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

40. A Knife to the Gut

40

A KNIFE TO THE GUT

I 'm only half paying attention as Mavet brags about how he lured Nevan into his web, until the Blood King speaks my name and a cruel grin spreads across his face.

His eyes narrow in wicked delight as his attention latches onto me. "A priestess who secretly worked for the resistance, already convinced that nobles were spoiled, selfish people. And then when the prince went out on his initiation, he just so happened to feed from her very best friend."

He’s known I was a priestess this entire time? But that doesn't make any sense.

Unless...

Air turns to fire in my lungs as everything clicks in my mind. The noose of betrayal tightens around my throat, cutting off my breath.

My salvia turns bitter on my tongue as I wrack my mind for some alternative, something I’ve missed.

"Ahh, the priestess understands." The Blood King’s wicked grin widens. “You were always supposed to escape that night. Although if that bastard Alabek hadn't been there to force you to flee, you might have sooner attacked me than leave behind your poor, vulnerable friend. So, although I would have been happy to have killed Alabek too, it was him who unknowingly kept the plan together."

"No." My gaze snaps to the person waiting near the door, behind Maddox and Blaise. "She wouldn't..."

"Come say hi, dearie," Mavet calls to the hooded figure.

Every muscle in my body goes numb as I clutch my stomach, the world spinning around me as it had when I was a child and twirled in too many circles.

The petite, clearly female figure walks slowly toward us, with an elegant gait I would recognize anywhere. As soon as she steps next to Maddox, Aella removes her hood.

Long chestnut-colored hair falls from beneath the fabric, and Aella's horror-filled gaze meets mine.

Maddox takes her hand and tugs her closer to him.

Like some fear-stricken fool, I stare at him then Aella and then back at him, the pieces of the puzzle locking into place.

Aella had been assigned to be the Winter Solstice Priestess. She spent two entire weeks at the castle, and when she came back, she’d been different. I had thought my friend was simply tired from the demands of the celebration.

It never crossed my mind that the assignment had changed Aella.

"It seems falling in love with a priestess is something you princes share."

Aella looks at me, her expression softening.

The ache in my heart twists into lethal fury. "If you're going to kill us, just get it over with. I'm tired of all these fucking games."

Aella clasps her hands in front of her torso. “You weren't supposed to get hurt.”

I don’t bother responding. I can't stand to even look at the betrayer.

"It's not time for that quite yet, lovely. All in due time,” Mavet says. "I just wanted the brothers to get a last moment together. I thought the Princeling deserved to know who to really blame for his death."

Nevan is already staring at me when I turn toward him. He wears the same mask of sympathy and betrayal I feel, both of us victims of trusting those we thought cared for us.

Neither of us speaks as Mavet and Maddox discuss the terms of the alliance they’d formed.

“Your brother will be used in the Blood Moon ritual, where he’ll be sacrificed to Malikar as an offering of my undying allegiance to the god,” Mavet says. “And as soon as you are named king, my people will be free to hunt in the outer district of Valazica.”

My attention snaps to Aella, who now stares at the ground as she holds the younger prince’s hand.

Aella, my friend who has spent countless winter nights on the streets passing out warm soup to those who need it. Who would only spend half of the money Felix gave her to purchase food on resistance assignments so she could donate the other half to an orphanage. How can she stand there, silent as the fucking king of the vampires speaks of preying on the innocents of Valazica.

As Maddox assures the Blood King that there will be ample humans for his people to feed on, a voice speaks into my mind.

I'm sorry, Zariah. I recognize the voice as Blaise's. I didn't know you were involved in Maddox's plan until it was too late.

I keep my head still, careful not to draw any attention. You can speak into minds?

I'm fae.

Of course you are.

It's how I know you're only half human. Your glamour covers your appearance, but you aren't masking your scent.

Noted , I say, eyeing his silver ring embossed with swirls. It had struck me as familiar when I first saw it in the confessional, but I hadn’t been able to place the symbol. But now it all makes sense; the emblem decorating the ring is the symbol of the Night Court.

The pieces of everything I missed snap together in my mind. Does Maddox know what you are?

No one does.

Why would you risk telling me?

Guilt. Kindness. Stupidity. Who knows. He laughs in his mind. Look, we don't have much time. What powers do you have?

None.

None at all?

I barely know Blaise. For all I know, this is just some ploy, and he will share everything I tell him with Maddox and Mavet so they're better prepared. How do I know I can trust you?

You don't. Simple as that. But your only hope is that I genuinely want to help you, because if I don't, you're going to die.

Optimistic.

Truthful.

It’s possible that Blaise is lying to me and Maddox already knows that he’s fae, but I’ve seen the way the youngest prince looks at Ameerah. I’ve seen plenty of hatred in this kingdom, but his is unmatched. And if Maddox really doesn’t know Blaise’s heritage, then the fae male is trusting me with a deadly secret.

I lower the hand across my abdomen to my side. I don't know what powers I have. I can glamour away my fae features, but that's all I've ever risked doing.

It was all my mother had allowed me to do as a child, and after coming to Valazica, I didn't dare try anything else. I’d despised my fae heritage too strongly to want to access any magic I may have had.

Not ideal, but we'll work with what we've got.

Mavet's words pull me momentarily out of the conversation in my mind. "We'll see how long Nevan can resist draining the girl."

Blaise continues, He's going to throw you and Nevan back in the cell you were in until the full moon, which is when he plans to perform some ritual with Nevan. I don't have long enough to tell you much, but the fae magic in your blood will heighten Nevan’s vampiric strengths.

