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  “I don’t understand,” Aveline said, listening carefully. “You’re saying you knew my father?”

  “We met but once, during the Devil’s Massacre. You are familiar with the massacre?”

  “Of course. Over the course of three days, my father unleashed his Devil blood and slaughtered a thousand people, by hand, on his own,” she said, pride in her voice.

  “This is what you were led to believe?” Tiana’s father had arched an eyebrow.

  “It’s what happened. Why wouldn’t I believe it?” she retorted.

  “The Massacre occurred, and the Devil’s blood was involved. But your father was not the Devil who slaughtered a thousand people,” he replied. “Your mother was. Your father stopped her.”

  Had she not been so surprised, she would have laughed. “That’s ridiculous! My father was the Devil. Everyone knows this!”

  “Has there been another massacre since that one?”

  “My mother died in childbirth. My father lost his mind and went on a rampage. If anything ever happened to me, he might react that way again, but nothing ever did.”

  “Hmm.” Tiana’s father was not impressed. “What if I told you there were several other massacres, in the villages and cities within two hundred miles of here, corresponding to the two hundred years in which your mother’s life spanned, and leading up to the arrival of your mother in my city?”

  Two hundred … what is going on? Aveline was caught too off guard to process his question.

  “Your mother could not control her deformity, but you appear to be able to, perhaps because you are a half-breed,” he observed. “If your time in solitary did not cause you to react, then I believe your father’s blood may be the key to stabilizing what you are. Unless … have you reached your eighteenth birthday?”

  Aveline’s mouth opened, but no words would form, for she had no idea how to retort such a statement. She began to wonder if she had lost her mind in solitary confinement, and this entire discussion was a hallucination.

  But would not her hallucination make sense to her, if it stemmed from her own mind?

  “There is the idea your Devil’s blood will not emerge until you are eighteen,” Tiana’s father said, unfazed by her shocked silence. “When do you celebrate your birth?”

  He waited this time. After a moment, she answered. “Next month.”

  “On the nineteenth, by chance?”

  “Around there. I don’t know the exact date.”

  “You and Tiana share more than your unusual deformities,” he said. His gaze lit up – and Aveline had the distinct feeling it was not for a good reason. “How fortuitous.”

  She stood and pinched her arm to ensure she was awake and in her right mind. The air around them crackled with his charged energy, enough to make her edgier than before. When Tiana used her bizarre abilities, it was overtly evident. The air was filled with that same charge, but Aveline was unable to pinpoint what the Hanover patriarch did. Was he trying to alter her mind? Would she know if he were? What else could he be doing, if he were using his power without any sign of what he did?

  Her cell was starting to look far more appealing than a conversation with a madman. “What do you want?” She bit off the words.

  “Arthur found you for a reason. Not anyone – you. The bearer of the Devil’s blood, despite the fact I never revealed you or your father’s identities to him.” Tiana’s father paused, pensive. “There must be a reason for this, and I can think of only one. If he believes Tiana’s danger to be so great, only you can save her, then I cannot interfere. At least, not until he is found and returned to the city, when I can question him about his visions.”

  Aveline hid her surprise. The Hanover leader knew his son was deformed and did not treat him as he did Tiana.

  “It is in your benefit not to reveal her secret, just as it is to my advantage not to reveal yours. I would not wish my enemies to know what kind of guard dog I have, until you destroy them,” he continued, oblivious to her flush of anger. “Your mother slaughtered everyone who came near her, except for you and your father. I believe you will share this discretion and ability to protect those you are charged with protecting.”

  “For the last time, my father bore the – ”

  “Believe what you will. As long as you know to protect my daughter with your deformity.”

  “And if I can’t control my Devil blood on my eighteenth birthday?” she snapped.

  He shrugged one shoulder elegantly. “I do not feel this is a problem.” Tiana’s father stood. “You will cause no further trouble, unless my daughter is in danger. In which case, you may transform into whatever form you must to save her.”

