It all happened fast after that. Like that time my cousin Georgina took me up a hill—it wasn't, more like a slope, but for a six-year-old, it was a great climb. She told me we'd just see more flowers on the other side. Georgina was thirteen, exploring her dark side, I guess. She held me by the hand up to the top of the hill. But there were no flowers. Just a sloping dirt path that taught me never to trust a cousin again.

She pushed me. I dove face first to the ground. There seemed to be a brief moment where the front of my body attached to earth. Then physics did the rest. I started rolling. Faster and faster. But as my body uncontrollably tumbled down the slope, my head had one thought: revenge. It took me years to get my vengeance, but it was perfect.

The moment Bellatrix was captured, everything came in a rush. I was that girl again, tumbling down the dirt path. Before I could think of a plan, I found out that Katz had been captured, and that Corey was requesting an audience with me.

"Why?"

"We cannot say," the Bishop told me. "Please consider this a Council order."

"I'll be there," I said, already thinking of an escape. "I need a moment."

"We'll escort you."

"I'm not dressed to go out," I gritted out. My three apostles stood silently on one side. That might have been the perfect time for the four of us to band together and incapacitate the two Bishops. We could have done it, but we didn't because they were apostles and it wasn't their job to make an enemy of the Council.

I didn't bother changing and stiffly followed. I could feel my apostles staring at me, probably curious. Maybe they wondered if this was about the sleeping potion. I hoped it was.

"Stay here," one Bishop ordered.

Corey's room was far up. The top of the hotel. While I knew I was in trouble, no one could have imagined the relief when I discovered that Mertha Krall was not in the room. He was alone, sitting by the fire.

He turned his head when I entered. In his hand was the note.

"Search her," his clear voice echoed in the room. One Bishop held my arms, the other searched my pocket. I gritted my teeth when he pulled my crux out and quietly delivered it to Corey. These peopled now owed me my familiar and my crux.

He studied it, turning it around his fingers. Then he set it aside on the table. "I hope you can give me a good explanation, Aster," he said, motioning to the seat across from his. My eyes locked on the note still in his hand as I sat, aware of the two Bishops by the door. "I don't really have time to deal with internal conflict while we're here, so please tell me the truth."

Where's my familiar? That's what I intended to ask. Delay the confrontation to think of a better lie. But that's not what came out of my mouth. "Katz has been hired to help me cross the border." My eyes widened as I heard my voice. I shot Corey a look, and he was smiling, nodding slowly at the truth he prodded out of me. "You're a truth caster."

He chuckled. "Like Del and Rom here, and of course, Katz, I was a Bishop, Aster. And not because of my mother. I was one because I, too, am very good with magic. Why do you think Salwey had that stupid outburst the other night? I only stopped him because I didn't like where his words were heading." He stood while I sat frozen. "I only use my gift in moments like this. When the truth is really necessary. It takes away the fun of life, you know. Everyone lies, and in most days, they're harmless." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Looking down at me, his face fell. "It's utterly disappointing. I thought I could trust you."

"I couldn't either. Not that I've ever truly trusted anyone." I gritted my teeth, but the words flowed like gentle music through my tongue.

He nodded. "I understand." Frowning, he tilted his head. "Why do you want to get out of here?"

"I don't. I don't know what I want." Even I was surprised by the truth. "But I want to see Brie. And I'm not even sure if she's alive out there as he said."

"He?"

"Evensen." Bloody tarnation.

His eyes lit up with interest. "Evensen. What does he have to do with this?"

"I had been living in the same dream as his while I was asleep. He said we had a plan."

"And he told you your sister is alive?"

"Yes."

"Your sister's body was burned alive when she died, Aster."

"That's not her. She couldn't be dead. She's..." I groaned in pain, trying to stop myself, but it was a hopeless struggle. "She was turned."

Corey broke into a smile. "You know what? We should have done this a long time ago. This is far more interesting. Tell me more about this plan you're supposed to have with Evensen. What is it? An uprising?" As he talked, he poured himself a glass of wine. Unbothered. Confident. "Does it include an Omen?"

I tightened my jaw, but the word still slipped through. "Yes."

Corey laughed. "He must be the one who sent Alistair here. Yes?"

"I don't know."

He faced me, wine in hand. "It makes sense now." He sipped. "So the Omen is really here in Exodus. Brenna and Mertha have been searching far and wide." Walking back to his chair, he threw me one of his flirty smiles again.

"You didn't tell me about the Omen," I told him. "You led me to believe we're here for a different reason."

"But I didn't lie," he said. "We're here to solve Exodus' problem with the ferals. It just so happens that when we arrived, so did Alistair and his sister. The rumor quickly spread, but our intelligence couldn't confirm. But now we're certain." He eyed me for quite some time, slowly shook his head as if in disbelief. "And they're here because an Astral and a Bishop are helping them escape. We shouldn't have bothered with Salwey. The answer is among us all along." He finished his wine in one gulp. "I don't know what Evensen told you, Aster, but I think he's using you."

"I think you all do."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, brow furrowed. "What have we done to you to make you think so? Haven't we given you what you deserve? A seat among the Astrals. Trust. Freedom. I think we've given you too much of it because you went behind our back, playing us for fools." He gazed at me for a long moment, probably a hundred steady beats of his heart. Then he sighed. "But who could blame you? I, for one, understand if you're confused, and that confusion is enough for someone with wicked intent like Evensen. To be honest, I'm more hurt that he betrayed us. As an archaic who promised to devote the rest of his existence to the society, we trusted him. But we'll deal with him later. For now, I need to know where you stand, Aster. What you really want."

"I want my familiar back," I said. "She's the only thing I care most about at the moment."

"Your fox is safe in a cage in the other room. But understand that we just can't give you what you want now that we know what you've done."

"You'll kill me then?"

He laughed. "Don't be silly. We have protocols to follow, Aster. That's how a perfect society works." He stood, walked back to the wine bottle. "Your case is a little complicated. You're an accessory to a crime. Been manipulated by Evensen and Katz. As for them, their process will be quite short." He faced me with a mocking, gloomy look. "And their punishment long."

"My apostles are not part of this," I told him.

"Oh, we know," he said. "Akira Katama notified us of your familiar's little adventure out the window. Trust me, Aster, we know where your apostles' loyalty lies. They're trained to assess situations and recognize when Astrals breach boundaries."

I swallowed hard, gritting my teeth at the slight pain and disappointment. What did I expect? That my apostles were innocent? No, of course not. Especially Akira. He and his sister were practically raised by the society.

I was really alone here. No one to trust, no one to depend on. