Page 137 of A Steeping of Blood


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Spindrift?

Slowly, quietly, the Ram’s men inched toward the guests. They were being careful. They wouldn’t risk a stampede or a mob. Sidharth and the Athereum vampires saw, vigilant as they were, for they knew what it was like to live ever aware of one’s surroundings.

“Are we?” the Ram asked her.

Arthie ignored her. She didn’t know how much time they had before the men convened and chaos descended, but she intended to make the most of it. She shoved a finger in the Ram’s direction.

“You see what you trusted for a vicennial?” Arthie asked the guests. “Do you see what she’s done over the past twenty years and beyond? You came here to honor the fallen members of the press, but like the Ram’s identity, she lied about the true perpetrators: It was her and her men.”

The shouts settled to an awful quiet. Whispers swirled through the people. They lowered the flutes in their hands. There were more of the Ram’s men now, despite the closed doors. Were they coming through the tunnel? The room was a powder keg, waiting to explode.

“Is this true?” one of the Council members asked behind the Ram.

The Ram, unmasked and unchecked, didn’t look fazed or caught. She didn’t look trapped in that moment, nor the slightest bit defeated because of her missing would-be half vampires. There was a calm about her, one that sent Arthie’s thoughts into a sudden frenzy.

“Do you remember, Casimir, when I told you my only wish was that the Siwangs had found a cure for the Ripper mutations? I decided I can make do without. A pity you didn’t see them when you were underground.”

The Ripper mutations.

The Ram—the Ram had Ripper vampires underground. No. Unstoppable, unkillable Ripper vampires. How had she created them when Shaw had been so certain it wasn’t possible? That didn’t matter now. Ripper vampires werehere. Now. That meant the caged humans were no more than a distraction from her real weapon.

Arthie didn’t even try to contain her shock.

“Don’t do this,” she said. “They will kill everyone. They will not stop.”

They would never stop.

The Ram ignored her. She rang her bell again. Twice this time. The crowd held their breath, looking to Arthie with growing panic. And in the deathly silence, Arthie thought she heard glass shattering.

Like the cylinders the Siwangs had used to contain the Rippers.

That was when Arthie realized it: The Ram didn’t need a way to control the Rippers, only a way to stop them. In this case, the doors, the very same from the sanitorium on Ceylan. The walls were already fortified—it was a palace after all.

No, this was no longer a palace. It was a fortress. And the Ram was going to kill everyone inside: every last lord, lady, and Council member present.

56ARTHIE

Arthie had always thought the monarchs of Ettenia held too much power, for she had only ever seen the Ram’s rule, but the Council was not pleased by her antics.

“Who are these people?” asked one of the Council members, seeing the encroaching line of black. It was a testament to how little they knew of what happened on the streets.

“Mercenaries,” another said. “After we limited her manpower.”

“First you press for the colonies, now we find out you’re running a monopoly?” a third thundered. Of course that was more concerning than colonization.

The Council was confused, but one thing was clear: The Ram had gone to great lengths to get her way. She had lied to the Council, she had lied to her people, but it appeared she had grown tired of working around both.

She wanted to rule supreme. To stand as Ettenia’s dictator.

How better than by removing the ones who stood in the way of that? And she was going to use the Ripper vampires to do it.

Arthie raced off the stage and into the panicked crowd, finding the others. Matteo, Jin, Flick and Laith lingered with the crowd, wide-eyed and confused. “She was never going to use the half vampires. She’s using Rippers.”

“Rippers?” Jin asked. “Here?”

Arthie pushed past them in the direction of the interior bunker entrance. “Get to the bunker. They’re underground.”

“For what? We can’t fight them, Arthie,” Matteo said.