by Cate Corvin
Step two: give her what she wants.
Her smile had become colder and more calculating as I spoke. “And what might that be?”
Ivy had frozen in the corner, glaring at me with a mixture of rage and panic.
“I wish to handfast to Dominic Steele,” I said, clasping my hands in my lap. “You must know by now that we’ve been seeing each other.”
Gilt nodded as Ivy’s mouth fell open.
She could ruin everything… but that would burn herself down as well.
“Dom simply is a treat, isn’t he?” Gilt mused. “A mirrorwalker from Steelblood. Really, we could do far worse…” She glanced at Ivy, who’d managed to wipe the shock off her face.
I’d already banked on the fact that Gilt didn’t know about Ivy’s blackmailed handfasting. Ivy wasn’t in line to inherit Cimmerian. If I was reading the situation right, Gilt wouldn’t want to waste her on a good handfasting match. Ivy could just cut and run.
The heir of Giltglass, on the other hand…
“He’s already spoken for me,” I said, leaning forward in my seat. “He’s devoted, Matriarch.”
Or he was, until he found out what I’d done here today.
Ivy’s face had gone from an alarming purplish-red to stark white. She just needed one last push to send her over the edge.
Step three: what motivated Gilt more than anything else?
I held up my hand, the Steelblood ruby glittering like blood. “It would make us so happy to join him to Giltglass,” I said, with the most self-satisfied smile I could muster. “Steelblood would make an excellent financier to expand the academy and the coven’s efforts.”
Gilt’s eyes lingered on the ruby, greed coming alive in her face.
Three, two, one…
“You can’t do this, Aunt Mal,” Ivy said, dropping a book on the shelf. Her face was contorted, no longer quite so pretty.
“And why not, Ivy?”
I glanced up at my coven-sister. “Yes, why not?”
She was ghostly pale under her blush. “I… he… he’s a Warden, Aunt Mal!”
The silence was a fist pressing down on us.
“Of course he is.” I smiled at her, but my heart was pounding in my throat. “So is Warden Vega. Funny how easily they can be bought, isn’t it? Better to have a Justiciar- perhaps an Inquisitor one day- as part of the family. A line straight to the Tribunal’s ear.”
The look of disbelief on Ivy’s face was so fucking satisfying. She had no idea why he was really here, motivated by personal vengeance rather than orders from the Tribunal.
But Gilt seemed completely unsurprised by the admission, which was more than a little nerve-wracking. Had she suspected? A bead of cold sweat ran down my back. Maybe banking on his status had been a mistake.
Gilt was usually so collected it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
It quickly became obvious. She gnawed her lower lip, glaring down at her ledger. Running an academy took a lot of money.
Running an academy with secret machines in the basement and constant bribes to pay took an obscene amount of money.
“It’s a tempting offer,” she said. “I’m not surprised at his provenance, skilled as he is. If he’s willing to join our inner circle, though…”
Relief swelled under the fear.
Step four: lay the gratitude on thick.
“It’s not just an offer, Matriarch,” I said. “It’s a promise. You raised me up into something I might never have achieved on my own. Let me repay you and Grandfather for this kindness. Dominic would join the inner circle for me- and for us. He knows how much this means to me.”
Ivy was practically hyperventilating. I resisted the urge to smirk at her.
She was backed into a corner, and taking me down would mean admitting she was here for one thing only: taking the covenstead from under its current mistress.
“It is my duty to find the best matches for my coven-daughters,” Gilt said. She tapped the fountain pen on the ledger, and let it roll to the table. “I’ll speak to him. If his matriarch’s agreed to a Giltglass match, you may have just made us a very rich coven, Lucrezia dear.”
I beamed at her. “Of course, Matriarch.”
If she didn’t leave immediately, I was going to be sick from sheer nerves.
Gilt strode from the office and Ivy paused in the doorway, torn between following her and defending her position, and tearing me down.
I finally let coldness creep into my voice. “Try your best, sister.”
