“So why aren’t you two dancing?”

  “Smudge is being punished for capturing dewdrop faeries,” Flax said, ignoring the dirty look her feline companion shot her. “He’s been barred from circles for a while. His mother rubs potions into his fur so he can’t hear the song.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her and she wriggled guiltily, not quite meeting my eyes. She’d kept part of her plumage, wearing it like a dress, rather than flashing the world for even a second as the kitsune had. Smudge was the same, keeping some of his fur on, as well as his ears and tail.

  “I’m supposed to be training the scarecrows.”

  “Training them?”

  “So they get better at warding off the real birds,” she said, shuffling from foot to foot. “They’re dumb as rocks when you first make them, you see. They have to be taught.”

  I craned my back to look the way we’d come and squeaked when the scarecrow Flax had alighted on waved at me. The damn thing was alive! What else had I mistaken for inanimate? Was there anything truly non-living in this place except me?

  “Um.... right. Is there any chance you could take me to the circle, Flax?”

  She bit her lip. “I won’t get in trouble for not training the scarecrows?”

  “I think we have bigger things to worry about than frightening birds,” I said, offering her a hand. “But I’ll tell you what. If things go well and I get better at this magic stuff, I’ll help you train as many scarecrows as you like.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Maverick

  The rat led us through a maze of twisting corridors, all covered in murals.

  I gave up trying to track our progress after the twenty-fifth, every landmark blurring together into a mix of marble and painstaking craftsmanship. There seemed to be one of the blasted murals in every corridor, most of them scenes of horrific battles, both victories, and defeats. I’d been right about one thing. The statues detailing the school’s violent history had been shoved out of sight and left to collect dust.

  “Charming,” Taliyah drawled as we passed a statue of Sabine Grimsbane towering over the fallen form of Ballard Thorne. His head was on fire, face contorted into a rictus of agony as her hex killed him slowly. She watched on, marble face fixed in an expression of supreme satisfaction.

  “If you think things are fraught between our species now, you should have been around for the Blood Wars,” I answered. “I’ve grown up in a time of peace, but Wanda could tell you some stories. The one she survived was more of a skirmish, not a full-on war, but things were still brutal. She lost friends and family. I don’t think vampires and witches will ever be able to make peace with each other. Tense non-aggression pacts are all we can manage.”

  “There’s always a way. It may not be obvious or easy, but there’s always a path to reconciliation.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s remarkably optimistic of you. I thought they stomped that sort of thing out of you in the police academy.”

  “Not all of it,” she laughed.

  “Aren’t hard-boiled detectives supposed to expect the worst from us mere mortals?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been reading too much Dashiell Hammett.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “The Maltese Falcon is a classic for a reason.”

  Her lips pressed together, going white with the effort it took not to smile or laugh. It made me feel a little lighter. We both knew why we were taking the piss out of each other. Each step took us a little closer to Astrid, but we still weren’t sure what state she’d be in when we found her.

  Taliyah’s smile slipped, and she stared ahead in silence for several long minutes. Then, without warning, she turned on one heel, stopping shy of me. It was so sudden that I ran into her, almost knocking her over. I caught her before she could go toppling to the ground. Her expression didn’t change.

  “Promise me something, Maverick.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “That depends on the promise. I don’t hand those out lightly.”

  “No matter what we find, you have to promise me that you’re not going to go nuts and smite the people in charge here. I understand why you did what you did to Rupert. He had your daughter. I’d have probably done worse if he’d taken my sons and treated them the way he did. I know Astrid is your family, but keep in mind that we’re in a castle full of monsters. This place makes Rupert’s gala look like an intimate family get-together. My point is: we have to play it smart. Promise me you won’t go to a dark place.”

  I wanted to make the promise. I really, really did.

