House of Secrets and Vows (Crown of Deceit #1)

35. Playing the Game

35

PLAYING THE GAME

I 've always been good at playing the game, but as Nevan's hand grazes my cheek, I can't stop myself from leaning into his touch.

My biggest rule since joining the resistance has been never to get too attached. It's how I’ve spent so many nights in Quin's bed and have no idea where he came from or why he joined the resistance.

I’ve licked every inch of his body, for fuck’s sake, and I don't know his middle name or if he has a family.

Everything is different with Nevan. I’ve spent the last six months dreaming of revenge, but now I want something else.

Something dangerous.

I force myself to pull away from him. "My feet can't take any more dancing."

It isn’t a lie. While the dress I’m wearing hugs my body like a second skin, the shoes are a size too small.

"We've made our appearance." He scans the room. "Mavet knows where to find me if he has a problem with us leaving."

We’re both quiet on the walk back to the room. The hallway isn't private enough for a real conversation, and even in our room, we risk being overheard.

Truthfully, I'm not in the mood to talk right now.

Mavet knows my secret, something he’s made clear many times now. He enjoys holding it over my head, the bastard. What he plans to do with the knowledge is what worries me.

When Nevan and I have settled back into our room, he paces in front of the hearth.

"What's the matter?" I approach him and place a hand on his shoulder.

He quits pacing, but his foot taps on the ground. "I don't know how much longer I can be here."

"In this room?"

"No, in this fucking underground prison."

"As soon as we find Aella?—"

"What if she isn't here? What if all we're doing is wasting our fucking time?"

"You agreed to help me."

"And I'm trying . Mavet gave me a tour of this entire place and I didn't see her." He frowns. "I want to find her, but I can’t stay here."

"Maybe you forgot what she looks like. Make Mavet take you on another tour and take me."

"I remember what she looks like. I’ll never forget her." Sorrow settles into the lines of his face.

I swallow the emotion that threatens to pour from me. "We have to keep trying. If she isn't here, then that means..."

Nevan turns toward me and cups my cheek in his hand. "Mavet wants me to become a monster. I've spent so long fighting the curse, pretending that if I stay determined, it won't change me, but if I don't leave here soon, he's going to succeed."

"You don't know that."

“You saw what I looked like when I returned from the tour. I fed from another human."

"Why?" My stomach clenches at the thought.

"There was a prisoner?—"

“You think someone deserves to be drunk from just because they’re a prisoner?”

He huffs through a clenched jaw. “That’s not what I said. Look, I’m trying my best not to become a monster, but being here is making it difficult.”

"You should have thought about that before joining the fucking House of Blood." I turn away from him and cross the room. "You had everything already. Why couldn't you be happy with all the glory and riches of being a prince?"

"You don't have to tell me what I already know. I fucking messed up. Big time. I was hurting and reckless, and I'm paying the price for it." Nevan stomps as he paces. "Every time I drink from a human, my cravings intensify. I can smell the blood coursing through your veins, and everything in me wants to cross the room and sink my teeth into your neck until I suck you dry. I will never be the same, but I'm trying so fucking hard to keep my humanity. The last thing I want is to be a monster like the rest of them."

I can't hold back the tears any longer. "If you hadn't joined, you wouldn't have been there that night. You wouldn't have drank from Aella, and Mavet wouldn't have taken her."

"I know."

A small voice in my head reminds me he’s trying to be better than the curse, but I bury the voice deep inside. I don't want to be reasonable. I want to be angry. I want to blame someone. "You swore you'd help me find her. There's still a chance."

He follows me across the room.

"We'll keep looking." He wipes the moisture from my cheek with the back of his hand. "She might be a servant and not a prisoner, and that's why I didn't see her."

Cara hadn't recognized the description I gave of Aella, but that doesn't mean she isn't here. Aella is beautiful and would be a lot more useful to Mavet as something more than a prisoner in a cell.

I shudder at the thought of just how useful my friend could be. "Just for the rest of our stay."

If we don't find her by then, I’ll have to accept it.

The intensity in his gaze swallows me whole. "You make me want to be a better person."

I step back and cross my arms. "We should sleep."

We’ve already risked too much by having the conversation at all.

He nods. "I'll take the chair."

I don't argue this time.

I sleep through the day again, but with the schedule opposite of what my body is used to, I barely get any rest. Not to mention the thoughts racing through my head. Nevan drank from a human again. The thought brings bile to my throat.

He's a vampire like the rest of them, no matter how much he tries to deny it. I can't blame him for the cravings his body now has.