With a last burning glance at me, she fled on our matriarch’s heels. Her attempt to salvage the situation would be a complete failure.
I stood up and adjusted my jacket, glancing at Anthony. “You might want to take care of the gardens before our matriarch gets back, Anthony.”
He jerked, a hint of alarm coming into his stony little eyes. “Of course, Miss Gilt.”
He’d find a few uprooted hedges in the Headmistress’s favorite corner of the garden, courtesy of two highly destructive wolves.
As soon as he was gone, I ran my hand over the pink wallpaper, remaining out of reach of the Helping Hands’ stain.
The wall shimmered, and the workroom door appeared as the twins slipped into the office and shut the main door behind them.
“Did it work?”
“It did, otherwise the Helping Hands would be eating me right now.” Now that the most nerve-wracking part was over, my heart had decided to start hammering again with belated relief. I pushed into Gilt’s private work room.
The pentacle remained on the floor, and everything was still lit with the eerie green light overhead. The ashy remainder of the ghoul I’d burned to death had been swept away.
It was hard to believe I’d stood in the pentacle, shaky and unsure, only two months ago.
Two walls of the work room were lined with bookshelves, but the east wall only had abstract black-and-white paintings hung on them, depicting rough, writhing figures.
“You two stay back,” I whispered. “I don’t know how far the curses reach.”
Roman and Shane were both tense, their bodies thrumming like they were just holding back the wolves inside them. “Lu…”
I touched Shane’s cheek, and rose up on my tiptoes to kiss each one. “This will work. You Saw us, Shane.”
I met his fierce gaze, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
If we’d changed Holly’s fate, then any number of things could’ve happened to change his Sight.
I might not walk out of this room alive.
My stomach felt like it was full of acid as I circled the pentacle, every sense quivering as I felt for the curse-chain.
As soon as I lowered my mental wards, it became obvious. I felt the twins behind me, the creeping frost of Roman’s signature, the mist-like tendrils of Shane’s, and the curse-chain’s malevolent watchfulness in front of me.
It was twined around the painting in the middle, which was nearly as tall as I was, like a briar of glowing roses. Astrictus, Delirium, Excruciatus, and Lethaeus were all woven into a chain that felt an intruder, twining like an agitated snake that longed to bite.
I kept my distance as I pondered the chain, beads of sweat running down my back. The loose end of Astrictus was easy enough to find… but Delirium spun in a confusing whirl, knocking me off-balance, and Excruciatus’ malice was palpable enough to churn my stomach. Lethaeus hid behind them all, a watchful fog that frightened me almost more than the others.
The key was in how Gilt expected someone to approach, and the right way to get through to her. She was too coy for force, and she expected a feint. Seduction wouldn’t work; her feelings were cold, and she responded to what served her best, whatever catered to her greedier desires.
Persuasion.
I reached out to Astrictus. It wanted to bind, and I had something for it right here- take a twin, I had two, after all.
When it reached out for Roman, the closest of the two, I tugged the loose end and unraveled the first c
urse before the chain could go off.
My hands started shaking. If I’d been a second too late…
Delirium whirled a little faster now. I whispered to it, if it would just unbind itself from the chain, it would be free to wreak all the mayhem in the world, a whole school to cast into turmoil…
It was lulled by the tempting offer, pulling just far enough from Excruciatus to leave its vulnerable thread open to me. I pulled it and felt the hypnotic whirlwind of a curse dissipate.
My knees felt like water. Sweat covered my back now.
“Bambi.” Shane’s voice was strained, and Roman made a noise to quiet him.
I needed all my concentration for the last two, the ones that frightened me the most.
Excruciatus just wanted to hurt someone, anyone, and Lethaeus wanted to turn everything to Death, the gray fog of forgetfulness.
I shivered, remembering how easy it was for my essential self to vanish on the deadside of the mirror.
With my wards down, I tentatively reached out to Excruciatus. I would tempt it into coming after me, and pull the thread-
The curse snapped, and Roman hit the floor with a thud, his heels drumming the floor as an animalistic sound tore out of him. Every muscle and vein stood out under his skin as he seized in agony.
