Who Has the Absolute Power?

I grabbed my grandmother's journal and threw it at the closest vampire's face.

It hit him square in the nose. He stumbled back, more surprised than hurt. The other two kept advancing, their eyes glowing red, fangs fully extended.

"Help!" I screamed. "Somebody help me!"

"No one's coming, Ashford." The vampire I'd hit with the journal wiped blood from his nose and grinned. "Everyone's at the council meeting. It's just you and us."

I backed up until I hit the wall. Nowhere left to go. My heart hammered so hard I could hear it in my ears, feel it pulsing in my throat.

The second vampire—a woman with short black hair and a scar across her cheek—lunged forward. Her hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. My feet dangled. I clawed at her wrist, but it was like scratching stone.

"Make it quick," the third vampire said. He was tall, with copper-colored hair pulled into a bun. "We can't leave evidence."

"Where's the fun in quick?" The woman tightened her grip. Black spots danced across my vision. "She's the reason we're all dying. The reason my brother collapsed yesterday. I want her to suffer."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. The Truthsight flared, showing me their auras—all three pulsed with rage, red and black and violent. No yellow. They believed what they were saying. They genuinely thought killing me would help.

My vision started to blur. The woman's face swam in and out of focus.

Then the classroom door exploded inward.

Raven stood in the doorway, and for the first time since I'd met him, he looked completely feral. His amber eyes glowed bright in the dim light. His fangs were out—not just visible, but extended fully like a pure vampire's. The silver streaks in his black hair seemed to shimmer.

"Let. Her. Go." Each word came out like a growl.

The woman dropped me. I hit the floor hard, gasping and choking as air rushed back into my lungs. My throat felt crushed.

"This doesn't concern you, half-breed," the copper-haired vampire said. But he took a step back.

"She's under Prince Noctis's protection." Raven moved into the room with predatory grace. "You touch her, you answer to him. And to me."

"The prince bought her to die anyway," the woman with the scar said. Her hands curled into claws. "We're just speeding up the process. Saving everyone the trouble of waiting three months."

"Funny." Raven's smile was all teeth and no warmth. "I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion."

The first vampire—the one I'd hit with the journal—moved to flank Raven. "Three against one, Thorne. Even you can't win those odds."

"Watch me."

Raven moved so fast I barely saw it. One second he was standing by the door. The next, he had the first vampire pinned against the wall by his throat. The vampire's feet kicked uselessly in the air.

"I said," Raven repeated, his voice deadly quiet, "let her go. That includes leaving. Now."

The woman with the scar hesitated, glancing at her copper-haired companion. Some silent conversation passed between them.

Then she lunged at Raven's back.

I screamed a warning, but Raven was already moving. He dropped the first vampire and spun, catching the woman's wrist mid-strike. He twisted, and I heard bone crack. She screamed.

The copper-haired vampire grabbed me, hauling me up by my arm. Pain shot through my shoulder—the same one Elena had clawed. His fangs were at my throat before I could react.

"Stop," he ordered Raven. "Or I bite."

Raven froze. His amber eyes locked on mine, and I saw something in them I'd never seen before—fear. Real, genuine fear.

"Don't," Raven said. His voice had lost its edge. "Don't hurt her."

"Then back off." The copper-haired vampire's breath was hot against my neck. "Let us finish what we came to do."

"No." The word came from the doorway.

Caspian stood there, and the temperature in the room dropped so fast my breath misted in the air. His gold eyes weren't just glowing—they were blazing. And his face... I'd seen him cold before. Distant. Calculating. But this was different. This was fury, pure and absolute.

"Release her," Caspian said softly. Too softly. The kind of soft that came before violence. "Now."

The vampire holding me hesitated. His grip on my arm loosened slightly. "My lord, we were only—"

"I know exactly what you were doing." Caspian walked into the room, and with each step, the air got colder. Heavier. I could feel power radiating off him like heat from a fire. "You were attempting to murder someone under my direct protection. Someone I explicitly claimed. Someone the council has not voted to execute."

"But the curse—" the woman with the scar started.

"Is not your concern." Caspian's voice cracked like a whip. "I am your prince. I am your future king. And I gave an order. Release. Her. Now."

The copper-haired vampire let me go. I stumbled forward, and Raven caught me before I fell. His hands were gentle despite the violence still coiled in his body.

"Are you hurt?" Raven whispered.

I couldn't answer. My throat was too raw. I just shook my head.

Caspian approached the three vampires slowly. "Names."

"Marcus Blackwood," the copper-haired one said. His voice shook slightly.

"Lillian Crane," the woman said, cradling her broken wrist.

"Thomas Vane," the first vampire muttered.

