Vasilios and I shared a look.

  “I think there’s only one out there now,” he whispered. “You know what that means?”

  “We can take him?” I guessed.

  He smiled. “Exactly.”

  I lowered my arms from around his neck, my muscles aching from having stood in such a stiff position for so long. It was almost dawn, and the sky was beginning to brighten. That was another advantage for us. The vampire left standing guard would be weaker during the day.

  I stretched my arms up and twisted from side to side, noticing Vasilios's concerted effort not to look at my body. We hadn’t discussed what happened during the night, how his demon mark had somehow caused unbearable arousal between us. I was still trying to get my head around the fact that it had actually happened and wasn’t just some shameful dream.

  “You ready?” he asked, and I nodded.

  He swished his hand over the lock on the door, and it quietly clicked open. I steeled myself, preparing for a fight, but none came. We opened the door and found the burly vampire sitting on the floor, snoring quietly. Vasilios and I shared a grin.

  Silently, we crept past. I made sure I didn’t trip over the vampire’s feet because his legs were quite long. We were about to round the corner when we heard footsteps approaching, and we both stilled. The relief I felt when Sven appeared was immense.

  “There you are! I’ve been searching the entire prison.”

  “Hush,” I whispered. “You’ll wake the vampire.”

  Sven wore a perplexed expression. “What vampire?”

  “Just get moving. I’ll explain everything once we’re away from here,” Vasilios said as we hurried to the staircase.

  “We need somewhere safe to hide. Mack will come looking for us when she figures out we escaped.”

  “It’s almost morning. She won’t be about until it gets dark again,” Vasilios replied. “We’ll worry about hiding tonight.”

  We reached the ground floor of the prison, and after Vasilios and I paid a much needed visit to the bathroom, we headed to the dining hall. It was empty since it was early, and breakfast hadn’t started yet. I could smell the faint aroma of whatever tasteless slop they were planning to serve today being cooked back in the kitchen.

  We sat in a quiet corner, and Vasilios explained everything that had happened with Mack locking us in that torture room. Sven was all riled up by the time Vasilios finished his account.

  “We should go today,” Sven whispered passionately. “The plan has been solid for a while, and your magic is constant and getting stronger all the time.”

  My eyebrows rose. He was talking about their escape plan, wasn’t he? My gut curdled with indecision. I didn’t want to rat them out, but I also didn’t want to get in trouble if anyone discovered I knew about the plan and said nothing. Then again, the warden was blackmailing my parents, which made me far less inclined to do him any favours.

  “You’re right,” Vasilios agreed. “And if we leave today, then we won’t have to worry about Mack coming for us again tonight.” He glanced at me. “Darya, are you in?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “But you can’t stay here alone. Who will protect you with Sven and me gone?”

  I bit my lip, unable to tell him that my parents would arrive to get me out later today. “I’ll protect myself. Don’t worry about me.”

  He reached out as though to touch me but stopped himself. “Don’t be foolish. You’re coming with us. I won’t leave you behind.”

  I swallowed thickly. Why did it feel like I was betraying him? Everything about the experience had changed me. After everything I’d learned about Vasilios and Sven, their lives and where they came from, how they’d suffered since they were little children, I no longer felt like they deserved to be there. Yes, it was insane because they’d done some terrible things, but my parents had done terrible things, too. My parents had killed people because they believed they were fighting for the greater good, but Vasilios and Sven believed they were fighting for the greater good, too, even if they might be misguided at times.

  I met his gaze once more, and I knew what I had to do. I would have to lie to him. I couldn’t face coming clean and revealing that I was there undercover, that I hadn’t actually been convicted. Maybe I didn’t have to. He’d know it when he came looking for me later, and I was gone.

  “Okay,” I finally whispered. “I’ll come with you.”

  Vasilios nodded while Sven eyed me curiously. Crap, did he sense I was lying?

  I stood abruptly. “I’m going to shower. Come find me in my cell when it’s time to leave.”

