by Cate Corvin
I refilled her glass for her, and she licked her red-stained lips.
“It’s a massively powerful covenstead, did you know that? It was built over leylines in Moira’s Forest- a special commission, I’d heard.” She sighed and took another long sip. “Aunt Mallory says the histories are lost, but I’m not sure if I believe that. She’s always been a tricky old bitch.”
“I can’t say I’ve come across anything special, Miss Bloom. Not for lack of searching.”
She leaned forward and touched my arm, playfully running her fingers over my hand. A Steelblood coven ring gleamed on her finger, the false ruby glowing accusingly.
My stomach still rolled when I remembered slipping it on her finger after Lucrezia had left my office. The promise of the Steelblood family name- and access to its coffers- was enough to have her salivating. Greed was the key to Ivy’s heart.
And the information she held.
“Why must I keep telling you? Call me Ivy.”
“Ivy,” I repeated obediently, sensing the beginning of a drunken explosion, and Ivy Bloom gave me a satisfied smirk.
“She’s been interested in Cimmerian’s history for a very long time. I’m sure she’s got anything of value locked up in her office, but she’s quite stingy with sharing it.” Ivy took another long sip. Her cheeks were beginning to grow rosy.
I ignored the twisting sensation in my chest and forced myself to touch her face, running my thumb over her cheekbone. “You’re a grown woman, Ivy. Why allow Mallory to keep you in the dark?”
She downed the wine. The only admirable thing about her was how much she could drink without falling down.
“You’ve been working for my aunt for a year. Surely you’ve seen how vindictive she can be?” She laughed bitterly. “All I want is to take over the covenstead when she’s gone. I’d be a much better matriarch than she ever was. Can you imagine how great we’ll be together, Dom? We’d be bringing three covens together under one roof. Our children would be the best of both Steelblood and Springbloom.”
“I’ve been imagining it from the day we met,” I lied. “But first, we need your aunt out of the way. She won’t give up Cimmerian without a fight, Ivy.”
I poured the last of the wine in her glass and she preened.
“As I said, she’s secretive. She has certain curses on her locks that even I don’t know how to break.” Ivy glared at her wine glass, looking discomfited at the idea she didn’t know how to do something. “But I know what they are.”
I leaned in and she smiled up at me, running her tongue over her lips in a way that was probably meant to be appealing, but I found it thoroughly repellent. It felt like I spent most of my time around her fighting back a grimace.
“Perhaps I can solve them for you?”
Ivy laughed again, the noise grating on my ears. “Just hand you that level of classified information? When you’ve been holding out on me?”
“In what way?” I kept my voice even, the irritation carefully hidden. “You have my promise on your finger, Ivy.”
She stood up and tossed back her hair, only wobbling the tiniest bit in her heels.
“You know exactly what way. You’ve barely kissed me. I want you to fuck me, Dom. I know Steelblood coven has some rather… old-fashioned notions about courtship, but I believe in riding the horse before buying it.” Ivy’s self-satisfied smirk was nauseating.
She knew what curses Gilt used to protect her most valuable possessions, which likely included the blueprints for Cimmerian that might tell me what, exactly, was guarding the passage to the cornerstone Lucrezia desperately needed to find and cleanse.
There were few things I wouldn’t do for the witch I loved. I would even tolerate Ivy Bloom.
And Ivy’s idea of Steelblood’s ‘old-fashioned notions’ was ridiculous. She had no idea what I’d done to Lucrezia on the table she was eating at.
“I agree to your terms, Ivy,” I said, raising her hand to my lips. Shock replaced her smirk for a second before she pasted her confident expression back on. “Tell me where her safe is and which curses guard it, and I’ll fuck you every way you want.”
I pulled on every drop of self-control I’d developed to hide my repulsion at the idea.
But Ivy bit her lip, her gaze dropping to my own. “I’m not telling you anything without my payment first.”
“Meet me halfway, doll,” I said, standing up to tower over her and letting a purr creep into my voice. Her pupils were dilated, hands shaking. She wanted someone to want her so badly. She wanted a rich husband and a rich covenstead so deeply she’d betray anyone and anything to get them.
