Page 63 of Darkest Heart

“Good.” He took a gulp of tea. “What did he tell you?”

I relayed the information to him. We were in far too deep to keep secrets now, anyway. By the time I finished, there was just a trail of tea leaves at the bottom of our cups. He cleared his throat, then pushed his glasses up his nose. “Interesting. I assume Kalon didn’t believe Velda was involved?”

I shook my head. “Do you?”

“I’m not sure.” He leaned back in his chair. “He is right. Demons emerging is a problem. Salenia could come back.”

“What if she’s already here?”

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. “I’d have known.”

“You have blind spots.”

I could hear his heartbeat pick up from here. “If that’s true, then we’re already doomed.”

“Why?” He fell silent, and I scratched at the leather arm of the chair. “Does this have something to do with the prophecy? Why would she come back when Sargon was going to ascend the throne? To marry him? For what reason? She’s a goddess and possessing someone else.”

None of this made any sense, and I could tell he and my father were keeping something from me. I would throttle it out of him if he wasn’t so powerful. Instead, I opted for the unusual coaxing method. “I can’t help you or Kalon find out what’s going on unless you help me. I’m an open book. You can read me, right?”

“It’s fuzzy,” he admitted, then poured himself another tea. “But I can feel your intentions. Yes.”

“Then you know I’m not going to betray the kingdom. I want what’s best for the kingdom.”

“For your own gains.”

“Fine, if you won’t tell me about Salenia, then explain to me how we have the other kingdoms in our pocket. Because I’ve been led to believe we’re close to being in a war with the rest of the world.”

He blew on the teacup and closed his eyes for a moment. “People believe vampires are the only monsters, but the mortals can be just as bad.”

“Everyone knows the shore towns of Baldoria are dangerous. That’s where the Blood Knights go to get mortals, so why do people continue to live there?”

“They can’t afford to move?”

“The prisons are there. Most of the mortals enslaved are criminals. The ones who aren’t are poor or sick. None of them are good for Baldoria and their royal family knows that. They send the people they don’t want there, then write about how they’re saddened over vampire attacks, but do nothing about it. They don’t care about those people being taken. It’s good for their society. Same with the other kingdoms.”

I thought back to the maps. Some of the world's biggest prisons were on the coasts of Baldoria. I could have admired their intelligence if it didn’t anger me so much. “Yet we’re made to keep the fact that we can make vampires a secret.”

“That was the king's deal with them. Then there are the sorcerers.”

I arched a brow. “They’re not governed by us.”

She shot me an incredulous stare. “Most of the rogue ones live here. Magic is an excellent currency. His Majesty has been alive for centuries. He knows this.”

“What agreements did he have with the other royals?”

“Immortality,” he said simply. “Vampire blood can heal most sickness. If they need someone taken care of, we send someone to kill them, and they can say it’s a vampire attack gone wrong. All they asked was we didn’t tell people that vampires could be made. Only that there are so many of you left.”

“Kalon let that out of the bag.”

“He didn’t officially announce it. Other vampires did, while in mortal kingdoms, and allowed the mortals to spread the gossip amongst themselves until everyone knew. There were already many suspicious, anyway. The kingdoms could attempt to rewrite history all they want, but it will resurface sooner or later. I never wanted this to happen. I despise seeing mortals flocking here, only to be eaten and abused.” He held his cup in a death grip, his knuckles turning white. “Things will change when Olivia ascends the throne. His Majesty has reached the south now. Hopefully, we will have our princess back soon.”

I nodded. Once Sargon found her and aided Sebastian, I would send my Blood Brothers to assassinate him. I quickly pushed the thought from my mind, before Azia could catch on to my plan. I’d thought about it so little for that reason.

Azia stared up to the window, off in his own world. Meanwhile, a plague of questions circled my mind. I didn’t appreciate being kept in the dark, nor anyone to trust. Except a mortal. Elizabeth. She had no part in any of this, and she was smart. I needed help, and I had a collection of ancient texts to go off. Because if Salenia was trying to get into this world again, then I needed to find out why she came here before. History only repeated itself when something hadn’t been learned.

***

“I need your help,” I said as I entered Elizabeth’s new room, holding a few books from my shelf. Her eyes lit up.

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