Page 57 of The Shadow Bride

He still squeezes the man’s throat slowly. Too slowly. “You forget yourself, Léandre.”

“Stop this at once.” When Odessa materializes behind him, I do not recognize the blazing light in her eyes.Wrong!My mind screams the word, and this—this has gone far enough. Someone must act. When I move to rise this time, however, the acrid scent of magic creeps around me, trapping me. I cannot speak. I cannot move. What ishappening? Though I glare at Lou in furious accusation, she merely shakes her head, clinging to consciousness as sheslides down the wall. Her eyelids flutter as Odessa snaps, “Stop thisnow. You are the one who has forgotten yourself, Michal, not him.”

The vampire chokes and claws at Michal’s hand. “Is that so?” he asks quietly.

“Can you truly not see it?” Odessa spreads her arms wide to encompass both the spluttering vampire and shifting crowd. “Your priorities have clearly changed—”

He snarls at that. “Do not blame Célie for this.”

“Oh, this started long before you fell in love with ahuman.” She spits the last as an insult, and I momentarily cease struggling against Lou’s enchantment, stricken. “This started with Mila’s murder. For centuries, this isle has been our most jealously guarded secret, but because of you—because of yourobsessionwith these women—the world has found us. The huntsmenwillcome. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but they will gather their courage eventually. They will bring their silver and their hatred, and they will come.” In the tense silence that follows, the revenant lashes out, catching the nearest vampire by surprise and sinking its skeletal fingers into her wrist. She hisses in pain before breaking its arm. Odessa’s lip curls. “And the revenants are already here.”

Michal tips his head, considering her. Considering them all.

I resume my desperate struggling, begging Lou with my eyes to release me. Begging Dimitri. Because what Odessa said—it isn’t all true. Itoldher it wasn’t true. Revenants have risen, yes, but Les Éternels have nothing to fear if they act with discretion; if they remain on their isle and feed with consent, Jean Luc will never lead the Chasseurs here. He’ll have no reason to do so, except for—well—

The truth of it dawns slowly, gently, as if even my subconscious had been waiting for me to realize.

Except for me.

I am the one who attacked him. I am the one who provoked a response. I am the one who revealed the secret of Les Éternels, of Requiem, of silver, and I am the one who forced Michal to make his debut to the world last month. The tension in this room—the violence—belongs solely to me, but... what else should I have done? What should Michal have done? We were trying to catch a killer, trying to protect the innocent and avenge his sister and—

My gaze slides back to Odessa’s beautiful, lethal face.If Dimitri hadn’t found us in Cesarine, would you have ever looked for him?

Odessa set aside her personal convictions to follow Michal’s leadership. She set aside her despair at her brother’s bloodlust and betrayal for the sake of Requiem—because Dimitri was dangerous, because he allied himself with Frederic.

At last, Michal releases the vampire, who crumples to a heap at their feet. “What are you saying, cousin?” Though soft, his voice cuts clearly through the hush of the room. Shadows gutter across half his face. “Do you challenge me?”

Odessa stares at him. Her eyes glint like knives, and her hands tremble. “I do not want this.”

“Are you sure?” Michal steps closer, still tilting his head. “Clearly, you are not alone in your displeasure. Did you not plan for this exact stage, this exact moment when you invited me here?” She says nothing, and when he smiles, a physical chill sweeps through the hall; it lifts the hair on my neck, and I thrash harder against the enchantment.Please, Lou.Not even a finger twitches from my struggle.Please let go—

“And yet I ask you,” Michal continues, “who has protected you all these years? Who has provided?” Though his gaze does not stray from Odessa, he clasps his hands behind his back and addresses the room. “Huntsmen, revenants—they are but a fleeting moment, and we are eternal. Let them come. We will eliminate this threat as we have eliminated all others.”

Odessa, however, does not yield. “Célie will not stand with us when the huntsmen come. Are you truly willing to eliminateeverythreat?”

“As I see it,” Michal says coldly, “the greatest threat before us now isyou.”

Everything stills at the words. Everyone quiets.

Though I still strain to move—strain to speak, strain to scream and throw myself between them—I remain motionless, trapped in this hideous moment as if floating in a dream. It feels surreal. Itcannotbe happening. I refuse to acknowledge the hatred in Odessa’s gaze as she looks upon her cousin, the disgust in his own as Michal shakes his head, scoffing, and turns away.

“As I thought,” he says in dismissal.

And she strikes.

Plunging her hand into his chest cavity, she seizes his heart, and he half turns—bemused—as his mouth parts on a shocking spurt of scarlet.No.Disbelief floods my system in a staggering wave, but Odessa does not stop. She does not falter. With a swift twist of her wrist, she thrusts outward with her free hand, and the vampires scatter in blind panic as Michal’s body crashes through them. And perhaps I am screaming now, screaming and screaming as the world tilts beneath me, as he smashes against the wall in the far corner of the room, collapses, and moves no more.This cannotbe real.I cling to the words, cling harder to Lou, whose entire body quakes as she whispers frantically in my ear.This cannot be happening. Get up, Michal. GET UP—

“He will not get up again, Célie,” Odessa says quietly, and to my horror, I realize I’ve spoken the words aloud; Lou’s enchantment has finally broken. Still I do not move, however, paralyzed with fear as Odessa looks directly at me. “Longue vie à la reine.”

Chapter Eighteen

Le Roi Est Mort

Long live the queen.

The words hover in the silence of the hall for a single moment—or perhaps all eternity—as time seems to stop, and I stare into the corner where Michal lies alone and slightly slumped, concealing the hole in his chest as if still refusing to show any sign of weakness. No one moves to inspect his body. No one celebrates his abrupt and tragic downfall, or even speaks at all. The vampires who hissed and jeered only seconds ago have frozen around the perimeter of the room, half-crouched and hidden in shadow, blood dripping from the shattered flutes in their hands. Stunned. Terrified. Dimitri’s grip now bruises my shoulder, and Lou struggles to breathe, tensing as if preparing to flee.

Waiting.

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