And yet, imagining his teeth sunk into someone's flesh makes me nauseous.

We speak little as we dress in the clothes brought to our room. Although we're too far underground to see the sky above, according to the clock Nevan brought, twilight has arrived.

My dress is made from glimmering gold fabric that sparkles in the firelight. Its top hugs my breasts, pushing my cleavage together and making my chest appear larger than it is, while its skirt flows loosely from the waist downward.

Nevan's suit is black and embellished with a golden swirl pattern that matches my attire.

Tonight is the final official night of the House of Blood's Solstice celebration, and afterward will be the last day we sleep here.

Our time to find Aella is running out.

I excuse myself to the washroom and splash cold water on my face.

Now is not the time to fall apart. I’ve done unspeakable things for the resistance without a single thought of doubt, but this time, I have something personal on the line. Since the day Aella brought me to the Temple of Secrets, she has been my family.

I came to Valazica alone, determined never to get close to anyone for fear of revealing too much about myself or, worse, losing them like I had lost those I loved before.

My worst fear came true when Aella disappeared. And when I thought she was dead, I shut off the part of my mind that grieved the loss, instead focusing all my pain on revenge.

And I sought that revenge until, with a knife to his throat, the prince told me there was a chance that she was still alive.

Everything changed at that moment. Hope I didn't know still existed surfaced with a roar.

I don't know if I will survive if the flame of that hope goes out.

I adjust the collar of the prince's jacket. "Time is running out. You need to ask Mavet about Aella."

In my restlessness, I’ve played out all of the options. I could sneak away during tonight's event and search the castle for her. Nevan could request another tour of anywhere we missed. Or we could pray she just shows up at the ball.

But with the clock ticking, waiting around is a risk I don't want to take.

"What would I ask?"

"Claim you want her to drink from her again. As the first human you drank from, surely it's believable she would hold some sentimental value." I do my best to keep the disgust I feel off of my face.

"And if she's here and Mavet obliges, what then?"

"Drink from her. Then ask that she be a gift in good faith of your alliance."

I used to consider myself a practical person. Someone who held firm to logic—who saw through bias and could put others before myself.

Now I know how wrong I was. Because if the prince offering Mavet some sort of alliance is what it takes to save my friend, then I will beg for him to do it.

Before he answers, I add, "Please. If we save Aella, I will be forever in your debt. You can ask anything of me, and I will oblige."

The fingers on his right hand twitch. "Allying with him isn't something I can do lightly."

"Just think about it."

I force my face into a mask of confidence as I walk arm-in-arm with the prince back toward the ballroom, but underneath the surface, nerves writhe through me.

Will Nevan consider my plan? Will the offer of my indebtedness be enough to persuade him?

Outside the ballroom entrance, Mavet approaches us with a grin. "Welcome to the final night of our celebrations."

Nevan pulls my arm close to him. "Another ball? I'd have expected something grander for the finale."

"Don't fret, Princeling." He gestures to the doorway. "Tonight will be quite special."

I cut in. "Oh?"

"Come, see for yourself." Mavet spins around and heads into the ballroom.

We follow him into a room that looks nothing like it did the night before. Last night, couples had twirled throughout the room to pleasant music.

Today, the room has become an arena full of large wooden boxes and randomly placed weapons.

"What is this?" I ask.

"The Sanguine Games," Mavet says. "Ten prisoners all compete for the chance at their freedom. The last one standing gets to leave here with a bag of gold and the promise never to be brought back. So long as they never speak of their time here, that is. Come. We'll be watching from up here."

Horror consumes me as we ascend a spiral staircase to the balcony above. Ten humans and only one survivor.

What if Aella is one of the contestants?

As we sit in the seats next to the Blood King, I meet Nevan's gaze and see a reflection of my dread. He slowly dips his chin as if to say he knows exactly what I’m afraid of.

If he asks about Aella now, there's a chance that Mavet will have her thrown into the game out of spite.

There is nothing we can do but sit here and watch.

"Don't look so glum." Mavet gestures at a woman standing behind him. "My guests need some entertainment. It gets quite boring living underground. Does the crown not sponsor The Legends’ Duel?"

"People enter The Legends’ Duel by choice.” Nevan grits his teeth. "They weren't stolen and forced to compete. And it isn't a battle to the death."

"All technicalities."

One by one, the game contestants enter through a door in the back of the room below. Each is dressed in rags that barely cover their most private parts, and even from this far away, I can see the dirt caked on their skin.

