Page 104 of Their Blood Queen

“Are you really going to forgive him, Lady Scarlett?” she asks, her wide brown eyes a fixture I’m so used to on her face that I imagine they’ll just stay that way from now on. “I watched you lie there, helpless, for days.” The tears twinkling in her eyes touch me in ways I would never have expected.

Somehow, I’ve made a friend, even in a place like the Rinhold residence.

Sighing, I turn and select one of the blasted tonics. I had better get used to them, because this is the way of a family in the Magic Sector.

And soon, I’ll be in the Immortal Sector. The stakes will be even higher, and expectations will be as high as the clouds.

“He explained everything,” I say, knowing I don’t really need to convince Julie, but it would help if I reiterated it for myself. After watching Edward make underhanded deals with various families in a gambling scheme, I imagined he didn’t care about me at all. He hadn’t come to visit me, but he had a reason for that.

“Did he?” Beatrix asks from the doorway. She’s scowling, which is also a permanent fixture I imagine I should get used to. “The young master is no fool, my lady. He could talk his way out of a beheading in the middle of an execution just by charming the poor soul holding the axe.”

“That might be so,” I agree as I pop open the cork on the tonic I’ve selected. The aroma of peaches makes me relax. I’m not sure why it’s my favorite lately. “But there is evidence I have to consider. My mother came to visit me just two days ago, and she is doing well.” Better than I’ve seen in years—maybe ever. “That’s why he did what he did,” I say, more to myself than to anyone else. Edward had waited until after I had seen my mother to explain everything. It made it hard to be mad at him, so I see now why he’d waited.

The explanation, though, still boggled my mind.

He had a gambling scheme going, one that was rigged. He has a monster ally in the city, one who seems to know which Offering will make a strong match and which won’t. Edward didn’t tell me what he had on the monster, but I knew it must be something good.

Because Edward knew the best matches already before the night had even begun. That monster had given him his foresight and allowed Edward to make risky bets, ones that had earned him a lot of money.

Enough to buy my trust? I wonder as my dress changes color and form, courtesy of my peach-flavored tonic. I’m about to see Edward for lunch, but I’m feeling rather lethargic.

There’s a pit inside my stomach that only seems to grow. I hunger for something I can’t have. Something dark, depraved.

Something dangerous.

Sniffing, I grab another one of the tonics.

The one that keeps me awake.

I haven’t slept in four days, and I don’t intend to sleep tonight. Sleep is something I can’t face, not until I’m satisfied that I won’t encounter figments in my dreams.

Yet, my treacherous body yearns for what it can’t have. The sensation of being poked full of holes until I want to scream makes me woozy, and I waver on my feet.

Beatrix scowls again as she steadies me. I know she doesn’t approve, but she doesn’t chastise me. Instead, she seems resigned.

Footsteps at the door make me glance up with a practiced smile.

“I was just finishing up, Edwa—” I begin, only to cut myself off when I see Duchess Rinhold, not my future husband.

And she seems furious. A pinch in her brow makes her look older, despite her plentiful use of anti-aging tonics. Her curls fray around her head as if she’s been grasping at them.

A staff of cloaked figures stand around her, making my spine go stiff. Whatever she has in mind, it can’t be good.

Her lips twist into a snarl when I try to smile at her. It’s an odd reaction, and I certainly don’t expect the foul word that drips from her mouth.

“Whore.”

My eyes fling open wide. “Duchess Rinhold,” I begin, not sure what to say against such an accusation. “If you presume I’ve been unfaithful, I assure you?—”

“I know,” she says, dipping her chin with finality as if I should know what that means.

“Know what?” I ask.

She sighs as if I’m being ridiculous. “Did you think there wouldn’t be any evidence?”

“Evidence?” I parrot.

She actually growls at me. “Edward’s courtship mark is gone!”

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