  What was he talking about? The Devil’s blood rendered her father invincible. It did not change his form!

  Tiana’s father strode to the door.

  Aveline remained where she was, reeling from the conversation. Of everything he had said, she could not get over the idea he somehow thought her mother was a two hundred year old monster!

  “Wait!” she cried as he opened the door. She wracked her thoughts to uncover the insistent instinct that was worrying her about Tiana. “Tell me why.”

  “Why … what?” he replied.

  “Why you spared Tiana as an infant and why you wish to protect her now,” she replied.

  He closed the door and faced her. “Hanover’s never harm Hanover’s,” he replied.

  Did the man who torched children, women, and the poor every week actually love his daughter? Aveline studied his face, but saw no affection whatsoever. Was this merely some sort of twisted sense of duty, since he seemed incapable of love?

  “You had no trouble burning her twin,” she pointed out.

  “Think on that, and you will understand the answer,” he said and then opened the door.

  Before she could react, he had exited.

  Aveline remained where she was, even though he left the door open. She was trying to understand what he was talking about, or how much of a madman he had to be in order to alter the events of her past and claim to want to protect Tiana in one breath then wish she had died as a child in the next. No logical explanation formed for his assertions about her family or even about his own daughter.

  She concluded he had to be utterly insane – the unpredictable madman he was rumored to be on the streets.

  She had never met someone she did not think she could figure out. What would her father say about the madman? How would he advise her to proceed?

  Carefully. Her instincts were whispering again, this time in quiet warning. Tiana’s father was the most powerful person in the city, and he was insane. That made him dangerous.

  A soldier appeared in the doorway.

  She shifted her stance, in case he tried to grab her.

  “You are to report to your former duty station,” he directed her. “All offenses have been officially pardoned, and you are to perform to the standards required of you.”

  Aveline promptly held out her arms, not about to miss the opportunity to be free. Of everywhere she could think of going, Tiana’s room was at the bottom of the list, below her own prison cell. But she also wanted to check in on the Hanover girl before leaving the pyramid for air and to find Rocky, who was probably worried about her.

  And … something about the certainty with which Tiana’s father spoke left her wanting to reaffirm what she knew of the Devil’s Massacre. For a moment, she thought Tiana’s father was going to insist the Devil had murdered his wife – Aveline’s mother – to stop the massacre. The Hanover patriarch had stopped just short of such a statement, which struck Aveline as odd. If he were pushing his mad perspective of the past on her, why not finish the narrative he started? He had not hesitated to make any of his other ridiculous claims.

  Why am I entertaining his version of events at all? She asked herself, perplexed. Her life had changed in every way since her father’s death but this felt … different. Was she under the influence of Tiana’s father without knowing it? We
re these thoughts hers, or planted by him?

  The soldier freed her hands and removed the restraints, draping them over his arm as he replaced the keys at his waist. He stepped aside and motioned for her to walk ahead of him.

  The second soldier led her through the underground prison and to a stairwell. He escorted her through the servants’ area and then to the main floor before leaving her at the service elevator.

  Already, Aveline could breathe more easily and had even sneaked a peek through one of the open doors to see the mud churned snow and grey morning. She was antsy with the need to feel free again and experience the bite of winter after her solitary confinement. Eager to ensure Tiana was alive and safe, Aveline rode the elevator to the very top of the pyramid and exited past the guards standing on duty in front of the Hanover’s apartments. She barely glanced towards the finery and opulence that had once engaged her attention, only slowing when she reached the cul de sac at the end of the hallway where the personal rooms of the Hanover’s were located.

  The door to Tiana’s room had been removed.

  Aveline frowned and stepped into the small space. The furniture was gone, the window boarded up once more, and the closet with its secret entrance into the walls sealed up by concrete. The tiny room had been scrubbed of blood and dust alike.

  “She was given Matilda’s room,” George said from behind her.

