RUNE
GOOD RIDDANCE, GIDEON SHARPE.
It was stupid enough saving him once, when he’d come here to end her life. If he tried to kill her again, she would let Cressida have him.
At the sound of voices in the hall, Rune quickly dived into the bed. The sheets were already turned down, waiting for her.
There was no time to strip off her soiled dress and hide it. No time to scrub the blood from her hands.
There was only enough time to smudge the spellmarks on her wrist, dissolving Ghost Walker.
Rune had barely pulled up the covers and closed her eyes when the door swung open.
“See?” she heard Soren say, his footsteps padding toward the bed. Rune kept her eyes closed, feigning sleep, as the prince brushed strands of hair off her face. “She’s safe.”
Soren turned to give his guards orders. “Bar Larkmont’s exits. Make sure not a living soul leaves the palace.” His voice grew fainter as he walked into the hall. “I want him found.”
Thinking it safe, Rune nearly opened her eyes, but the sound of footsteps stopped her.
The air turned chilly as a shadow slid over her. Winter-cold. Rune kept her eyes closed and her body still. She willed her racing heart to slow, fearing Cressida heard every frantic beat.
The witch queen leaned down, her breath rushing against Rune’s cheek. “I know what you did.”
Rune’s heart pounded faster.
She saw my casting signatures.
Rune could say those signatures were from cosmetic spells. Cressida would have to take her at her word, to keep the peace with Soren. But Cressida had seen Rune deceive and pretend as the Crimson Moth. She knew what Rune was capable of.
Deep down, she knew the truth.
Is she here to take her revenge? Or will she wait?
Even if Rune wanted to open her eyes and run, fear flooded her limbs, turning them to stone.
A predator stood over her. If she moved, that predator would strike.
“Do you really think you can outwit me?” Cressida’s voice was like a snakebite, flooding Rune with poison. “He’s mine, Rune. If you defy me again—”
“Is everything all right?”
Someone had entered the room. Rune felt Cressida straighten and turn, facing the intruder.
“How is she?” Seraphine’s voice was like sunshine, thawing Rune’s frozen limbs. “I heard about Ava. Horrible. Is Rune all right?”
At the presence of her friend, Rune was tempted to open her eyes. But she remained as she was.
“I’ll stay with Rune,” said Seraphine. “I promised Prince Soren I’d ward the doors and windows of this room, to ensure she’s safe.”
“How kind.” Cressida’s voice was hard as cut glass.
“There’s still a chance you can catch your witch hunter.” Seraphine’s voice was equally hard. “I’m sure you’ll want to try.”
A tense silence hung in the air. Cressida wanted to punish Rune for her disobedience, but she wanted to catch Gideon more. And the longer she wasted time here, the likelier he was to slip away.
Seconds later, Cressida’s shadow receded.
When the door swung shut behind her and her footsteps retreated into the hall, Rune let out a breath, opened her eyes, and sat up.
Seraphine stood across the room, hands planted on her small hips. As Rune flung off the covers and swung her legs out, Seraphine’s hands fell to her sides, her gaze sweeping down Rune.
“What have you done?”
Rune glanced at herself. The golden dress was ruined, and blood smeared her fingers.
“Ava tried to kill me,” she said, putting her feet on the ground. “I had no choice. I had to shoot her.”
“You shot Ava? I thought the witch hunter killed her.” Seraphine shook her head, sending her dark curls bouncing. She blew out an aggravated breath. “Oh, Rune. Why were you even in that room?”
Rune didn’t answer. Just stood up and stripped off the bloodstained dress, throwing it into the fire crackling in the hearth. She watched the flames eat the fabric, destroying the evidence of her crime. After searching through Soren’s armoire, she found a long-sleeved shirt and pulled it over her head.
Seraphine drew closer. “Where is he?”
“Gideon? I don’t know.” Rune strode into the adjoining bathroom. Long gone, I hope.
“Soren said he came here to kill you,” said Seraphine, following her in.
At the sink, Rune turned on the tap and thrust her hands beneath the cold water. “He did.”
Seraphine threw up her hands. “Then why save him?”
As Rune scrubbed the blood off herself, her thoughts trailed back to the powder room and the scream she’d heard from behind the closed door. Gideon’s torn shirt on the floor. The undone buttons of his trousers.