When the second to the last one walks into the room with his head held high, Mavet grins. "See, Prince. I promised if you fed from the woman, I would make sure the prisoner was healed. Now he's better."

The warm glow in Nevan’s golden skin pales. “You saved his life to throw him into a game to the death?"

Mavet shrugs. "Poetic, is it not?"

That was why the prince drank from a human again? To save a prisoner’s life?

I take Nevan's hand and grip it tightly, reminding him that the more anger he shows, the happier it makes the Blood King.

"Cheer up, Princeling. Now, he has a chance to earn his freedom. You should be thanking me for my kindness."

“His name is Euris.” The prince glares at Mavet, who doesn’t bother responding.

Colesef saunters to the center of the room. "Welcome to the final celebration. Tonight, our ten contestants will fight for their freedom. The winner will be returned to the world above, never to return to the Blood Den." The crowd claps. "Once the bell rings, the games begin. There are no rules. The last contestant with a pulse wins." He eyes the various weapons scattered throughout the room. "Better go find yourself a weapon."

As the contestants break apart, Colesef struts out of the arena. Before he's out of view, he turns around and adds while looking straight at Nevan and me, "And remember, any interference from the crowd will result in the interferer’s death."

Thirty seconds later, a bell chimes, and all hell breaks loose.

Different obstacles are situated throughout the space to offer protection. Two of the women, both so small compared to the men, don't bother with finding weapons and instead scatter to the outside of the room and hide together behind a large wooden box.

"They must know each other," I say.

Mavet grins. "Sisters, actually.”

"You threw sisters into a game where only one will survive?"

"They refused to be separated." He shrugs.

As a few contestants fall into battle, Tatiyana sits on the other side of Mavet.

"I thought you might have already left, Tatiyana," he says. "Glad you decided to stay."

"I might not have if I'd known this was the last event you had planned."

"Don't tell me seeing humans die upsets you. You're a vampire, are you not?"

"We aren't all as cruel as you.”

Despite being empty, my stomach sours.

“What is the point of all this?" I ask.

"I told you. Living underground is boring, and we vampires like to celebrate just as much as the nobles above. Don't pretend people don't prey on the less fortunate up there. You must have seen the starving people over this past winter. I brought some of them here to serve me. Up there, they would have died."

"You do nothing out of kindness."

"My motives are irrelevant. They had a choice. Starve or serve," Mavet says. "The Valazican King didn't give them any offer at all. If the prince allies with me, perhaps I'll discontinue this game in the future. Who knows, maybe my people and I will be invited to the next Legends’ Duel."

Next to me, Nevan is still.

Mavet raises a hand, and two minutes later, a servant with a tray of glasses of purple liquid is standing in front of him.

The servant passes each of us a glass.

I inspect the liquid, and when I deem it too purple to be blood, I bring the glass to my mouth and drink. The muddled effect liquor has on my senses might be the only way I get through this competition without lashing out.

As the wine hits my tongue, I'm met with a familiar depth of flavor. I pause as my tongue tingles.

Mavet stares right at me. "This is a special wine, a gift all the way from Solendale. Courtesy of Tatiyana."

I meet his gaze and take another long drink. "Fae wine. Delicious."

Delicious and strong, fae wine is distilled with magic to enhance not only the flavor but also the effect it has on the drinker. Liquor always muddles the senses, but fae wine could knock even the heaviest drinkers off their feet.

I'm usually so careful when I'm on resistance assignments not to drink enough to affect me, but as a contestant shoves a sword through the torso of a tall, slender woman with long black hair, I bring the glass back to my mouth and chug.

Nevan finishes his first glass shortly after I do. Mavet grins, and the servant returns with another round.

It doesn't take long for the man who had killed the woman to find the sisters huddled together behind the wooden box. They don't even try to fight as, in one long swoop, he slices through both of their throats.

As blood gushes from their wounds, hunger buzzes in the crowd. Nearly half the audience glances at Mavet, who gives one shake of his head, and no one moves from their seat.

Nevan clenches his free hand as he drinks more wine.

I reach around and rub his bicep, which is tense beneath my touch. Bloodlust pours from him as he fixates on the sisters, now slumped on the ground in a pool of their own blood.

I catch Tatiyana watching him closely, and soon I meet her worried gaze.

All the other vampires here knew what they were coming to watch tonight. They had time to prepare themselves, but Nevan didn’t have any blood before we arrived.

Not only that, but he’s spent so long denying himself that he hasn’t learned to control his cravings like the rest of them.

And if he can’t find it in himself to keep away from the blood below, he will die, and I’ll be left alone in a den of vampires.