  “Hi, George.”

  “I wish I could say this is a pleasure.”

  “Good to see you, too.” Aveline faced him with a grimace.

  He held out a familiar set of clothing in slave grays, with a green sash. She glanced down at the clothes she had been wearing. If she smelled, she was used to it, though she looked forward to bathing soon.

  “Thanks,” she said and accepted the clothes. “Anything I need to know about?”

  George folded his hands in front of him. “No.”

  “All right.” Already at her limit with the passive aggressive slave, Aveline turned towards Tiana’s door. It was locked. From her peripheral, she saw George hold out the key.

  Not much has changed, she thought, irritated to know Tiana was still locked away like a prisoner.

  Then again, the Hanover girl was probably safe locked in her room, where her madman of a father was not reminded of how he should have let her die so long ago.

  Aveline drew a deep breath, hoping her friend was well, and uncertain what to tell her about the conversation with her father. Anxious to check on Rocky, Aveline debated returning later before she decided to see Tiana first.

  Please don’t cry, she begged Tiana silently and drew a deep breath. She had no idea what kind of a mess Tiana would be after what happened the last time they were together. Was the Hanover girl even able to leave her bed?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Aveline unlocked the door and opened it. She stepped inside the doorway, gaze settling on a woman in slave clothing standing near the middle of Tiana’s room.

  The window was open, and Aveline felt her body relax of its own accord as she breathed in the smells of the city and winter. Tension slid out of her, and she sucked in a deep breath. She closed her eyes, pretending she was outside.

  “Pursy, you are dismissed,” George called into the room.

  Aveline opened her eyes and stepped out of the doorway. The woman at its center turned towards George’s voice, took a step, and then tripped over the rug. Aveline started forward when she noticed the woman’s eyelids had been sewn shut. Startled, she stayed where she was as the blinded woman shuffled to the door before leaving.

  “What –” Aveline started.

  Before she could say another word, Tiana had flung her arms around her with such force, Aveline barely caught her balance in time to prevent them both from tumbling to the ground.

  “I knew you had to be alive!” Tiana’s high-pitched squeal made Aveline flinch.

  Pleased to see the girl, Aveline was nonetheless not accustomed to open affection. She pried Tiana off her and pushed her back, holding her at a distance with her hands planted on the blonde girl’s shoulders. “You don’t hug assassins,” she said firmly. “Okay?”

  Tiana nodded eagerly, smiling widely. Her deformity –pupil-less black eyes that swallowed the whites of her eyes – caught Aveline off guard again, but she managed to hide her revulsion this time.

  “Where were you?” Tiana asked. “Did my father hurt you? Did you hear about the Cruises?”

  “Were you crying?” Aveline countered, studying Tiana’s sun-starved features.

  Tiana sighed. “I know.” She continued to smile. “But everything’s going to be okay now. I have it all figured out.”

  Burn me. What could that possibly mean? Aveline did not feel prepared to ask.

  “Are you hungry?” Tiana asked. “I eat real food now, all day long.” She spun and hurried across the cavernous bedroom to a bowl of fruit on a table near the bed. “Look! All this is mine!”

  Aveline watched her. She was also unable to look upon Tiana the first time without recalling when they had last been together. Tiana was limping, and her arms remained bandaged, the results of her self-inflicted wounds, when she tried to kill herself after murdering Matilda with magic.

  But it was the subtle changes in Tiana that Aveline noticed more. Tiana wore real clothing, not the sleeping gown she used to live in all day long. She had not hesitated to look Aveline in the eye. Her cheeks were flushed pink. While her frame was no heavier than before, she walked with a spring in her step and held her head up.

  “Look. Bananas!” Tiana exclaimed and hurried back with the bowl of fruit. She held it out to Aveline.

  Aveline took an apple absently then caught Tiana’s wrist. Fresh blood marred the bandage on her arm.

  Tiana pulled her hand back self-consciously and ducked her gaze.

