I’d gained entrance so easily yesterday, but tonight the castle’s fortifications did their duty. “She has to be here,” I said through chattering teeth. “Every other location has been a corpse—it has to be her.”
“It’s not proof,” Chris said, shaking the map in my face. “There’s the mark located outside the city that we need to investigate, and besides, for all we know, there could be another corpse hidden somewhere in the castle.”
The snow spun and danced on the wind, the tiny white flakes mesmerizing. She was in there. I knew it.
“Cécile!” Chris shouted my name. Disorientation made me dizzy, and I shook my head, trying to clear it.
“Get away from the gate!” someone shouted. I looked up and saw a soldier in one of the guard posts pointing at us. Though I had no memory of moving, I was now most of the way across the bridge, the guards in plain sight. Fleur shied toward the edge of the bridge, and I clung to her frozen mane, afraid if I lost my seat I’d topple into the icy waters below.
Then Chris was next to me, hands reaching for the reins of my spooked horse.
“Sorry,” he shouted. “She’s drunk. I’ll take her home. We don’t want any trouble.”
“Get away from the gates or I’ll have you both thrown in the stocks for the night.” He and one of his fellows started toward us.
“Stars and heavens,” I swore, snatching up the frozen reins and digging my heels in. This was the last thing I needed. “Come on,” I shouted at Chris over the wind, and together we cantered through the city, our horses’ hooves sliding on the slick cobbles. When we reached my mother’s street, I pulled my horse to a stop. Her ears were pinned, and she sidled uneasily beneath me, snorting out puffs of mist.
“What happened to you? You looked as though you were in a trance.”
I tucked one numb hand into the pocket of my dress, trying to warm my fingers enough to use them. “I’m not sure. I was so certain she was within the walls, and then…” I broke off. “The promise took hold of me.”
Sliding out of the saddle, I handed Chris the reins. “Are you certain you’re all right to be alone?” he asked. “What if it happens again?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said quickly, wishing I felt half as confident as I sounded. “I need to get back before my mother realizes I’m gone.”
Wrapping my cloak tightly around me, I started walking down the street.
“Cécile!”
I turned back.
“Be careful. If she was willing to kill all those women, then…” I knew what he’d left unsaid. What’s to stop her from killing you?
What was stopping her from killing me?
I nodded, and broke into a quick trot down the road to my home as Chris went off in the opposite direction. These dead women, whoever they were, had some connection with Anushka. And if I wasn’t missing the mark, I bet it had something to do with how she was achieving immortality. If I could only figure out the connection between them all.
Despite my exhaustion, I broke into a run. It wasn’t just the cold driving me along—I sensed someone was watching me. My skin prickled, my eyes searching the street ahead and behind, but the darkness and the thick snow made it hard for me to see more than a few yards in any direction. Letting go of my cloak, I fumbled in my pocket for the small knife I kept, clutching it tight.
It was no small amount of relief when I reached home. Fumbling for the key, I had to try three times to get it in the lock, my hands were shaking so badly. I kept waiting for someone to come up and grab me, right when I thought I was safe. When the door finally swung open, I staggered in and slammed it hard behind me.
“Where have you been?”
My heart froze in my chest. Slowly, I turned around to face my mother. “What are you doing home so early?” I asked weakly.
“Answer my question,” she barked.
I stared at the floor, my mind racing. I had said I was staying home all evening, but even if I hadn’t, I had no good reason to be out past midnight in a blizzard. “Frédéric,” I started to say, but she interrupted.
“Your brother is on duty at the palace. I saw him myself, so don’t even try to say otherwise.” She loomed over me. “And you certainly weren’t out with your fellows in the company, no!” she scoffed. “No, that would be far too out of character for me to believe. Your lies are what is in character.”
I stepped back as she flung her hands up. “For weeks you’ve been sneaking off, never telling me the truth about where you go. You deceitful, ungrateful little…”
“What do you care?” I shouted. “You’ve never cared before where I went, so why now? What difference does it make if I’m out with Christophe instead of with Julian?”
Her face darkened, blue eyes narrowing. “So that’s it then?” She made a face. “I smell the horses on you now. A little roll in the hay with the stable boy?” Her face twisted and she spun away from me. “You’re going to ruin your life, Cécile. What was the point of you ever leaving Goshawk’s Hollow if you let a farmer get you with child?”
I flushed a dark red. Did I let what she was thinking stand? It was better than her finding out I was practicing blood magic in her kitchen and roaming the many city cemeteries in the dark of night, wasn’t it? Better than her finding out that I was trying to release legions of mythological creatures who were currently cursed to their underground city. “What’s wrong with Chris?” I demanded, pushing my way past her and into the great room.
“He’s a farmer. He hasn’t got any money.”
I rounded on her. “Father was a farmer.”
“Exactly,” she snapped. “And look how well that worked out for me. Being forced to choose between my family and my career. I’m warning you, darling, don’t go down the same path. Choose someone who won’t force you to make sacrifices.”
I stared coldly at her. I knew all this, of course, but hearing it out of her mouth was still astonishing. “Like the Marquis?” I said. “If rich is what counts, mother, you chose well.”
Her eyes narrowed. “The Marquis is my patron, girl. He pays for all this, supports the company, keeps us in favor with the Regent. And in exchange, all he asks is that I entertain him and his friends.”
“Of course, Mother,” I said. “Everyone knows that all he’s interested in is your…” I drew the pause out, “… voice.”
She slapped me so hard that I staggered backwards. “You know nothing,” she shrieked, then lunged at me.
I shoved her backwards. “Leave me alone!” I was angry—too angry—and the dark power of death still flickered inside of me, adding weight to my words.
She stumbled backwards, her eyes glazing over. “It’s my life,” I said, clenching my fist. “Not yours.”
Snatching up my skirts, I bolted upstairs to my room. Flinging the door open, I was confronted with a wall of cold air. The window was open, snow blowing in and dusting the carpets with white. Hurrying over, I slammed the glass shut. Then I stopped in my tracks, goose bumps rising up on my flesh. I hadn’t left the window open before I left. Slowly, I turned around.