“Hmm. Give me a moment, Dom.” She’d had half the bottle of wine already.
I’d allow her to have her moment of childish negotiation. She’d think I’d stew the whole time, and would agree to anything when she returned.
I was going to get that information with the bare minimum of touching her. Or talking to her.
Or being in her toxic vicinity.
“Take all the time you need.”
Her heels clacked on the stairs, wobbling her way to the bathroom.
A softer sound almost caught me by surprise. I’d had my mental wards pulled in so tight, keeping myself away from the slithering sensation of Ivy’s psychic touch, that I hadn’t even paid attention to my house ward’s soft nudges, announcing an arrival.
An unpleasant jolt of surprise coursed through me when the back door unlocked with a soft click and swung open, revealing a windswept Lucrezia and her friend, Holly Cold.
Lucrezia stepped in and froze, clearly not expecting to see me. Or the two glasses of wine on the table and a woman’s purse.
A riot of emotions ran over her candid face: surprise, dismay, and tempered anger, which became a cold sort of determination.
I raised a finger to my lips as she opened her mouth.
“I need to keep Holly somewhere safe,” she whispered, slowly shutting the door behind her and dragging Holly into my house.
Her friend looked around with surprise and trepidation, her gaze finally landing on me. “I don’t know about this, Lu-”
It was the worst possible fucking time for the love of my life to walk in.
Heels clicked on the stairs again.
Lucrezia and Holly were too far from the door.
I yanked the coat closet open and grabbed Lucrezia’s arm, shoving both women in. “Say nothing,” I hissed in a flat whisper, and shut the door.
“So?” Ivy asked a moment later, and I almost flinched. The dress was gone, and she was wearing lurid lingerie that would’ve looked more at home on a department store mannequin. “It’s a simple request, darling. See what you’re missing out on? You do love me, don’t you?”
Her eyes were brighter than ever, filled with poisonous glee. She thought she’d won the seduction, but every cell in my body was filled with revulsion at the sight of her.
If I didn’t play along now, everything I’d worked for would crumble around me. I would never be able to stop Mallory, and my goals- and Lucrezia’s- would slip right through our fingers.
I desperately hoped she’d forgive me later, when I brought her exactly what she needed.
Please, let her understand.
“More than anything,” I said, allowing her to sidle closer to me. I forced myself to close my arms around her and touch her hair.
“Coven rings are pretty, but they’re just not the same as knowing someone really, truly wants you,” Ivy lamented, holding up her hand to gaze at the fake ruby with a childish pout. “You spend more time training the basketcase who can barely hold a sword than you spend with me. One might think you actually enjoy being around her more than me.”
“Of course not,” I said with an easy scoff. “What do you think I get paid for, Ivy?”
The drunken jealousy was obvious, an easy weakness to exploit.
But if I wanted to know where those cursed locks and blueprints were, I had no choice but to play along with her petty rese
ntment.
Even if it hurt Lucrezia now, she would benefit in the end. Surely she would see that I’d done this for us?
And for Simon, I reminded myself, unpleasantly surprised at how easily my love had displaced my burning desire to avenge him. You can’t fucking jeopardize his eternal rest.
I’d known from the moment I’d walked into Cimmerian that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to give him that peace. Nothing.
Ivy was tipsy enough to eat it up hook, line, and sinker. She ran her fingers over my chest and pressed herself against me. “It’s pathetic, isn’t it? She’s like a lost little puppy.”
Most of me wanted to wrap my fingers around her neck and squeeze. The rational part held it together.
Ivy had to believe me for this to work. I’d salve Lucrezia’s wounds after I’d won what we needed.
“It really is.” I slid my arm around Ivy’s waist. “But let’s not talk about Darke anymore. I have to see enough of her as it is.”
Ivy chuckled and my heart ached.
“So you agree to our bargain?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fuck me right here, right now, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Now the calculating part of myself slipped a little. Lucrezia’s arrival had unsteadied me. I’d cut my own cock off before I let Ivy anywhere near it, but I needed to know those fucking curses.
