by Sarra Cannon
Mary Anne suspected as much, but it was the first time I’d ever heard confirmation of it. I wished more than anything that I could somehow let Mary Anne know the truth. Her mom was safe from the Mother Crow. That would make her happy just to know she had gotten away.
What I wanted to know now was why hadn’t these women contacted us? Why hadn’t Mary Anne’s mother let her know she was free? They surely would have been welcomed into the safety of Harper’s castle in the Shadow World, if they’d wanted it.
“Do you know where they are now?” I asked.
“No one knows,” she said. “If we did, we would have probably gone after them. The Mother Crow is very harsh on any woman who doesn’t return to the family, but we’ve never seen or heard from them since. She did send a few search parties out looking for them, though. She even used her trackers, hoping to catch some glimpse of them out there.”
“The Mother Crow has trackers?” I asked. This conversation was definitely giving me some inside info on the crows. If I ever did manage to escape, I could pass all of this along to Mary Anne and the others before I died.
“She has five,” Mary Evelyn said. “They’re very good, too, and even though they had feathers and some of the belongings of the women who disappeared, they haven’t so much as caught the first scent of them since the battle. It’s like they completely vanished into thin air. After a while, the Mother Crow stopped wasting resources on them. I guess she figured as long as they didn’t bother us, she had more important things to do.”
I relaxed a little. So, my mother was safe. Maybe it really had been her who’d sent me the original invitation to Venom.
There was still some question about it, because the invite had come on a very specific thick red paper that Rend had associated with the Devil. He said the Devil always used that paper and had it made to order. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you could go to the local stationery shop and pick up off the shelf.
Rend still believed maybe it was my fake mother—the one I’d grown up believing was my real mother—who had sent that invitation, but that never made any sense to me. She’d wanted me dead, so why on earth would she have sent me straight into the arms of a powerful vampire known to protect witches?
That part was still a mystery to me, but I wanted very badly to believe that my real mother had been watching over me the whole time.
“I should probably go,” Mary Evelyn said, standing up and reaching for the empty tray. “I’ve probably stayed too long as it is.”
I stood with her.
“Thank you for keeping me company,” I said. “It was nice to have someone to talk to.”
“If I can, I’ll bring you some cards or something to help occupy your time when I bring lunch later,” she said. “I’ll have to ask permission first, though.”
“Do you know how long they intend to keep me locked up in here?” I asked. I gestured to the small suite of rooms. “I mean, it’s not like I can really do anything if I were allowed to be out in the village with the others, right?”
I touched the stone embedded in my chest.
“I have a feeling this thing isn’t going to let me get very far, even if I wanted to escape,” I said.
She gave me a sad smile. “No, I don’t think it will,” she said. “I wouldn’t try to cast any spells, either.”
“I already found that out the hard way,” I said, trying to laugh it off despite the memory of the excruciating pain it had caused me.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this can’t be easy for you, but I hope you will find some comfort in knowing that your sacrifice will help to keep the rest of the family safe for a very long time to come.”
Yeah, that’s a total comfort.
I tried to smile, but I doubted my ability to be convincing.
“Maybe it would be easier for you if you’d grown up here,” she said. “If you really knew everyone in the family, you’d feel differently, I just know it.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“The women here are wonderful, Mary Francis,” she said. “Strong and powerful. Dedicated to the crows. It’s a really nice life here in the village. It hasn’t been as easy or as comfortable since we had to start moving around so often, but once this transfer is complete and the Mother Crow is more powerful than ever, I think we’ll be able to stay in one place again. You have no idea how wonderful that will be for all of us. That stability. The Mother Crow and this village keep us safe from all those out there who would hurt us.”
“Like who?” I asked. “Do you really think that if you were all allowed to leave and live your life in the real world, you would have enemies out there still trying to hurt you?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, nodding. “There are all kinds of dangers out there beyond the trees. Vampires thirsty for our blood. The witches of the Order of Shadows, who would gladly sacrifice us for our power. The Others. There are so many threats, Mary Francis. Staying here is the only way to know we’re truly safe.”
“But what kind of life is this?” I asked. “I may be locked in this room, but you’re locked in, too. You just have a longer leash.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“I do understand,” I said. “I’ve lived out there in the big, terrifying world for over twenty years, and yes, there are scary things out there. People get killed every day. Car crashes, murders, freak accidents you can’t even imagine. But those vampires you’re so afraid of? Some of them saved my life. One of them taught me how to truly love another person more than I ever dreamed was possible. I was going to marry him, Mary Evelyn. He would have cut his own arm off before he’d ever hurt me. And there are those like Harper and Mary Anne who are fighting against the Order of Shadows, which if you ask me, is a hell of a lot better than hiding in some village, pretending you’re not a prisoner.”
“You shouldn’t talk like that,” she said. “It isn’t right.”