He'll kill me if he drinks from me.

You can stop him with your magic.

I don't know how.

You'll have to figure it out.

Maddox walks in front of me, straight for his brother. "You never deserved the crown. You or River."

Nevan spits in his face.

Blaise stares at me. If you will your blood to be poisonous to a vampire, it will be.

I don't want to poison him, I say in my mind.

Command your blood to boil, and he will stop. Trust me. You need to keep your strength, so only allow him a little at a time over the next few days. And discreetly test out your magic. Even a little bit of power will help.

As Maddox steps away from Nevan, he pauses in front of me. "Sorry to bring you into all this, but it's for the greater good."

Was that what he told Aella to convince her to betray me?

I spit on him too, my shot landing on his cheek.

Anger flashes across his face, but he wipes off the spit and continues to Aella.

When he wraps his arm around her waist, she looks at me.

I grind my teeth and glare.

After wanting nothing more than for Aella to still be alive, I no longer care to be in the same room with her. In fact, I pray I never see the backstabbing bitch again.

Blaise approaches Nevan first. "You should have seen this coming, prince. Your brother has always been the ambitious one."

I expect Nevan to spit on him as he’d done to Maddox, but his gaze narrows before simply saying, "Bastard."

Blaise moves to me. "It was nice meeting you, Priestess. Perhaps in a different life, we could have been friends."

He leans in to hug me, and says into my mind, Keep up the ruse that you hate me, but open your hand.

I do as he commands. "I'd never want to be your friend."

Reaching around me in an awkward gesture, he drops something into my palm. If you ingest this, your blood will become a sleeping elixir. It won’t last long, so use it wisely.

"Nice knowing you both." Blaise speaks aloud again, and he joins Maddox and Aella near the doorway.

Mavet stands and waves.

"I'll take good care of them. Don't you worry." He beckons to Colesef. "Lock the love birds up together and see how long they last."

Nevan and I are shoved back into the cell with our hands still cuffed behind us.

I can't slow my momentum and crash into the ground, face first. My cheek collides with the stone floor, and I bite back a curse as my skin scrapes against the ground.

One of the guards tosses a key before slamming the cell door. “Good luck unlocking those cuffs.”

I roll around and sit up. My face burns from the impact of the fall, but instead of wishing the pain would go away, I lean into it. It’s nothing compared to the ache in my chest.

Unlike me, Nevan catches his balance and paces back and forth.

“Blaise is right. I should have seen this coming. I’ve always known Maddox had ambition.” He kicks a rock on the ground and it ricochets off the stone wall, nearly smacking him in the face. “It all makes perfect sense now. And I played right into it all like a fucking fool. I saw him spending time in the Temple with the priestess last winter. I thought it was just because he was mourning the loss of our brother.”

He pauses and looks at me. “Are you… How are you taking all of this?”

“We need to focus on a way to escape.”

“I know but you just?—”

I drop the packet of sleeping elixir from my hand. “Blaise told me that you need to drink from me.”

“Blaise?”

I hesitate. If I tell Nevan that Blaise spoke in my mind, he’ll figure out that his brother’s friend is fae. But I’ve already kept secrets from Nevan, and it’s always backfired.

“Blaise spoke into my mind. He’s always known I’m part fae because, as a fae himself, he recognized my scent.”

“Blaise is fae? But there’s no way Maddox would trust him.”

“Maddox doesn’t know. And if we tell him, it will cost Blaise his life.” I wait until Nevan nods, a silent promise that this information will remain between us. I still am not positive that Blaise can be trusted, or that he’s worth protecting. But with no other ideas, hoping he is genuine in his strategy to help us escape is the only option I can think of.

I try to slip my hands through the metal cuffs, but my palm is too large. “As a fae, my blood will heighten your strengths. He told me to have you feed from me.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“No, I can stop you.” My declaration is firm, but I have no real confidence that I’ll be able to draw my power. Not after so many years of pushing it away. But if Nevan has any doubt that I am capable of keeping myself safe, then he won't drink. “Blaise told me how to protect myself.”

Not a lie, even if I am not confident in my ability to actually do it.

“You’re sure?” He raises a brow as if he sees right through me.

“Trust me.”

His stern expression doesn’t waver. Asking him to trust me right after he found out I’ve been hiding my enemy heritage the entire time he’s known me is a lot, but this is our only hope.

And if he drains me dry then so be it. I came here to save a friend who betrayed me. If my death gives Nevan a chance, then it won’t be for nothing.

“First, let’s get our cuffs off,” I say.

It takes a few tries, but I am able to grab the key from the ground. Then with our backs together, I finally find the hole in Nevan’s bonds and twist the key. After a click, he pulls his hands from the cuff and then unlocks me.

I extend my wrist to him. “Okay. Eat up.”

I smile half-heartedly.

He frowns. “I don’t think I can.”

“You have to. It’s our only hope. We have until the full moon to get your stamina and power up. And we have to do it without draining all my strength.” I wiggle my wrist. “I’ll give you a little a few times a day.”

“And if you can’t stop me?”

“Then I’ll be dead, but you’ll be really, really strong.” I don’t bother faking a smile this time. “Do it.”

He grips my arm and tugs me toward him. When he opens his mouth, his incisors are jutted into sharp points. With a final stare into my eyes, he bites into my flesh right above the lingering wound from where he fed before.

Last time, I hadn’t known what to expect. This time, I am prepared for the pain, but I am not ready for the strong wave of desire that follows.