  The thing was, I wasn’t sure it was one I could keep. There’d always been something dark in me. I wasn’t sure if it stemmed from a childhood of neglect or was just a part of my natural makeup. The stories said warlocks always went mad in the end, their unstable magic driving them to the blackest arts, further twisting their psyches. That could be so much goblin dung, for all I knew. The tales were written by witches with a vested interest in writing us out of their history. More than likely, warlocks had just gotten tired of being ostracized. If you can’t be the hero, at least be a memorable villain.

  The darkness within me had gotten worse since the Assembly. Janeth’s blood had cleaved onto that knot of anger and hurt, souring whatever stability I had left. That meant my magic was tainted, a bloody parody of what it used to be. Wanda claimed drinking another vampire’s blood would negate the bond, but I wasn’t sure if I could trust it. She was a witch. I was a warlock. We weren’t the same. I could just end up with a tie to another, more tolerable vampire instead.

  No dice.

  I was only willing to be tied to one person, and she was standing in front of me, staring up at me expectantly.

  “Well?”

  I sighed and gave her the only answer I could. “I’ll try.”

  She pursed her lips but nodded. “I guess that’s all I can ask from you. Do your best, okay, Mav? I really don’t want to have to fight you. It’ll blow our cover wide open if I have to bring down a blizzard.”

  And with that sobering thought, she turned back to face the rat, which had paused to watch us squabble. It resumed with an impatient squeak when we began trailing behind it once more. It came as a surprise when the rat stopped dead in its tracks a few turns later, staring at what appeared to be a blank stone wall.

  “Do you think it’s lost?” Taliyah asked in an undertone.

  “No. I think we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. Give me a second to be sure though.”

  Tally made an ‘after you’ gesture, still staring dubiously at the wall. I stepped close to it, one hand extended, feeling along the stones with my senses. I felt it after only a few seconds of searching. There was a ward in place here, expertly tucked into the mortar between each stone. The magic was well-done and rather clever. The straightforward and commonplace method would have been to ink or etch the ward into the stone’s face, which would have completely negated the concealment aspect of the spell. As it was, with the flickering torchlight that lit these halls, the magic was lost to shadow, completely unobtrusive unless you had your nose inches away from it.

  “What’s going on?” Tally asked.

  “There’s a ward here,” I muttered, skimming my magic across the contours of the spell. If I could get a feel for it, I’d have a better chance of pulling it apart. One wrong move though and I’d trigger the failsafe. Given what Astrid and her friends were up to, triggering the failsafe would no doubt be nasty as hell.

  “Astrid’s?” she asked, a note of suppressed hope in her voice.

  “No. It’s not her magic.”

  I knew Astrid’s power almost as well as my own. She channeled air for most of her magic, and every spell had a light, breezy quality to it. That meant she was incredible at most white magic, but struggled with even the most basic of curses. This spell had a hell of a lot of fire to it. It was also stronger and more reactive than anything Astrid had ever created. I could sense it coiled like a viper ready to strike. The caster was older and more wrathful than my bubbly little sister could ever manage to be.

  “Anyone you recognize?”

  I shook my head again. “I believe it’s a witch’s handiwork, that’s all I know. And whoever this witch is, she’s got some serious skill.”

  “Can you get through it?”

  I flashed her a wicked grin, gratified when spots of color formed high in her cheeks. I cracked my knuckles, letting power trickle into my fingers as I stepped closer.

  “She’s good, but I’m better. Stand back, just in case. I don’t want any backlash hitting you if there’s a nasty surprise waiting for me on the other side.”

  “If this is some macho attempt to spare the little lady, I will hit you,” she warned.

  I snorted. “You really think someone raised with witches thinks that way? The female of the species is deadlier than the male, trust me. I’ve experienced that enough. This is merely tactical. If I’m wrong and the ward knocks my ass through a wall after I tear it loose, one of us needs to be well enough to fight. You’re the logical choice. It’ll be hard to aim a hex if they’re blinded by a blizzard, don’t you think?”