“Roman!” Shane lunged for his twin, and Lethaeus reached out to scoop him into its fog.
My panic almost swamped me. I reached out blindly, grasping for the remainder of Excruciatus. It wasn’t too late to stop it from latching on.
The curse unraveled, its agony fading into mere pain, and I tugged the loose end of Lethaeus while it reached for Shane.
The last curse vanished with a sigh, leaving behind a patch of ice-cold air.
I stumbled to Roman, who gasped for air, lying flat on his back. His dusky skin had gone ghost-white, fingers clenching and unclenching, and a sheen of sweat glittered on his face.
Shane crouched over his twin, yanking one of Roman’s arms over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of him. Get what we need, Lu.”
With a last horrified glance at Roman, I turned back to the painting.
It came off the wall easily, revealing a door lacquered a glossy black. I felt for any secondary curses, just in case Ivy had lied to Dominic, but felt nothing.
Gilt had been sure her curse-chain would destroy anyone who came too close, and she’d almost been right.
Almost.
I took a deep breath and opened the door.
Several books lined the bottom of the safe. A thick parchment scroll laid on top of them, and a gleaming rowan sword leaned in the corner, the wood dusty with lack of use.
My mouth went dry. The plain leather binding of the Rites of the Cage was there.
I slid the book out and peeked into the scroll. The blueprints of Cimmerian’s grounds were just visible on the first page, touched with gold and silver ink here and there.
I almost shut the safe then, but the sword caught my eye again, lonely and unused. A seal was embossed on the hilt, a coven-seal that made me gasp.
I grabbed the sheath and tilted the sword to look at the tiny cameo.
The sword came with me, the book, and the blueprints.
***
I pressed a cold cloth to Roman’s head and made him take a handful of pain pills. There was almost nothing I wouldn’t have traded for a witch with healing magic to be sent to Cimmerian right now.
He’d escaped the full effects of Excruciatus, but it would be hours before the pain would fully fade.
“Just let me run it off, Blondie,” he grumbled, but he was still pale and drawn. Every movement seemed to hurt him.
“Shut up and let me baby you.” I kissed him carefully, barely touching him just in case the pressure of my lips set off a fresh wave of pain. “I should’ve known Gilt’s curse would be strong enough to reach that far.”
“You couldn’t have anticipated that, Lu.” Shane paced the room, glancing out the window as the sun set.
“I could’ve,” I said bitterly. “I made the mistake of being as blind as she was.”
Someone knocked on the door. My heart jumped into my throat.
Demonseed twisted around the door, which meant it wasn’t Gilt or Ivy. I answered it with less fear, but a greater trepidation.
Dominic looked pissed.
No, worse.
He looked furious, hot anger snapping in his eyes and written in every tense line of his body.
But as soon as I answered the door, relief pushed through his rage. His eyes ran over me from head to toe, looking for any sign that I was injured or insane.
“You can’t yell in here,” I said quietly. “Roman took a hit from Excruciatus.”
Dominic’s face softened a touch, but anger still smoldered beneath it. “I wasn’t planning on yelling at you, Lucrezia.”
I held up a finger and poked my head back in my room. “I need to settle things with Dom. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Roman was recovered, we were heading straight to Locke with our goods.
Dominic gripped my wrist, and I let him lead me down the stairs to the hall of entomology.
The frosted glass window of Discipline was cracked in several places. “What happened here?”
“Ivy,” he said shortly.
He set what seemed like a thousand charms on every door we passed, until he thrust me onto the couch.
We stared at each other, me looking up, him looking down.
I held out my hand, showing the Steelblood ring with its ruby sparkling next to Giltglass’s amber.
“Now I can wear it openly.”
Dominic exhaled harshly, even as a look of triumph flashed across his face. “At what expense? Mallory is well aware of my status now, thanks to this scheme of yours.”
