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It was an incredible weapon—he’d had it for centuries, and never refuted or confirmed the legends surrounding it. That it was god-forged. That it was cursed. That it was blessed. That he’d carved out a little chunk of his own heart to have it made. He’d told me these legends when I was a child, sometimes—always with a completely serious face but a glint of amusement in his eye.
Legends aside, the reality was impressive enough. The weapon was incredibly powerful, enhancing Vincent’s already-significant magical strength. It was his and his alone, rejecting all other wielders. I used to joke that the sword was Vincent’s true greatest love. For most of my life, I think I believed it.
Now, the image of Vincent’s bloodied face, straining to look at me in his final breaths, cut through my mind.
I loved you from the first moment.
My chest was very, very tight.
Raihn stepped back, leaning against the wall, as if to give me space alone with it. “You can pick it up,” he said—oddly gently. “Just be careful. Hurts like a bitch if you touch the hilt too long.”
I unsheathed the sword and lay it over the desk. It was light, a slender and elegant rapier. The blade was bright red, swirls and sigils carved into its length that matched those on my own. The hilt was made of Nightsteel, forming delicate spirals around the handguard, which resembled the bones of Hiaj wings.
I stared at it for a long time, not trusting myself to speak. A slow-rising tide of grief and anger swelled inside me.
Raihn had been keeping this sword. My father’s most prized possession, now owned by the man who had killed him.
“Why are you showing me this?”
Surely he couldn’t think it was some kind of sentimental peace offering.
“Could you wield it?”
I blinked in surprise and turned to Raihn. I briefly questioned if I’d heard him right.
“No,” I said. “No one can wield it but him.”
“But no one could use the mirror but him, either. And you used that.”
“That’s different. This is…”
His.
Vincent had warned me many times against even touching the weapon. For all the obvious reasons one would warn a child against such a thing, in the begi
“Why?” I asked pointedly. “Is this another thing you want me to do for Septimus?”
The shadow of anger that passed over Raihn’s face was fleeting, but powerful. “No.”
“Then why would you hand me a weapon like this and want me to use it?”
After I’d acted against him. After he had made it so clear the role I was intended to play.
Handing me this weapon—hell, even letting me know that it still existed—was a downright stupid move.
He said simply, “Because you’re right.”
I’d told myself so many times that I’d never let Raihn surprise me again. And yet, here we were.
“Because the things you said in Vincent’s office that night—they’re true,” he said. “There is no excuse for what I have allowed the Bloodborn to do to this kingdom. Septimus is preying on both of us. I allowed myself to be manipulated into an alliance that I didn’t want, into a deal I can’t get out of, and now here we fucking are.”
He paced closer, step by step, and I didn’t move away. I glanced to the floor, uncomfortable, when he spoke of being forced into his alliance, but I still saw his face, anyway—that moment when Angelika had been ready to kill me, and I’d watched Raihn look up into the stands and nod.
Another paradox I couldn’t reconcile. Raihn had murdered my father and taken my kingdom and imprisoned me, but he had done it all to save my life.
“I know I’m right,” I said. “And?”
A faint smile of amusement, gone in seconds. “And I want you to help me do something about it.”
“If this is another speech about—”
“No. This is about blood, Oraya.” He didn’t blink. His eyes didn’t leave mine. “This is about getting the Bloodborn out of our fucking kingdom.”
“Your allies. The ones you’re relying on to keep your throne.”
“Allies,” he scoffed. And there was something about the way he said it, under his breath, that made a realization crash through me.
Septimus had manipulated me to test his theory, knowing I would never cooperate with him. And until now, I’d assumed that Raihn had been right beside him in that—maybe even that he had instigated it.
Now, I was suddenly certain that I had been wrong.
“You didn’t know,” I said. “You didn’t know about any of this, either. The mirror. The armory attack. The god blood.”
The look on Raihn’s face confirmed my theory long before he spoke.
Because there had been Rishan forces at the armory, but no Bloodborn. If Raihn had been involved, there should have been many more Rishan troops at the base that night. But they were as unprepared as we were. He ended up losing just as many soldiers as I did.
Only Septimus had come out of it all unscathed—with both the Rishan and the Hiaj weakened, and his theory confirmed.
“He’s a snake,” Raihn muttered. “He didn’t tell me about any of it until afterwards. I showed him what he wanted to see. Threw my dick around. Shouted. Big, stupid warrior shit. And then I went along with him, after giving him just enough resistance to make it believable.”
Raihn and his performances.
“I made a deal I can’t get out of,” he went on. “I’ve granted Septimus that much. But… regardless of whether we find what he wants, he may not even be the one who can use it. And there are other things in the House of Night that are just as powerful. But to wield them, I’ll need your help.”
I scoffed, and he raised his palms.
“Easy, viper. Let me finish,” he said, before I could speak. “Help me find the god blood. Help me fulfill Septimus’s ridiculous quest. But then, I want you to help me use it to betray him and throw those Bloodborn bastards out of this kingdom once and for all. And after that, you’re free to do whatever you want.”
I scoffed again. “Whatever I—”
“Whatever you want.”
I didn’t mean to look surprised. Mother damn my face.
He laughed softly. “You never believed me, but I never intended to keep you captive. I’m asking you—not forcing you—to help me. And after that, you have my word that we’re done.”
“What is your word worth?”
“Not much. It’s seen better days. A little banged-up. But it’s all I have to offer, unfortunately.”
I stared down at my father’s sword. He’d died with it soaking up his blood mere feet from him in the colosseum sands.
The House of Night was my father’s kingdom.
It was my kingdom.
Raihn had lied to me so many times. And yet…
I found myself considering this.
“Won’t Septimus suspect this?” I asked. “He has eyes everywhere.”
“No vampire has eyes here.” He gestured to the dim, dusty room—distinctly human. “You’re right, though. We’ll have to be careful. Make sure he sees only what he expects to see. I’ll play the part of the brute king. You play the part of the prisoner wife who hates him.”
“That will be easy,” I said. “I do hate you.”
I’d thought those words to myself countless times—I hate him, I hate him, I hate him—and yet, when they slipped over my tongue, they tasted rancid, bitter for all the ways they were true and untrue. Because they should not be anything but true, when I was standing before the man who murdered my father.
Raihn’s face went still, just for a split second, like he was collecting himself after a blow.
And then he smiled, easy and comfortable.
“Oh, I know,” he said. “That’s for the better. You aren’t much of an actress.”
He extended his hand. “But,” he added, softly, seriously, “you are one hell of an ally.”
Ally.
A lifetime ago, he had offered me an alliance. I knew it was a mistake to take it then, too.
But I was powerless now, just as I was then. A human in a world of vampires. An Heir with no teeth. A daughter with no way to avenge her father.
Raihn was offering me power. More power than I’d ever dreamed of wielding.
And power was the currency of revenge.
I took Raihn’s hand. It was warm and rough, and much larger than my own. He folded his fingers around mine, just slightly. Even his touch felt different now—like all the magic that pulsed beneath the surface of our skin called to and repelled each other, as if recognizing its natural enemy.
Raihn was stronger than ever. But so was I. And with the power that Raihn talked about—the power that belonged to me by birthright—I would be unstoppable.
He was offering me everything I needed to destroy him.
“Deal,” I said.