Page 52 of The Star's Sword

“She’s been there a lot,” Samael said. “I thought she was just sleeping with elder vampires, but she really has won over the whole court. If the thralls, and let’s admit Simon’s free-range humans are basically thralls, are all believing the gossip, then I guarantee the higher vampires are. Vampire society thrives on gossip.”

“But we can clear it up, right?” I asked. “We can just tell them the truth?”

Samael looked at the parchment. “I don’t know. Those things come out twice a week, and Cayne and I went looking back through them.” He shoved his hand in his pockets. “Some of the humans were happy to hand over some of their favorites to a ninth-realm celestial. They see me as a kind of god, after all.”

I grabbed and opened the parchment pieces, glaring at the lies spread across every one and reading them out loud.

“Fake Morningstar eats human child to train for competition. Cleo? More like flee-o: fake Morningstar candidate is too good to show up at vampire balls. Fake Morningstar fakes donation weekly to take credit for Vasara’s blood. Vampires can’t wait for Vasara to remove the threat that is the fake Morningstar from the population.”

“I’m sorry, Cleo,” Sam said.

I sat down again, lightheaded. “I mean, it’s all lies, so it has to be possible to show the truth, right?”

Samael gave me a look that said he wasn’t too hopeful. “You’re the Morningstar, Cleo. I don’t doubt it for a second. But it looks like we should have listened to Simon, and spent more time in vampire society.”

I ran a hand through my hair, heart still racing, the pain of betrayal making it hard to breathe.

I mean, I’d considered myself a good friend of the vampires. Every time I’d given blood, I’d been happy to help, knowing they were starving, even when it meant far more pain and tiredness during training.

I had thought my actions would speak louder than words, but it was clear I was wrong.

“What do I do?” I asked. “Give up on getting the help of the vampires? Ascend by myself?” I exhaled roughly. “It’s clear they already feel she is the Morningstar, and that I’m a fraud trying to hurt people. What am I supposed to do to fix that?”

“I don’t know,” Samael said, putting an arm around me and drawing me in close. “Maybe this is my fault. I’ve never had a good rep, either. And Cayne doesn’t care what people think. He thinks if Vasara just gets to be too big of a problem, he can kill her.” Samael shook his head. “But that would just make her your martyr at this point.”

“So what do I do?” I asked, trying not to lose hope or let this make me doubt myself. “I’ve spent every moment I could training. I’ve tried to give and give. But they hate me. They fear me. And I never did anything to them, but they’ve been listening to lies for so long, there is no way they’ll hear the truth.” I knew how gossip worked at the haven. Once enough people bought and passed around a lie, the fact that it was popular overrode the fact that it was true.

But I hadn’t thought the vampires would be gossiping about me.

“It just shows she knows she couldn’t beat you in a fair fight,” Samael said. “That she’s fighting dirty like this.” He stood, helping me up. “So what we know is you’ll win the fight, and she’ll win the public opinion. But as to the blood donation, I have no idea how she did that. Hopefully this can be resolved as easily as going to talk to the workers with Simon.” He kept my hand tight in his as he dragged me over to the sanctuary. “Come on, I have a plan, and we can brainstorm while we wait for Cayne to bring Simon, after he tells him.”

“Won’t Simon know about this?” I asked.

“Simon would know Vasara had been about, but Vasara would never disparage you around him, knowing you are friends. And Simon knows better than to listen to gossip.”

“He did say she had a dangerous ability to act and persuade.”

Samael nodded. “Something we knew from the fake miracles she performed. But we couldn’t have known she’d do this. It’s highly illegal, and highly dangerous, to claim another’s blood donation. It confuses things with blood loyalty.”

“Blood loyalty?” I asked.

Samael nodded. “I’ll explain more inside, but basically, we can’t let her get away with this.”

I was slumping behind him, too tired and overwhelmed and hurt to even move, it felt like.

I’d never done them harm, yet so many people hated me.

And everything good I had done had already been claimed by her for months.

Including my blood.

“Cleo,” Samael said, turning to face me, and pulling me in with one strong arm around my waist and the other cupping my face gently, brushing my hair back. “Nothing is going to happen to you, I swear it.” He leaned in and kissed me, holding my lips which were cold from shock until they finally warmed, gently stroking back my hair and murmuring sweet reassurances.

“But what about the world?” I asked. “If I have to save it, and I need vampire help, but—”

He kissed me again, silencing me. Slowly, I felt my heart return to normal.

“This is a problem, but nothing we can’t deal with,” he said, keeping his forehead pressed to mine. “I promise, Cleo. We will get to the bottom of this. She’s been lying unchallenged, because she noticed you were the quiet type who never boasts and she could take advantage of that. But don’t buy her shit that she’s going to beat you. If she could, she wouldn’t be resorting to tricks.” He grimaced. “Classic celestial.”

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