“You think she didn’t have some inkling before today? You’re not that naïve, Dominic, and she’s not that stupid. Besides, she desperately wants both a mirrorwalker and a Warden on her side.”
“You seem to believe she is,” he purred, stalking closer. I repressed a shiver; if he’d agreed with the false proposal I’d framed for Gilt, he was my fiancé now.
Ivy had no hold over him any more. I’d finally gotten the upper hand on her.
“I don’t think she’s stupid at all. As Locke said, I think she’s blinded by her own pride. Turns out he was right.”
“You were willing to bet all of us on that.” He was in front of me in an instant, gripping my arms with iron-hard fingers. “Our lives.”
I gazed into the green-gold depths of his eyes.
He was my fiancé. It didn’t seem real.
“If I’d gambled wrong, we’d all just be dying a little sooner. That eventuality was already coming.” I wound my fingers into his collar, and he pulled me upright, every muscle in him still locked up tight. “We have the book and the blueprints now. We finally stand a real chance to win, Dom.”
“Simon,” he whispered.
“She has no idea what you’re here for. We’ll find Simon together.” I rose up on my toes, close enough to feel his breath on my face. “It wasn’t the way I wanted to do things, Dom. But it got us a little bit closer to the truth.”
He closed his eyes, his sensuous lips unsmiling. “You could’ve died, Lucrezia.”
I tugged his collar a little harder, pulling him down further. “I didn’t, though, thanks to you.”
“Kissing me isn’t going to change this. It was positively reckless.” There was no heat in his words now. “The most audacious, hare-brained scheme I’ve ever seen.”
“But it worked. That’s what counts.”
His lips were warm and soft. I nibbled his lower lip and ran my fingers through his hair as butterflies stormed through me. I’d missed this so much it almost hurt to think about.
He tasted delicious, his tongue sliding between my lips.
As much as I wanted him after weeks of anger and denial, Roman was suffering right now because of me. I had to go back to him.
&nb
sp; I kissed Dom a last time, running my tongue over his cupid’s bow and tracing the stubbled line of his jaw. “I need to go to Roman, and I don’t want our first time as an engaged couple be while you’re still angry with me, anyways.”
Dom’s hazel eyes were dark with lust and he gripped my arms with ruthless intensity, but he leaned his forehead against mine and sighed.
“I’m not angry with you, Lucrezia. In fact, I’m grateful that you’ve proven to be more cunning than Ivy.” He released my arm and laced his fingers through mine, lifting my hand to see the Steelblood ring. “Or… is this a ruse of yours to keep Mallory in the dark?”
My mouth went dry. “I didn’t think so.” When we’d destroyed Giltglass, would he ask for it back? “I wasn’t faking, but if you didn’t… if you wanted to wait…”
He kissed me hard enough to bruise, sending a jolt of heat right through my body. “I’m not waiting for anything, Lucrezia. This is exactly what I want. Now let me help Mister Frost, so all of this trouble will have been worth it.”
“I’m sure he’d appreciate it.” I was a little more breathless than I’d meant to be.
“It’s fairly simple to remove lingering curse effects,” he said, pulling me from his bedroom and through the classroom. I resisted the urge to scoff, feeling light-headed from giddiness.
I had Dominic. Roman would be okay. We had the book and the blueprints.
It was almost going too well.
“Simple for you, maybe,” I said, rapping on my door.
Shane let us in and tensed a little when Dom walked in after me. “He can help Roman.”
Dom leaned over Roman, who was still sweating and shaky, his tendons standing out like cords under his skin. “Lucrezia, watch.”
I stood at his side and lowered my wards at his instruction, looking for remnants of Excruciatus.
“You separate the curse from the body,” Dom explained, and crushed the curse’s remains out of existence.
Roman sat up with a groan, color flooding his face again. “I’ll be honest, Blondie, next time you want to do something like that, the answer is going to be a resounding ‘fuck no’, thanks.”
I heaved a sigh of relief and wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his lavender and oakmoss scent. Without the curse wracking him with pain, I squeezed as hard as I could, burying my nose against his neck.
