Page 54 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

“Why didn’t he leave it at the door?” I asked, pulling the string so it unraveled.

Kaia’s gaze shot to the shards of a pitcher and a broken picture frame. “Guessing he wanted to make sure you didn’t try to destroy this one.”

When I lifted the lid, I saw why he’d be concerned about it. It was an antique hair comb, lined with rubies and diamonds that glittered as the light moved across them. I traced the outline of it in awe. “Where did he get this?”

“The family vault,” Corvo and Kaia said at the same time.

My lips parted, and I blinked a few times, processing what I was holding in my hands. “I can . . . I can see why you brought it then.”

“Meera,” Kaia said, softening her posture slightly and lowering her tone from the chastising soldier she’d been earlier, “I say this as his friend, and nothing more. Just talk to him.”

She inclined her chin, turning on her heel and heading to the door.

“Thank you,” I said quickly, making sure to get it out before she left. I held up the box. “For this, yes, but for calling me out on my bullshit.”

Kaia raised her brows in genuine surprise. “Not often I get thanked for that.”

“Yeah, well, you haven’t met my sister. Sadie is usually the one who calls me—or anyone else—out on our bullshit, and I needed that.”

“Sounds like your sister and I would get along well.”

“Scary thought, but probably true.”

After Kaia left, I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the family heirloom. It wasold. At least two hundred years old, I’d guess, based on the design of the comb. While I collected antique jewelry, I certainly didn’t have anything this old from Faerie. Most of what I found was from the human world, and even then, my oldest piece was Victorian.

“There’s a note for you,” Corvo said, breaking my train of inner thoughts. I looked under the comb, trying to see what he was talking about. “At the door.”

There it was. A piece of parchment on the floor, having slipped through when I wasn’t paying attention.

It was a formal request to have dinner with him, in what I assume was Vareck’s handwriting as it was marked with his royal seal. “He’s inviting me to dinner?”

“Are they serving tuna?” Corvo piped up, his whiskers twitching.

I pursed my lips at him. “You’re worse than a hobbit.”

“I don’t know what that is, but if it likes food, we’ll get along.”

“You’d be a perfect match,” I said in agreement, petting him absentmindedly. I thought about what Kaia and Corvo had said. While everything she said was right, there was something in particular that she’d pointed out that rang especially true. “I need to talk to him,” I mumbled. “Before dinner.”

“Then go talk to him.”

“Pretty sure he’s not on the other side of the door, eavesdropping. I don’t know where he is.”

Corvo looked away, staring blankly at the wall. His eyes glowed for a brief moment before returning to normal. “He’s outside.”

“How did you?—”

“Familiar, remember?” He reached his front legs out, pulling his back up into a deep stretch. Claws emerged while he let out a little groan. “Get dressed. I’ll lead you to him without Eleanor seeing you. And I have a surprise for you.”

Chapter 18

Meera

Wrapped in the warmth of the fur-lined cloak I hadn't seen since the night I had left with Prince Damon, I walked through a garden hedge of indigo snow dahlias.

Once Corvo led me outside, it was easy to follow Vareck’s footsteps in the snow. Snowflakes fell in an unremarkable way, slowly coating the lands in a new layer of white. No storms or howling winds tore through Faerie. Other than the brutally cold temperature, the atmosphere felt calm.

A stone mausoleum had been built about two hundred yards from the castle. As I approached, the winter hedges came to an end, the ground opening up to a fenced graveyard. Headstones and sculptures lined the open grounds uniformly, and to the side of the crypt entrance, Vareck stood in front of two large feminine statues.

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