She might not know exactly what Cressida had done to make him scream, but she knew what the witch queen had been about to do.
“No one deserves a fate like that,” she whispered, staring at the bloody water swirling down the drain.
Not even her worst enemy.
She intends to raise Analise and Elowyn from the dead. Gideon’s voice rumbled through her.
It scared Rune more than she’d let on in the garden.
Queen Raine had outlawed resurrection spells centuries ago. But Cressida wouldn’t care about that.
Still, Rune wanted to doubt it was possible; Analise and Elowyn were long dead, and resurrection spells required the sacrifice of someone closely related to the deceased—like a parent, sibling, or child.
Without direct kin to sacrifice, the spell wouldn’t work. The only living Roseblood was Cressida herself.
She seems to think otherwise, Gideon had said.
Could it be true? Was there another living Roseblood?
And how could Rune put Cressida on the throne, after tonight? Knowing
what she would have done to Gideon?
It wasn’t the first time she’d asked herself this question.
The answer was always the same: if she didn’t, Gideon—or some other witch hunter—would come for her again.
The next time my gun is to your head, I will pull the trigger.
His words were a reminder: They will never stop hunting us.
Gideon wouldn’t return to the New Republic empty-handed. Not when a bullet in Rune’s head would deprive the witch queen of an army. He was probably regrouping at this very moment, waiting for his next chance to assassinate her.
It was why the alternative to Cressida was worse. The alternative to Cressida was witches being slaughtered until there were no witches left. The only way to stop the Blood Guard was to put Cressida on the throne.
Gideon can take care of himself.
If Cressida conquered the New Republic, Gideon was more than capable of fleeing the island and never looking back. Whether he had the good sense to wasn’t Rune’s concern.
Rune had no reason to care what happened to him or any other patriot once Cressida returned to power. How many of them had informed on girls like her? Cheered as innocent witches were butchered in the street? Had done the butchering themselves?
They deserved what was coming for them.
But isn’t that what they said about us?
Rune shook off the question.
“If Cressida suspects you helped him escape,” said Seraphine, “it’s only a matter of time before she punishes you for it.”
Finished washing blood off her hands, Rune turned off the taps, staring into the sink, trying to think.
“You need to get far away from here, Rune.”
She glanced up to see Seraphine lift her fingers to a scar near the base of her neck, tracing the raised lines. It was a habit Rune had witnessed dozens of times in their spell casting lessons. It meant she was concentrating hard on something.
Seraphine’s clothing normally hid the casting scar’s shape. But the thin straps of her evening gown left it exposed tonight. Rune recognized the form of a bird, shining like silver against Seraphine’s brown skin.
It was the same bird as in Rune’s grandmother’s seal. The one Nan used to stamp her letters with.
A kestrel.
“If I run away,” said Rune, turning to her, “this alliance will crumble.” Seraphine stopped tracing and dropped her hand. “So?”
So, who would save the witches they’d left behind?
There were still girls being hunted down like animals in the New Republic. There was still a sibyl in Blood Guard custody, being blackmailed into helping them unmask her own kind. Rune couldn’t abandon them.
Alex would say that she could. That she should. That Rune had done more than enough to save witches from the purge.
But Alex wasn’t here.
Rune was adrift without him—the boy who’d cherished her. Alex would never help her with another heist, or protect her with another alibi.
But neither was he here telling her to stop; to keep her head down and not risk herself for others.
She was free to be who she wanted. There was no one holding her back.
If I rescue the sibyl, she told herself, the Blood Guard can’t learn where other witches are hiding.
She couldn’t protect them the way Cressida could—permanently, by seizing power. But she could protect them for now.
If there is a missing Roseblood heir, I can find them before Cressida does and keep them from danger, too.
Rune knew the summoning spell required to find a missing person. It needed to be performed in an ancient location, and the only one she knew of was a ring of summoning stones back on the island.
“Rune,” said Seraphine, stepping toward her. “Buy passage aboard a ship and take it to the other side of the world. Hide yourself somewhere she’ll never find you. Run and don’t look back.”
Rune had a better idea.
A plan was forming in her mind. A dangerous one.
“Rune.” Seraphine’s hands gripped her shoulders. “Promise me you’ll run.”
“Okay,” she said. “I promise. I’ll run.”
As soon as I complete one last mission …