  Thankfully, there was no Cassandra outside the showers to prevent me from entering, and the elves there only eyed me with wariness and a good dose of fear. The relief at being able to wash was immense. Since I didn’t have a change of clothes, I still had to get back into my dirty ones, but that was a discomfort I could endure for now. In only a few hours, I’d be out of there, back in Tribane under the safety of my parents’ roof. I’d be able to see Peter.

  My chest thrummed with anxiety because I knew I would have to come clean about what happened with Vasilios and me in that cell. In a way, nothing had really happened, but in another, so much had. I would have to lay it all bare and let Peter decide if he still wanted me afterward.

  I left the showers without incident. Clearly, the very public way in which I’d threatened Cassandra had made the elves scared of me. Once I’d returned to my cell, I lay on the bed, resting my eyes as the sounds of the prison trickled over me. I didn’t allow myself to fall asleep, but I did allow my mind to wander. Minutes ticked past, and I was thinking about the tree in the courtyard again. Its leaves rustling in the gentle breeze, sunlight brightening the vibrant colours, so many deep shades of red.

  So pretty.

  A beautiful place to die.

  What? No! I sat up abruptly, my hand moving over something rough, something that hadn’t been there before. I opened my eyes and found a rope tied perfectly into a noose. All the blood drained from my face. I hadn’t fallen asleep. Whoever placed it there had done it so quietly that I hadn’t even heard them enter the cell.

  A chill gripped me, followed by intense fear. Physical violence I could handle, but this was different. Someone was trying to do me harm by wheedling their way into my mind, and it was the creepiest shit I’d ever experienced. It felt like spiders were crawling all over my skin. I could feel whoever it was running their psychotic fingers over my brain and prying their way inside.

  My attention returned to the rope, and I fought the impulse to pick it up and carry it out to the courtyard. It was early enough that no one would be out there yet. Whoever was doing it to me had selected the perfect time to strike.

  It will be such sweet relief to no longer exist, a voice spoke in my head, and I wanted to scream for it to get out. Who was doing it? Where were they? If I could find them, maybe I could knock them out and put an end to the mental warfare.

  Darya, take the rope, the voice urged, and my attention went to it again, but that time I noticed something curious. It didn’t look like the kind of rope you purchased in a store. The fibres were too natural like they’d been woven from a plant. A memory flashed in my mind of Lara leading me through Sarasin’s greenhouse. She’d motioned to a hemp plant and said it was her favourite. At the time, I’d thought nothing of it, but I knew hemp had many uses, and its fibres could certainly be strong enough to make rope.

  My stomach dropped as realisation dawned. Was Lara the serial killer? Lara?

  Was she the one mentally influencing all those prisoners to kill themselves? It made no sense. Lara was one of the only kind people I’d met in the prison, but then, I’d felt that hollowness when our fingers touched yesterday. Obviously, the nice lady act was just that, an act, a brilliant cover for the monster underneath.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on fighting off her influence. It was difficult because she seemed to have such a firm grip on my mind. I didn’t even realise I’d lost the battle until I found myself leaving my cell with the rope in my hand. I didn’t want to do it, but she had complete control of me, and I was marching toward the courtyard without any power to stop.

  I’d always considered elven powers to be benevolent, the kind of powers used to help people spiritually. Now, I knew those powers could also be used for evil, and Lara had been using hers to satisfy her urge to kill without lifting a finger.

  I entered the courtyard, my feet being propelled by a force that wasn’t my own, and that was when I saw her. Lara stood in the far corner of the empty space, expressionless as she forced me to walk toward the tree. I sensed her elation, her satisfaction and triumph to orchestrate and watch another kill.

  I fought against every step, but she was stronger, her grip on my mind like claws digging in. I hated her. She would end my life, and for what? Nothing. I had so much left to do, so much left to achieve. I saw my future flash before my eyes, not the one I imagined with Peter, but the one Sarasin had shown me with Vasilios. The son we were supposed to have. At that moment, my heart broke for that future because I would never experience it. I’d been determined to walk a different path, but now that my future was being torn away, I mourned for it. I wanted to hold on like never before.