  Taliyah stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest, somewhat mollified by my explanation but still clearly unhappy with the situation. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it either. A part of me did worry about leaving her to face whatever could be coming. Sexist? Yeah, probably, but Tally was mine. I didn’t like leaving the burden of protecting our asses solely on her shoulders.

  “You too,” I said, stroking a finger over Isis’ wing.

  I can help, Isis thought to me.

  “I’m counting on you to fly away and get help if we’re wrong about this and things go pear-shaped.”

  Isis nipped my ear affectionately before lifting off, circling in the air above Taliyah’s head. My shoulder felt colder without her weight resting on it.

  I took a deep, steadying breath and set to work, easing the ward apart inch by inch. It had a savage bite, far stronger than anything Vivian Grimsbane could have dreamed of managing. The witch who cast this magic was at the very least equal to Wanda’s power pre-blooding. It would have been impressive and a welcome challenge if it weren’t so damned inconvenient. For the first time since teaching classes, I was wishing for a witch to be just a little less competent.

  But I hadn’t been bragging when I told Taliyah I was better. The death that had taken root inside me had given my magic sharp, deadly teeth. It took a few minutes, but I shredded every defense, one after the other. After the first few crumbled, the rest began toppling like dominos, bursting in showers of white-gold sparks that scorched the ground at my feet. The illusion of a bare wall gave way, revealing a barely perceptible door beyond. The seam was hidden so well that I might have missed it if I weren’t pressed so close.

  I was breathing hard by the time I was finished. Taliyah approached, placing a gentle hand on the small of my back as the door fizzled into being before her eyes. She stared at it, wide-eyed.

  “You did it,” she breathed. “You found her.”

  “Let’s hope so,” I panted.

  I reached for the door before Taliyah could shoulder me out of the way, taking the lead. I still wanted her behind me, just in case. She accepted the order with poor grace, muttering a few unsavory names behind my back. It was oddly endearing. That was Tally. As pointed, cold, and beautiful as an icicle.

  The door swung open with a groan of protesting stone. Light poured into the corridor, momentarily blinding the pair of us. I felt rather than saw someone move inside and dove to the side, pulling Taliyah behind me as a hex blew past our heads, reducing the nearest statue to rubble.

  ***

  I planned to hurl a hex at the offending caster, but Taliyah had other ideas. She body blocked them instead.

  One moment she was behind me and the next, she’d streaked around the corner, throwing herself at our attacker with a snarl of defiance on her beautiful face. She’d let her glamour slip entirely, all her focus on disabling whoever was waiting on the other side before they could strike again.

  Then she pulled her arm back and let it fly, striking the curvy figure just inside the door, full in the face. That would probably have been enough to knock the woman completely off guard, but Tally didn’t stop there. She threw her weight against the witch who was standing in the gap, hooking one leg around the other woman’s calf before jerking hard. The blow combined with the leg sweep sent her opponent hurtling toward the floor where she impacted with a loud ‘thwack!’

  Bloody hell, but Taliyah was sexy when she was on the job.

  I stepped in behind her, a hex of my own at the ready, and took a moment to examine the woman sprawled on the ground. She was probably beautiful, though my standards had been spoiled first by Wanda and now by Taliyah. She checked most of the boxes though, as far as I could tell. Large, dark eyes lined with kohl, set in an angular face. Her lips were full, her nose thin. There was strength in the set of her jaw and she probably had one spell of a resting bitch face when she wasn’t scared shitless.

  At the moment though she just looked young and overwhelmed. Her dark hair was mussed and lank from days without washing. Her clothes were rumpled as if she’d been sleeping in them several nights in a row. Which was probably the case. If she’d gone to ground before I ever arrived, she’d been without amenities for a week. Her breath was pluming in the air as Taliyah’s power filled the room, frost spreading out from her body in concentric waves. She’d pulled a gun from somewhere and had it pointed at the opposite end of the room.

  “Drop it,” Tally commanded, words sharp and cold enough to form fractals in the air. “Drop it or I put one between your eyes.”