"Vane?" Caspian's eyes narrowed. "Relation to Elysia?"

"Her cousin, my lord."

Something cold settled in my stomach. Elysia had sent them. Or at least, she was involved.

"The three of you will report to the council chamber immediately," Caspian said. His voice was perfectly controlled now. Cold as ice. "You will confess what you attempted here. And you will accept whatever punishment they deem fit."

"My lord—" Lillian started.

"That wasn't a request." Caspian's eyes flashed. "Go. Before I decide to handle this myself."

They went. Marcus and Thomas helped Lillian, who kept shooting hate-filled looks at me over her shoulder. The moment they were gone, Caspian's perfect composure cracked.

He closed his eyes, his hands curling into fists. When he opened them again, he looked at Raven. "How did you know?"

"Dorian sent word," Raven said. He still had one arm around me, keeping me steady. "Said he saw them heading this way with bad intentions."

"Dorian." Caspian's jaw tightened. "Of course." He turned to me, and for just a second, I saw something raw in his gold eyes. Something that looked almost like relief. "Are you injured?"

I touched my throat gently. It felt bruised, swollen. "I'll live."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting." My voice came out raspy and broken. I pulled away from Raven, even though it made my legs shake. "Why do they think you bought me to die? Did you tell everyone that's your plan?"

Caspian's face went carefully blank. "I told the council you were here as a potential solution to the curse. They drew their own conclusions."

"And you didn't correct them."

"No," he admitted. "I didn't."

"Why not?" My hands were trembling again. I pressed them against my sides. "Why let them think I'm here to be sacrificed?"

"Because if they knew I was looking for alternatives, they'd panic." Caspian ran a hand through his hair, messing up the perfect styling. "The council is divided. Half want you dead immediately. The other half are willing to wait until the Blood Moon to see if you'll cooperate. If they knew I was actively trying to avoid your death, the ones who want you killed would act. Like they just did."

"So you're using me as bait?" Raven's voice was sharp. "Letting people think she's a willing sacrifice while you figure out another way?"

"I'm buying time," Caspian corrected. "Time for her to learn about the curse. Time for her Truthsight to develop. Time for—" He stopped himself.

"Time for what?" I demanded.

Caspian looked at me. Really looked at me, like he was trying to decide something. "Time for you to understand what you're capable of. Your grandmother didn't leave that journal with Dorian by accident. She wanted her descendant to have it. To learn from it. There are things in there—knowledge, spells, possibilities—that the council doesn't know about."

"The blood bond," I said. The words came out before I could think better of it. "She said there's a loophole in the blood bond."

Both Raven and Caspian went very still.

"How do you know that?" Caspian asked quietly.

"I saw it. A vision when I touched the journal." I swallowed hard, my throat protesting. "She said if I figure out how to use the bond, I won't have to die. But I need to see the truth first. All of it."

Caspian's face had gone pale. Actually pale, which I didn't think was possible for someone already vampire-white. "She told you about the bond."

"What does it mean?" I looked between them. "What loophole?"

"I don't know," Caspian said. But his voice wavered just slightly. Just enough that my Truthsight flared, showing me a yellow glow around him.

He was lying.

"Yes, you do," I said. My throat burned with each word, but I kept going. "You know exactly what she meant. Tell me."

"I can't." Caspian turned away. "Not yet. Not until—"

"Not until what?" I demanded. "Not until I'm desperate enough to agree to die? Not until you've manipulated me into—"

"Not until I know you won't try it and get yourself killed!" Caspian spun back around, and his mask was completely gone now. His face was open, raw, showing every bit of the fear and frustration he usually kept hidden. "The blood bond between us—it's not normal. It went deeper than it should have. Connected us in ways that shouldn't be possible between vampire and human. If you try to use it without understanding it, it could kill you. It could kill both of us."

The room fell silent except for my ragged breathing.

"Then teach me," I said. "Show me how to use it safely."

"I can't." Caspian's voice was barely above a whisper. "Because if I do, if you succeed, it won't just break the curse. It will break me."

Before I could ask what he meant, a bell tolled through the academy. Deep. Resonant. Final.

Raven's face went white. "That's the death knell."

"Another student?" I asked.

"Worse." Caspian was already moving toward the door. "That's the emergency summons. It means multiple deaths. Come on."

We ran through the corridors, following the sound of screaming. Other students were running too, all heading toward the central courtyard.

When we burst outside, I saw it immediately.

Seven students lying on the ground. Not moving. Not breathing. Gray death omens still hovering above their bodies even though they were already gone.

And standing in the center of the courtyard, looking down at them with an expression I couldn't read, was Elysia Vane.

Her emerald dress was splattered with blood.

She looked up, saw me, and smiled.