  I was climbing the tree, preparing to tie the rope around one of the thicker branches, when I heard a noise. Someone else was there. At the entrance to the courtyard stood Marcel. The elderly warlock was frozen in place, taking in the sight of me about to tie the rope to the tree. Then his eyes went to Lara. His appearance distracted her long enough for her to lose her hold over me. Marcel was staring and pointing at her.

  “It’s you! All this time, I thought it was the guards, but it was you! You’re the one!” he exclaimed, and her expression transformed into fury. She advanced on him, infuriated to have her perfect crime interrupted. It allowed me to leap down from the tree. I ran toward Lara, catching up to her just before she reached Marcel. I threw the rope around her neck and yanked her backward.

  She gasped and struggled for breath, clawing at the rope as it cut into her skin. I was lost in rage, a red haze over my vision as I throttled her with the rope.

  “Please, stop,” she rasped, but the beast within me had taken over. I was no longer myself. I was a monster who was enraged that she’d tried to kill me. She’d been prepared to end my life just to satisfy some twisted urge.

  “Girl, let up. You’ll kill her.” I was vaguely aware of Marcel compelling me to stop, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop until she was dead, until she paid the price for the countless prisoners she’d murdered.

  It was then that more people entered the courtyard. Serg and a number of other shapeshifters ran toward us. Before I knew it, I was being hauled away from Lara, the rope slipping from my hands.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Serg asked as he yanked me away from her.

  “It’s her. She’s the one who’s been making people hang themselves,” Marcel exclaimed, pointing his finger at Lara.

  “He’s lying,” she managed, her throat raw from my attempt to strangle her. I still couldn’t believe that was me. That I’d wanted to kill her. In the seconds that Serg had pulled me away, I’d come back to my senses, realising how badly I’d lost control.

  “He isn’t lying. She used her psychic elven powers to get into my head and convince me to hang myself. If Marcel hadn’t interrupted, she would’ve gotten away with it, too.”

  “Seriously, you don’t believe this, do you?” Lara looked pleadingly at Serg. He glanced at me, then at Marcel, and finally at Lara. He stared at her with narrowed eyes, then motioned to his men.

  “Take her to the Spikes,” he ordered, and I knew instantly where Lara was headed. They were going to put her in the torture chamber Vasilios and I had just barely managed to survive. Without a partner to hold onto, Lara would have a hard time staying away from the edge.

  I made to leave, but Serg gripped my shoulder. “Are you okay? That must’ve been traumatic.”

  “I’ll be all right. Nothing a little nap won’t cure.” I needed to get back to my cell because my parents would be here in a few hours to get me out. Serg nodded, and I went. I was barely halfway to my cell when I noticed people eyeing me strangely.

  When I first arrived at the prison, the other inmates looked at me like I was weak, fresh meat. Then, when word got around that I was more than prepared to defend myself, they looked at me with a small measure of respect. Now, though, now they looked at me with hatred in their eyes, like they wanted to maul me.

  I didn’t understand it until I passed by the showers and spotted Cassandra. She was surrounded by other elves, almost like she was holding court. “If that Cristescu bitch thinks she can threaten me and walk around this prison like she owns the place, then she has another thing coming. I’ll stop at nothing until everyone knows exactly who she really is.”

  Oh. Shit.

  Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!

  Cassandra had decided to tell everyone my real identity, and it couldn’t have come at a worse moment. I was about to be extracted. All I needed to do was sit tight in my cell and wait for the guards to come, but that would be tough when every prisoner in the place was gunning for me.

  I ducked my head and managed to get by the elves unnoticed. They were too focused on Cassandra. My pulse pounded. I didn’t know where to go. Panic threatened to pull me under when Vasilios and Sven appeared.

