Upon arriving outside Olivier's study, the pair crouched behind the door and pressed their ears to the wood. The voices inside were muffled, barely making it through the thick wood of the door. Makaela couldn't tell if it was due to them whispering or if a charm was being put to use.

"I can't hear anything," she hissed.

"Me neither..." Remy's eyes widened. She watched as the metaphorical lightbulb appeared above his head.

"Talk to me."

"I saw this spell in a book," he told her. "If a charm is being used, it'll cancel it out. If not, their voices should come through clear as day."

Makaela patted him on the back. "This is why I keep you around."

Rolling his eyes, he ignored her and prepared to cast. His fingers twisted and formed the shapes of the charm he mentioned. A thin, transparent film coated his casting hand. He carefully placed it on the door. His free hand performed another quick sequence.

Seconds later, Xander's voice came flooding through.

"—another two dead." Xander sighed.

Makaela sucked in another breath. More of her housemates had been murdered. Soon there wouldn't be any more of them left to kill.

She shuddered at the thought.

Despite not even knowing most of those who fell to the Shades during the purge, a piece of her heart broke every time she learned of their deaths. They might not have accepted her when she was alive, but they were still family. And all she could do was watch as they were slaughtered.

All because of her.

"Where were these two?" Olivier inquired.

Xander took a moment to reply. "Closer to us. They were hiding in an ordinaire city out in Ottawa."

Makaela paled. Her blood ran colder than ice. Ottawa was only two hours from Montreal, the location of their hideout. The Shades and their forces were getting closer. Too close.

She peered at Remy. His face was pointed toward the floor, angry tears filling his eyes. Makaela rubbed his back, silently consoling him. She wasn't the only one who lost people during the purge of their people.

"He's getting bolder," Olivier said. His tone was dark, bridled rage lingering beneath his words. "He's breaking our rules."

"Since when has he been one to follow rules?"

"Still...even he knows to keep away from the ordinaires."

A short silence passed between them before Olivier posed another question.

"Do you think they know our position?"

"It's hard to say," Xander answered. "But judging by the nature of their deaths, Ophelia and Alec may have relinquished information to the Order. The Shades can be...quite persuasive."

Makaela bit down so hard on her lip that she drew blood. But the pain flaring in her mouth and the blood trickling onto her tongue was nothing compared to the pain erupting inside her heart.

She knew Ophelia and her husband, Alec. They were cousins of her father. Guilt swelled in her chest. She clenched her fists, fingernails digging into the skin of her palms. People were dying, dying for her, while she hid away. Like a coward. Like a scared little girl.

It made her sick.

"Did he do it personally?" Olivier asked.

He? She pressed her ear harder against the door.

Xander scoffed. "You know he would never."

His name didn't even need to be spoken. Makaela already knew who they were referring to. They were talking about the leader of the Shades. The famed head of the secretive Order of the Black Lotus. The murderer of her parents. The butcherer of her family.

The image of his black scythe ripping through her father's chest exploded into her brain, filling every corner of her mind like a raging flood. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the memory out.

Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Thorian will be coming for us soon," Olivier said. 

She sneered at his name. Venomous thoughts invaded her head, snaking around her psyche. It squeezed her lungs like a boa constrictor, suffocating her until all the oxygen left her body. All she could think about was killing him. She fantasized about standing over his still, bleeding body.

She would avenge her parents. She would avenge her house. Whatever it took, she would do it.

Thorian murdered her parents. And she would murder him when the time came.

The first day of the purge was seared into her brain. She remembered how the alarms within House Lumai's palace caterwauled through the night as the Shades invaded her home. She remembered their silver masks glinting with the moonlight as they mowed down her housemates with their dark magic.

She remembered weeping over her parents' dead bodies, screaming into the night. No one heard her. Before the purge, she prayed to Lumi—goddess of light and prophecies—every night before bed. But after that horrid night, she stopped praying. It was clear the gods weren't listening.

She remembered Thorian's ghoulish face when he killed her father.

It still didn't make sense. The Tedorofs and the Moreaus were allies. Despite their houses having been at odds in the past, they were friends. She even used to have a massive crush on Thorian's son, Sebastian. Her heart ached at the thought of the boy. She hadn't seen him since they all received their marks during The Marking ceremony.

Her scowl deepened.

She wouldn't have been surprised if he was among the Shades ranks these days.

Beside her, Remy's ear slipped off the door, causing his head to crash into the wood. Wincing, he cried out and held the side of his face.

Makaela froze, her eyes widening.

"You idiot!" she hissed.

As she got up to run, the study's doorknob turned. The door swung open, revealing a stoic-looking Olivier beneath the doorframe. Xander lingered in the background, his liver-spotted hands clasped across his midriff.

"Stand up," Olivier ordered. "Both of you."

Makaela sighed. She and her cousin did as they were told. They hung their heads, refusing to meet his scathing glare.

"Before you say anything, I just want you to know that this was all her idea," Remy blurted out. She glared at him, earning a dismissive shrug in response. "Hey, I warned you."

She lifted her head toward Olivier. Wringing her clammy hands, she cleared her throat. Suddenly the ground looked a lot more appealing to look at than her pissed-off uncle. Still, she managed to hold his burning gaze.

"We just wanted to know what you were talking about."

He said nothing.

Her mouth twitched. She didn't need silence. She needed answers.

"More of our people were killed?"

Olivier ran a hand across his tired face. He looked more drained than usual. "I suppose it's time for you both to know."

Remy blinked, his brows knit together. "Huh?"

Makaela narrowed her eyes at her uncle. "Know what?"

The two teenaged magicians exchanged looks of confusion.

"I haven't been completely honest," he revealed.

Makaela's heart fell into her stomach.

"Honest about what?"

"The purge...and why it's happening."

She stiffened. Her hands settled onto her hips. For years, he never told her why this was happening to them. All he told her was that they needed to stay hidden. That they couldn't let Thorian and the Order find them.

She assumed he didn't know why it was happening either. But that wasn't the case. He lied. He was the last person she expected to lie to her.

Sighing, Olivier stepped aside and gestured inside his study. "Come along. We have much to discuss."

Gulping, she entered the room.