“I’m not trying to upset you. I’m just saying that maybe you believe the things you believe simply because someone told you it was true,” I said. “But sometimes you have to consider the source. Do you think a woman who considers you an extension of herself—her property—would want you to know about the beautiful, amazing parts of life out there beyond her reach? Do you think she would be able to keep you here if you knew what true love felt like? Or what it meant to make your own decisions every day? To be free?”
Her face twisted into a grimace, and she turned away.
“I’m done talking with you,” she said. “I shouldn’t have stayed here.”
My shoulders fell, and I leaned my head back, frustrated at myself for saying what was really on my mind. I hoped I hadn’t just ruined the one partial friendship I’d established here. I might need her help later.
“Wait,” I said, touching her arm as she opened the door.
“I should go,” she said, but she didn’t leave. Not yet.
“You said you were successful on your mission, right?” I asked. “With William? You conceived a child? Can I meet her? How old is she?”
Her blue eyes darkened, and she looked away, her neck growing stiff.
“My child was a boy,” she said. She cleared her throat to try to mask the trembling of her voice, but I heard the pain in her words. “He was sacrificed for the power and glory of the Mother Crow when he was only twelve hours old.”
My hand flew to my mouth, and I gasped. Oh, God, how could a woman have her newborn baby taken from her arms and then stand here and defend this place and the Mother Crow? I could never understand that kind of twisted loyalty.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know.”
“See? We’ve all made sacrifices to keep our life here safe,” she said. “Your sacrifice is just one more in a line of many.”
With that, she walked out, shutting the door behind her.
A few seconds later, I heard the familiar click of five deadbolts being locked from the outside. A reminder now that the life I had dreamed
of and prayed for as a child—a life surrounded by my family—was nothing more than a prison made of nightmares.
Let Her Die
Rend
The witch on the bed looked to Silas, as if asking his permission. He nodded to her.
“Tell him what you told me,” he said. “Start from the beginning.”
“Can you at least untie me?” she asked. “My whole body is getting sore from being bound like this. And really? What am I going to do? Attack two vampires on my own? I mean, look at me. I’m covered in bites. I barely survived the last attack.”
“Not until I trust you,” I said, not giving Silas a chance to respond. “You’ll have to forgive me, but your Mother Crow just took someone very important to me, and so help me, if I find out you’ve been sent here by her as a part of some scheme, you’ll wish you hadn’t survived long enough to ever meet me.”
Her eyes grew wide and frightened, but I didn’t care. I’d had enough of the Mother Crow’s tricks to last a lifetime, and I wasn’t going to just walk into another trap so easily.
I took the Dagger of Truth from my bag and set it on the bed between us, then I pulled up a chair from a desk Silas had in the corner and turned it backwards before sitting down.
“Talk.”
“What’s that?” she asked, eyeing the dagger. “If you’re just going to slit my throat when this is done—”
“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t slit your throat,” I said. “But if you don’t start telling me what you know, I’ll put an end to you, witch.”
“Fine,” she said, pulling her shoulders back. “My name is Mary Tate. And yes, I was once part of the crow family ruled by the Mother Crow, but I haven’t lived with those women for over a year. Some of my sisters got away after the battle in Peachville, and we never looked back.”
“I’m listening,” I said.
The dagger proved she was telling the truth, so I was willing to hear her out. Still, it didn’t rule out the fact that she was working for the Mother Crow as some sort of spy, so I kept my guard up.
“There are twelve of us who got away, and it hasn’t been easy to stay hidden,” she said. “Franki’s mother, Mary Kathryn, is one of the twelve of us who have been hiding, hoping to never be taken back to the crow village.”
I straightened. So, Franki’s mother had escaped, after all.
I tightened my jaw and glanced over at Silas. If he had told us about this witch right away, we might have been able to question her before Franki was taken. It might have given us options, which might have led us down an entirely different path.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he mumbled. “Just let her tell her story, and I’ll explain to you afterwards why I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on Franki at her mother’s request, but lately it’s gotten dangerous,” she said. “As you now know, there were other crows watching Franki, which meant that if we were discovered, it would mean the death of all of us. The Mother Crow is not a forgiving woman.”
“That’s putting it lightly, I’m sure,” I said.
“It is,” she said. “She’s a horrible woman, and if I had it my way, we’d all have gotten as far away from her as possible and never looked back.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Because we all care about the women who are being held prisoner in that village,” she said. “And several of the women in our group have children. Daughters they love very much and want to see safe. Mary Anne’s mother is with us, and she does what she can to keep an eye on her daughter from a distance, though that’s more difficult when Mary Anne is in the Shadow World. Still, she trusts Harper to keep her safe.”
“What about you? Do you have a daughter?”
“No. I had a son,” she said, her lip trembling. “I’m sure you already know what happens to boys who are born in the village.”
“Yes,” I said, frowning. “I’m sorry.”
