be the closest thing I have to a true companion. I’d rather not have her hate me.
“Cora,” I call, pausing at the center of the courtyard. My statue towers over me, and I study its stone features, ratherthan looking at her. Several seconds pass, until I’m fidgeting, but the words still refuse to come.
“I know, Master,” she says finally. “I know.”
I nod, not looking back. And then I’m off, ready to finish what I’ve started—once and for all.
“Perhaps I could accompany you,”Beatrice says. Her long legs easily match my fast strides, her heels clacking against uneven cobblestone. Our side of the Night Realm is always quiet at this time of day.
The sun curse forced change here. With the vampires locked indoors, the werewolves grew bored of our sparsely-populated towns. They started spending more and more time elsewhere: their own civilizations to the north, the neutral territory to the south, and even the Flight Realm to the east. They’ll come this way once night falls and my kind comes out to play, but for now, we’re alone.
“Maybe if I come with you?—”
“No, Beatrice,” I say, cutting her off.
I’m not surprised she’s asking. I figured it would come up in our thirty minute walk to the neutral territory. She claimed she needed to visit the Paragon anyway. I didn’t believe her then either.
It’s been three days since my disastrous attempted abduction, but I finally have a plan. I don’t bother specifying this out loud, but Beatrice’s presence would absolutely ruin it.
“Since you’re here though,” I say, glancing at her. She’s wearing a more feminine dress today, with a high neckline and lacy tights. The outfit is a blend of deep purples and softviolets. Her dark eyes cling to mine, hopeful. “Tell me about our next group of initiates.”
“Oh, sure,” she says. She blows out a heavy breath. “I easily picked twenty recruits, and I think I’ll be able to add another ten. I know you want forty, but…”
She trails off. This time, her attention stays straight ahead. We’ve walked far enough to leave the largest estates out of sight. Now, we’re surrounded by a strip of vampire-owned stores. Stone building after stone building promises one service or another, ranging fromthe best bloodletters in the Echotoone-hour venom extractionandwalk-up fang cleaning.
At nightfall, they’ll all come to life. Heavy music will thump through most buildings, and drunken vampires will arrive to party, hook up, and forget their shitty reality.
“I don’t want forty,” I say. “Ineedforty. That means you’ll find forty, understood?”
“Yes, Master,” she says. Though I don’t look at her, I can see her sharp nod from my peripheral. “It’s just hard to find vampires willing to work, to fight.”
“Good thing we’re about to give them something worth fighting for.”
Ten minutes later, we reach the divide between the Night Realm and the neutral territory. Despite myself, I hesitate. It’s likely not long enough for Beatrice to notice, but I hate thatInotice.
There wasn’t always this sharp divide between each territory. Once, the Echo was a unified kingdom, and the vampires ruled it all. It was the witches who destroyed everything.
They started by placing these dividers. Deep black lines that scorched the ground, cutting through anything in their path. Grass, dirt, stone, it didn’t matter. A black line spreadthrough the Echo, separating us into respective territories, making it more difficult to travel between them.
The Night Realm.
The Day Realm.
The Flight Realm.
The Float Realm.
And then, of course, the neutral territory. This is where the academy educates our youth, where the council conducts its meetings, where the filthy, alluring humans live.
Injury to any supernatural creature is forbidden here. Much as I’m tempted to kill a couple witches as we pass them, I don’t. Any supernatural who attempts to harm another supernatural faces the consequences, quite literally.