“Ivy. I’ve already given you a coven ring. That’s the greatest promise I could possibly make to you.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded, silver-backed note. It was blank inside, but she couldn’t know that.
“And while you were upstairs, I got a memo from the school. I need to go back. But… if you tell me what I want to know…”
I swallowed back bile and pressed my lips to her cheek, tracing my way downwards until I nibbled her earlobe and drew a gasp from her.
Her skin tasted metallic and floral, nothing like the warm, sweet taste of Lucrezia’s skin. “I’ll make it worth your while. How would you like to be handfasted the day I bring you home?”
Ivy had one weakness, and her eyes gleamed. The greedy bitch wouldn’t be able to resist the prospect of power and wealth, even though she currently held the upper hand.
“Lady Ivy Steele,” she said, pretending to muse over the prospect, but there was no hiding her covetous excitement.
“Day of,” I promised. “They’ll be overjoyed to have you.”
Her lips twisted, but her mind was made up. Greed outweighed need.
“You win tonight, Dom. Our first compromise as a couple.”
She pulled my face to hers for a dry kiss, leaving her lipstick smeared over my mouth.
“Astrictus. Delirium. Excruciatus. Lethaeus,” she whispered in my ear. “East wall of her private workroom.”
She caught me in a last brutal kiss before I could pull away. I resisted the urge to bite down and draw blood, seething hatred boiling in my veins.
She licked her lips when she was finished, gathered her purse, and I opened the front door for her.
Ivy touched my chest one last time. “Last thing,” she said. “I don’t care what my aunt wants you to do for the little slut. But I don’t want to see you with her outside of your training time, understand?”
I nearly let a surge of immaturity get the upper hand and told her to go fuck herself, but she was still too useful a pawn to alienate.
“As you wish… love.” Saying that word to anyone other than Lucrezia was painful.
She smiled in satisfaction and walked out, pulling a runestone from her purse and vanishing in a shimmer of air.
I shut the front door and bolted it, pulling every charm on it into effect. I’d feel her coming from five miles away if she tried to return.
Lucrezia’s feelings would be hurt, but I’d gotten exactly what we needed. I’d do anything to make it up to her when she’d taken the cornerstone for herself.
I shoved the decoy note back in my pocket and opened the closet door, my stomach churning with trepidation, even if I’d done what was necessary.
It was all for her. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure our future. “Lucrezia.”
Holly had her arm draped over Lucrezia’s shoulder. She pulled her out and set her backpack on a chair, and Lucrezia’s eyes skipped over the lipstick-marked wineglass.
I ran my arm over my mouth, leaving streaks of pink on my sleeve.
Her pretty face was set, a touch paler now from her foray into nearly becoming one of Death’s wandering shades. My heart still stuttered at the thought of how close she had come to losing herself completely. How close I’d come to losing her.
“Holly needs to stay here for a while,” Lucrezia said. “She can’t go back to Cimmerian. Ever.”
My lover exchanged a look with her friend, her ash-gray eyes burning with internal fire. “I promise you’ll be safe here. I’ll come back for you as soon as I can, okay?”
Holly gave me a nervous glance. “I didn’t think this was a professor’s house…”
Lucrezia wouldn’t look at me. “He’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
She kissed Holly’s cheek. “Bedroom’s upstairs. Make yourself at home,” I said, hoping to get five minutes alone with Lucrezia.
Sensing the tension in the air, Holly returned her kiss and set off with her backpack.
Lucrezia crossed her arms over her chest, pacing the length of the kitchen, looking everywhere but at me.
Her eyes landed on the last picture I’d saved of Simon and she frowned, her brows drawing together in puzzlement and consternation.
And… recognition?
But that wasn’t possible.
“Lucrezia, I told you she was only a means to an end-”
She held up a hand. I’d seen Lucrezia in the depths of a blind fury, waves of fire pouring out of skin, but her cold anger was far more frightening, like a concentrated ball of wildfire that might explode into an unstoppable tidal wave. “Can you explain yourself? Or is another pile of ‘oh no, Lu, I can’t tell you my top-secret plans’ bullshit I’m supposed to just live with?”