  “There you are! We’ve been searching all over for you,” Vasilios said as he grabbed my hand and ushered me down a flight of stairs.

  “Wait! What’s going on?” I asked frantically as I pulled my hand from his.

  “We’re leaving, but we have to go now,” Vasilios answered.

  I was about to protest and tell him I couldn’t go with him, but then it dawned on me. I had no choice. Because of Cassandra’s big mouth, I couldn’t afford to spend another moment in the prison. I couldn’t wait for the guards to come for me because I’d likely be beaten to death by then.

  “Darya, what’s wrong?” he asked.

  I stared at his hand, my decision made. I had to get out of there now, and escaping with Vasilios and Sven was my best option. Besides, this also meant my parents wouldn’t have to hand the blackmail money over to the warden to get me out. I grabbed hold of Vasilios’ hand again. We shared a look of agreement, and then we were off.

  “Is there anything I should know about this plan?” I asked when we reached the barred door that led to Vasilios’s private shower room.

  “It will be better if you don’t know,” Sven said, glancing back at us. “That way, you’ll be in the moment and less likely to freak out.”

  I shivered at that, wondering exactly what part of the plan I’d be likely to freak out about.

  Vasilios took a moment to use his magic to unlock the door, just as he had the last time. Only now, I sensed the strength of it. He was far more powerful than he had been when I first arrived at the prison, and it was all down to me being there, the strange connection we shared.

  The mark.

  I wondered if spending the entire night together, holding onto one another, had strengthened it even further.

  We moved fast down the corridor before stopping at another locked doorway. Vasilios unlocked this one, too, with a quick spell. His magic filled the air, like a tingling at the back of my neck. I reached up to rub it, and his attention went to my hands.

  “What happened to you?” he asked, his concerned gaze on my palms.

  I glanced down and inhaled sharply. Everything had happened so fast that I barely had time to process, never mind notice the cuts on my hands from trying to strangle Lara. The roughly braided hemp rope had sliced into my palms. My stomach sank at the memory. I’d been so feral, so unrelenting. Thanks to my vampire genes, the cuts were slowly healing, but they’d probably been a lot worse a few minutes ago.

  “It’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

  “Quick, we have to keep moving,” Sven ordered.

  We hurried down a set of stairs before reaching two steel doors. They looked like the ones I’d passed through when I’d first entered the prison. There was a keypad next to them and a small rectangular window through which you could see an office area. A guard sat in front of several monitors showing CCTV footage.

  “Won’t someone have seen us leaving the main part of the prison on one of the security cameras?” I asked quietly.

  “No,” Vasilios replied. “I bespelled them to show a loop of old footage.”

  “Smart,” I said, and he shot me a grin.

  “Keep your voices down,” Sven complained. “We have to wait for this guard to leave his post, and then we can move through to the next section of the prison.”

  Vasilios brought his attention back to me as he nodded to my hands. “Tell me what happened.”

  “It was Lara,” I whispered. “She’s the one who’s been making me dream about the tree in the courtyard. She’s been influencing people all this time, making them take their own lives. It’s so completely fucked up. She gets into their heads and makes them believe they want to commit suicide. Then she provides them with a rope she makes using the hemp from Sarasin’s greenhouse.”

  Vasilios’s eyes blazed with fury as I continued, “She got into my head the very first time she came to my cell and introduced herself. She decided I would be her next victim.”

  “I’ll kill her,” Vasilios seethed.

  “There’s no need, and it’s not like you can now anyway. Marcel walked into the courtyard and distracted her. It gave me enough time to get down from the tree and wrap the rope she’d intended me to hang myself with around her neck.”

  “You killed her?” he asked quietly, his expression full of approval.

  I shook my head. “No. I almost did, but Serg came in and pulled me off her. Marcel told him what she’s been doing, mentally influencing other prisoners, so Serg had his men bring her to the Spikes. I think that’s what they call the place where Mack locked you and me last night.”