  “You’re still cutting,” Aveline observed.

  Tiana offered no explanation. She returned to the table and replaced the fruit. She held her arm against her chest. “You look well. My father did not hurt you, did he?”

  Aveline shook her head. She did not know what to say to Tiana about the bizarre meeting with the Hanover patriarch. “He said he would do nothing about me until your brother returns.”

  Tiana’s smile faded. “If he returns.”

  “What has happened?”

  Tiana drew a deep breath and then told her everything: the burning of the Cruises, the blinding of her servants and the news about her brother that brought tears to Tiana’s eyes.

  Insane doesn’t do Tiana’s father justice, Aveline thought after she had heard it all. She had not expected the Hanover leader to respond as fast or decisively as to massacre the entire Cruise family. Even street dogs like Aveline understood the significance of eradicating the descendants of the city’s much-revered founders.

  “I missed a lot,” she said in the pause that followed Tiana’s story. “Are you being treated better?”

  “If Arthur does not return, my father will likely marry me off to someone to produce an heir, so the city stays under the family’s control,” Tiana said with a frown.

  “Like a broodmare?”

  Tiana nodded.

  “You plan on agreeing to this?” Aveline asked.

  “What choice do I have?”

  None, with a father like hers, Aveline knew.

  “I am happy you are here,” Tiana said with a small smile. “Do you think we should rescue my brother?”

  Aveline had forgotten how blunt the sheltered girl could be on occasion. After meeting Tiana’s father, she no longer wondered where it came from.

  “Absolutely not,” she said without hesitation. “I’m certain your father sent out people to find your brother.”

  “He did. Over twenty of them, and he is dispatching a second party to hunt for the meat we need.” Tiana grew serious. “Arthur’s protector made it back to the city. He can go with us to find Arthur. It will only take two days to reach Arthur, and then maybe we can negotiate his release in a day o
r two and return two days later.”

  “Didn’t you say your father already sent Shield soldiers to find him?” Aveline asked, brow furrowing.

  “Yes, but they will not find him,” Tiana replied. “That is why we must go.”

  “Let’s take a step back,” Aveline said. She had also forgotten how difficult it was to deal with Tiana sometimes, for the Hanover girl had no common sense whatsoever. “How do you know they won’t find your brother?”

  “I saw him in one of my dreams. He is not where they are looking for him,” Tiana answered.

  “You did not think to tell your father this, before he sent the Shield to find him?”

  “I did not know until this morning,” Tiana replied. “Now that you are back, we can go.”

  “Absolutely not,” Aveline said firmly. “It’s not safe for you, especially not in the middle of the snowstorms we’ve been having.”

  “But who will rescue Arthur?” Tiana pressed, the high-pitched note in her voice revealing she was likely to cry soon. Her lower lip trembled.

  “Don’t start,” Aveline warned. “You’d be of no use to him. You’d be dead in a day.”

  “Warner is the greatest warrior in the city. He will escort us,” Tiana insisted. “Besides, I will be dead soon, if I do not act. I have told you my dream. Maybe this is why – because Arthur does not make it back.”

  “We don’t know that!”

  “You know he would never let anyone hurt me. If I die in my visions, then this must be why.” Tiana’s unguarded expression was a combination of sorrow and hope.

  “I’ve never left the city, Tiana!” Aveline exclaimed. “In the city, I can keep you alive. One we leave, I might be able to hunt, but I don’t know how to navigate terrain like a Native would, and I can’t speak the languages of any of the Natives, even if I’m a half-breed.”

  “Warner can, and we can ask your friend Rocky to –”

  Aveline stared at her. Tiana had never been insistent in their time together, and she had never discussed anything at all with this much enthusiasm or emotion. The sad little girl who huddled away in her room had transformed, and Aveline was at a loss to explain how or why. Was this the effect of Matilda being gone? Without someone to crush her spirit, was Tiana blooming?