Page 81 of A Steeping of Blood
“There, isn’t that better? Can you blame me for being deterred by the sudden change in my daughter’s behavior?” the Ram asked. “You won’t tell me where the ledger is, or where your friends are, or even where the Casimir girl’s pistol might be.”
Flick gave her an emotionless look.There is good, there is bad, and then there is obedience and the lack thereof, Flick reminded herself.
“Did you know that she’s a vampire?” the Ram asked.
First the pistol, now Arthie’s being undead. Where was the Ram getting this information?
The Ram tried something else. “Is it not disheartening that the family you chose over me still hasn’t come to your rescue?”
Flick kept her blank gaze steady in reply.
The Ram sighed. “Felicity, you and I are lonely souls.”
She didn’t know why the Ram’s words drew tears through the steel Flick had layered over herself. Perhaps it was because she was aching and weak, thirsty and exhausted.
And again the Ram noticed. She brought her water. Fed it to her. Flick wanted to spit it back at her and drench that detestable mask. She was too thirsty to hold her ground. She gulped down every sip, and when her mother brought bread to her lips, she ate that too, trying not to choke. She was so starved that she couldn’t care for the disgraceful way in which she devoured it.
The Ram said nothing. She waited until Flick finished chewing, until her eyes flickered shut and relief washed through her.
“Do you think they like you?” the Ram asked quietly.
Flick opened her eyes. It was time to pay for her mother’s kindness.
But Flick wasn’t trying to be liked. She didn’twantto be liked. She wanted to be loved, ardently, passionately. She wanted to be cared forand to care for someone in turn. And she knew, deep in her heart of hearts, that she had that.
“Dearest, the Casimirs already have others they rely upon. They will discard you the moment you are of no value to them.”
Flick couldn’t stand the Ram talking badly about Jin and Arthie anymore.
“They haven’t come for me only because they’re not—” Flick stopped herself when the Ram held herself very, very still. As if Flick were a bird she was afraid of spooking, as if Flick were a mark she was afraid would realize she was being fooled.
“They’re not what? Smart enough to find where we are?” she scoffed.
“They’re not here,” Flick snapped.
And in that moment, Flick felt undeniably small and useless, until she saw the way the Ram reacted.
“No,” she breathed. She stumbled back, her blue eyes aghast. “They’re not here. They’re in Ceylan.”
How did she—had the Ram heard of the missing EJC ship? No, it was too soon, but her mother was smart. She knew they had the ledger in their possession and that they were aware of the weaponized vampires. It wasn’t hard to put everything together. She met Flick’s eyes, and Flick realized that no matter what the Ram might try to do now to stop Arthie and the others, to ramp up security in her fort, to protect her operation—it was too late. She couldn’t get there soon enough if the others werealreadythere.
“You deciphered my ledger, you wretched child.”
Flick didn’t know what it was about that phrase that made a laugh bubble up in her throat. The Ram, monarch to the most powerful empire in the world, was being bested by awretched child.
There was a glint in the Ram’s eyes now. It was bright andwild—understandably. Ceylan was the heart of the Ram’s operation, and the Ram knew Arthie was calculating and angry, content with hurting both the EJCandthe crown.
Her reign was crumbling.
“It wasn’t that hard, really,” Flick said, unable to resist the urge to gloat.
The Ram started turning for the door, and dread sank through Flick, heavy and laden, and it had nothing to do with her aching, numbing limbs. The crate beneath her feet offered little relief. She didn’t want the Ram to leave. Letting her leave meant allowing her to plan her next course of action.
“Why do you hate vampires?” she asked.
The Ram froze.
“This is because you loathe vampires, isn’t it?” Flick continued. “The fearmongering when you rose to power, the kidnappings, the weaponization of them for your own needs. You raised me to hate them. You’re training a wholeempireto hate them still.”