“Sometimes, girls are allowed to go back out and try again, but I was not one of the lucky ones, and I was never able to have another child,” she said. “But others in our group still have daughters in the village.”
“Why would they have abandoned their children?” I asked.
“Because a life on the run is more dangerous for the younger girls,” she said. “So, we stay near home, hiding and masking our presence however possible. We watch, and we wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“For any sign of weakness or change that might allow us to attack the village,” she said. “Not everyone who lives with the Mother Crow despises her the way we do. Some are obsessively loyal, believing her lies and going along with anything she asks. If we attack, we believe there are some who would turn and fight with us, but I believe we’d still be outnumbered. Then, there’s the children to worry about. I have no doubt the Mother Crow would gladly use them as a shield against us, killing them before our eyes if we didn’t stand down. None of us are willing to let that happen.”
“Does this mean you know where the Mother Crow’s village is right now?” I asked, the first sign of hope stirring in my heart.
“No, I’m sorry,” she said. “They’ve been moving around too often. I knew of their previous location, but they moved again recently, and there’s only one in our group who knows where they are now.”
My mouth went dry, and I leaned forward. “Who? Can you take me to her?”
“This is where it gets complicated,” Silas said.
“Mary Kathryn is the only one who knows,” she said. “We have a system for figuring out where they are, and she was just coming back from learning the new location when we were all attacked.”
“By these vampires?” I asked.
“Yes. A group of them,” she said. “There were three of us sent to meet Mary Kathryn and bring her to our new home. See, we change locations often, too, just to be sure the Mother Crow can’t easily find us. We were scheduled to meet Mary Kathryn and take her back to our new home, but we were betrayed. The vampires were waiting for us.”
“Betrayed by whom?”
“By one of our own,” she said, tears gathering on her lashes. “Mary Allen. She was an older witch, and we all thought she was loyal to us. She ran away with us from the battle, and the twelve of us trusted each other with our lives.”
“How do you know for sure she was the one who betrayed you?”
“Because she signaled to them. The vampires. When Mary Kathryn returned, she signaled to them, and they emerged from the shadows around us,” she said. “She was also the only one who stepped away and didn’t fight them. She just watched as they hurt us.”
“Where is she now?”
“Who?”
“Mary Allen.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We fought against the vampires with all our strength, but they were impossible to defeat. They practically drained Mary Kathryn, but they didn’t kill her. They carried her away. The other woman who was with us was named Mary Angel. She was killed.”
The tears flowed freely now, and my heart hurt for this woman. She was telling the truth, and her sorrow was evident in every word she spoke. She had loved that woman, and she had watched her die.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“I’m worried for the rest of our small coven,” she said. “Mary Allen knows where they are, and I was too afraid to go back there. Afraid of what I might find if I did.”
“Why did you come here, instead?” I asked. “How do you even know Silas or where he lives?”
“It’s hard not to notice a vampire who’s been looking for the Mother Crow as hard as he has,” she said, glancing over at him.
This part made me laugh, because I’d been searching for Silas, too, and I hadn’t found anything.
“We’ve been watching him for months now, and we all assumed he had some reason to want the Mother Crow dead. When Mary Kathryn noticed the stone he wears around his neck, she recognized who he was. What his purpose was for finding the Mothe
r Crow. You want to save your father, don’t you?”
She was staring openly at Silas now, and he nodded.
“Among other things,” he said.
“I came here, because I hoped to find a powerful ally. Someone who would have an intense interest in rescuing Mary Kathryn. Solomon loved her.”
“He did,” Silas said.
“But how are we supposed to figure out where they’ve taken her?” I asked.
“This is the part we need to discuss before we make any decisions,” Silas said. “Tell him what you noticed about one of the vampires that attacked you.”
“He had a number carved in a circle on his wrist.” She nodded and looked at my arm. “Similar to the circle on yours.”
I tensed. Shit. This wasn’t good news.
“What number?” I asked.
“Three.”
Raum.
“Silas told me that number means he’s very powerful. One of the rulers of your kind?” she asked.
“He’s one of the original members of our Council,” I said. “And it’s not surprising he would want to kidnap the only witch who knows where the Mother Crow is hiding.”
So, I’d been right in thinking the Council wanted us to fail. But how had they known about Mary Kathryn in the first place?
Mary Allen must have told them, which meant she was probably an emissary of some kind. A go-between for both the Council and the Mother Crow. They were working together this whole time.
A strange chill ran down my spine as another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
“Tell me something, Mary Tate. Do you know if Mary Kathryn sent roses to her daughter, Franki, on her twenty-first birthday?” I asked. “Black roses with a red invitation, sending her to Venom?”
She shook her head. “Mary Kathryn didn’t send those roses,” she said. “But she was glad when Franki found you and the club. She had hoped that would keep Franki safe. And it did, for a while. She’s going to be devastated when she hears about what’s happened now. If she’s even still alive.”
I closed my eyes as I worked to piece it all together.