I wanted to tell her what I was doing more than anything. I trusted her more than anyone else on this earth.
But her mind wasn’t infallible against magic. Even if I told her and found a way to place a geas on her, she might still crack under a powerful truth spell.
There was no way of knowing how much Mallory Gilt knew of Lucrezia’ unraveling of Cimmerian’s mysteries, and she was already one person who knew too much as it was.
I couldn’t risk my mission and Simon Wicke’s fate. He was my reason for being here. If Gilt cracked her mind and found out how far into the deception I was, Simon’s spirit would be doomed to wander this pit of misery and darkness until the end of time.
“I’ll tell you when my plans have reached the end. I haven’t won yet, Lucrezia.”
All she could know of my goal was that I had no true feelings for Ivy Bloom, and I wouldn’t betray Lucrezia for her. Ever.
“No,” she said, preternaturally still, much like her vampire. “You’ve just given Bloom a coven ring and promised to take her to Steelblood, same as you promised me. How many of those do you have lying around, anyways? Do you give one out to every woman you take a shine to?”
“Of course I don’t-”
“It meant nothing to you, just like I thought.” Lucrezia looked down, her cheeks flushed with rage. “Keep Holly safe, okay? It’s the least you can do if you’re going to lie about everything else.”
“It’s not real, Lucrezia-”
She spun on her heel and walked out, and I caught the door before it slammed.
Her two enormous wolves filled the backyard. Shane sniffed at her as she climbed on Roman’s back, and he rumbled a deep warning growl. His silver scars caught the moonlight like mercury when his enormous head turned my way.
Another figure appeared from the darkness. The vampire’s amber eyes flashed at me.
“Don’t, Shane,” she said, softly, and aft
er a long, tense moment, the wolf followed her and his twin through the gates.
“Lies are the poison to love,” Locke said, a warning in his voice, and then he too was gone.
Silence fell over the house and yard. Soft footsteps finally broke that silence.
“Easily-resolved miscommunication?” Holly asked.
I nodded. Well, somewhat-easily-resolved. How could I ask Lucrezia to trust me when I was barely able to give her anything trustworthy?
All I wanted was to protect the ones I loved from Cimmerian’s evil, but the task had never seemed so Herculean as it did now.
Holly sighed. “I’ll write her a letter. Maybe it’s because I spend a lot more time listening than talking, but I’m pretty good at picking out a lie. You’re good, I’ll give it to you, but not the best I’ve ever heard.”
“You can hear lies, Miss Cold?”
She already had a notebook open on the table. “There’s a few drops of truthsayer blood in my family. The deeper and more desperate the lie, the easier it is to pick out.” She wrote a few neat lines in cursive and looked up expectantly.
“The usual? It’s all a ruse, you love her desperately and wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for her, if she’d stayed for five minutes longer you could’ve explained yourself?”
I stared at her, feeling uncharacteristically blindsided.
“I read a lot. It’s a common trope in romance, even if it drives me crazy. Such a lazy cop-out.” She began writing again, giving me time to collect my bearings.
I cleaned up the remains of dinner while Holly wrote, erasing every trace of that vile, greedy woman I had no choice but to pander to, and scrubbed my lips until they burned.
You don’t have to play along much longer. You have the curses now.
“Why is Lucrezia sheltering you here, Miss Cold?”
She looked up from ending her letter, fixing eyes that were far too old and knowing for her age on me. “I Saw my own death. Lu thinks if I stay away from Cimmerian long enough, we can avert it.”
“Do you believe that?” Her matter-of-fact confession was disconcerting to see in such a young woman. She seemed resigned to it already.
Holly signed her name at the bottom of the letter and tore it from the notebook. “No,” she said. “I believe that one way or another, it’s going to come back to bite me. But there’s a part of me that still hopes for a different outcome, and that’s why I’m here. If I can avoid the death I drew, that means that anyone’s future can be changed.”