  I peeled my eyes away from the supine witch for a moment to get a look at who Tally was talking to. A young man stood in the corner furthest from the door, clutching a broadsword in both hands. His lean body was a line of quivering tension as he sized us both up, trying to calculate whether or not he could reach Taliyah before she pulled the trigger. His eyes appeared nearly black by lantern light, shadowed by heavy brows.

  “Counteroffer,” he said quietly, lips lifting off a pair of glinting fangs. I hated him already. “Step away from Morgana and I won’t open your neck.”

  “I will shoot you,” Tally answered.

  “How sure is your aim?” The man, who I assumed had to be Rook, answered. “I can probably reach you before you blow my brains out.”

  Taliyah’s stance eased a fraction at the sound of the name ‘Morgana’. It wasn’t the one we’d been hoping for, but it was at least on the right track. I placed a restraining hand on her arm.

  “Put it down, Tally.” Then I fixed the vampire with a glare. “And you put that away. We’re not your enemies.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Morgana said breathlessly, scrambling away from Taliyah on her hands and knees. “You tore apart my ward and attacked me—that sounds like an enemy to me.”

  “You threw the first hex,” I snapped. “Be grateful she decided to knock you on your ass instead of letting me handle it. I’d have done worse.”

  “As if you could,” Morgana said, regaining a little of her witch arrogance when she had a wall to her back and both of us in sight. “Who the spell do you think you are?”

  “Maverick Depraysie, warlock,” I answered, figuring she needed to know who I really was—not the made up son of Scarlett Velardi. “And if you don’t think I can handle one sleep-deprived witch, you’re sadly mistaken.” I shifted my glower once more to the bloodsucker. “And I’ve got absolutely no love for vampires, so for the last damn time, drop the sword or I will send you through a fucking wall.”

  The tension evaporated like mist after sunrise. The vampire set the sword aside after a moment and held his hands up in surrender. Morgana’s shoulders relaxed, and she stood up a little straighter, smoothing her expression into something less hostile. I still had the sense she was ready to throw down, but it was no more than usual wariness now. Witches and warlocks were always on guard, ready to fend off a magical or verbal attack at a moment’s notice. If growing up in a coven taught you anything, it was the fine art of paranoia.

  “You’re Morgana,” Tally said as she shot me a look.

  Morgana’s eyes narrowed. “I am. What is it to you?”

  “Everything,” I answered. “My sister sent a note. She said there was trouble at Blood Rose and that if she lost contact, to find you.”

  “Depraysie,” Rook repeated as he looked at Morgana and then back at me. “Astrid is your sister?”

  I looked at him. “You aren’t as dumb as you look.” The pair exchanged a glance and my heart sank. “She isn’t with you, is she?”

  “No,” Rook answered.

  “Where is she?” Tally asked.

  “We don’t know,” Morgana said.

  “She and Oleander went to check on a lead in the case,” Rook continued. “Morgana and I can’t stray far from the castle without getting sick. Binding charms can be a real bitch.”

  “Anyway,” I said and even rolled my hand to charade the fact that I was short on patience.

  “Anyway, they were supposed to be back in a few hours. When they weren’t, Morgana and I went into hiding here. We were sure that with Morgana’s concealment ward, we wouldn’t be found.” Then his eyes narrowed. “How did you get here?”

  “A rat led us to you,” Taliyah answered, and they both looked at her like she’d just become that rat in question.

  “It had a bit of Astrid’s sweater wrapped around its neck,” I further explained. “Astrid must have bespelled the cloth, which has to mean she’s alive wherever she is. She can’t cast if she’s dead. Now... it’s just a matter of finding her.”

  The pair shared another long look, and my stomach performed an uneasy roll. I wasn’t sure why their loaded glances set my teeth on edge, but I couldn’t escape the sense that something was very wrong here.

  “You’re not entirely right,” Rook said quietly. “She might not be dead, but she could be undead, though I pray to God she’s not. I wouldn’t wish Desmond as a sire on my worst enemy.”