Page 85 of The Scarlet Veil

The forgotten silver stake glints at my feet.

“In the meantime”—he unrolls his sleeve without glancing back at me, thrusts his arms into his leather surcoat—“you will tell meexactlywhat your note entailed. You chose the aviary for a reason.” His careful control never falters as he stoops to retrieve the handkerchief from the vampire’s desiccated body, as he calmly wipes the gore from his hands. “What did you tell your friends about us, Célie Tremblay?”

Slowly, I bend to retrieve the stake. My heartbeat pounds a relentless beat in my ears. Michal plans to murder those friends, and I just—I just drank hisblood. I just tasted hisskin, and evenworse—I’d wanted to—to—

Visceral loathing courses through my veins, and I refuse to finish the thought. My hands shake with purpose as I descend the stairs, as my vision narrows on his broad leather-clad back.

On the spot directly behind his heart.

“I told them how to kill you,” I snarl, lunging as he turns.

For the span of a single second—perhaps less—I relish the surprise on his beautifully cruel face as the silver strikes his chest. The stake pierces his thin shirt easily, and where it touches his bare skin, smoke curls in a startling plume. Pain flares briefly in his eyes. Then anger.

Bright, biting anger.

He catches my wrist before I can drive the silver into his heart, wrenching the stake from his chest and hurling it across the aviary, where it shatters instantly against the door. The resolve in my chest shatters with it.Shit.Stumbling backward, I stare up at him with wide eyes.

He bares his fangs in a feral smile.

Shit, shit,shit.

Though I try to flee, he moves too quickly, and the entire aviary blurs until we lurch to a sickening halt just before the door. Spinning me with those impossibly strong hands—one capturing my wrists, the other my nape—he walks me leisurely into the door. Silver powder from the stake still clings to the wood. It abrades my cheek. “Clever girl,” he says, his voice tight at my ear, darkly amused, “but you really shouldn’t play with sharp objects, especially with vampire blood in your system. You might hurt yourself.”

“Let mego—” I snarl, but he only presses closer. His body coiling tighter.

“No.”

“I swear if you don’t unhand me, I’ll—I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Smoke still undulates between us. It curlsaround my hair and shoulders. Much more concerning, however, are histeeth. They linger just above my head, taunting me, as his chest rumbles with derisive laughter. I feel every inch of it down my spine. “What,exactly, is your plan, mademoiselle? Your stake is gone. You have no other weapons, and even if you did—you are human on an isle full of vampires. The scent of your blood has already attracted unwanted attention. At this very moment, a dozen Éternels wait just beyond this door, each of them eager to learn your fate. Each of themhungry.” His hand on my wrists falls away, as does the one at my nape. “Shall I leave you to them?”

I press closer to the door, repressing a shiver. Goose bumps erupt down my arms. As gently as his hands touched me, they tore into Laurent’s chest cavity only moments ago.To protect you, a small voice in my head argues, but it isn’t enough. And in the end, it doesn’t matter what happens to me. “What did she take from you?” I ask quietly, bracing myself against the wood. My fingers curl. The silver powder clings to the blood still there, coating each tip of my nails. “Coco?”

“Something she can never give back.”

“Are you going to kill her?”

“Perhaps.”

One breath.

Two.

I whirl, raking my nails across his cheek, but when he rears backward—roaring in pain—the door blows open unexpectedly, toppling me into his open arms. Angry red claw marks burn and smoke across his features as he seizes my arms and snarls.

“Michal Vasiliev.” Mila’s furious,unexpectedvoice fills theaviary in the next second. “You cannot hear me, but if you don’t release her thisinstant, I’ll drag your enormous corpse into the afterlife for good.”

I gasp, whipping my head around to face her, and she descends on the aviary like a breaking storm—her expression dark, her eyes flashing—as the cages around us rattle. The birds shriek. I can still hear Michal’s sharp inhalation of breath, however. I can feel his hands tighten on me. Heedless, Mila swirls around us, gusting my hair in all directions. “Did he hurt you, Célie? I swear on everything holy, if that’syourblood—”

“It isn’t,” I say quickly, following her agitated circles, but stop short when Michal’s head turns to follow her too. All emotion empties from his face. He blinks once, twice, as she draws to a halt beside him to inspect the blood on my chest. I gape at her. Because this shouldn’t be possible. I haven’t slipped through the veil—we’re mostcertainlystill in the realm of the living—and none of this makes any sense. “How are you—?”

“You mendedonetear in the veil, Célie, not all of them.” She speaks over me without drawing breath. “They exist everywhere—all around us—and some heal faster than others. How else could Guinevere destroy Michal’s study last week? Don’t answer that.” She slashes a hand. “It doesn’t matter. Do you haveanyidea how lucky you are that Yannick didn’t eat you? No? Because I’m going to haunt you until you understand that actions have real consequences—”

“Mila.” I say her name louder now, and she hesitates, her eyes snapping to mine. Pointedly, I incline my head toward Michal, who stares at her through the smoke rising between them. Theburns on his face leap out in sharp relief, but he stands still enough to have been carved from stone. “I think he can see you,” I continue with a tight smile, “and I know he can hear me.”

Her brows snap together. “But that’s impossible. He isn’t— Can he—?” She waves a hand in front of his face, recoiling slightly when his eyes follow the movement. “Michal?” she whispers.

His lips barely move around the words, “Hello, little sister.”

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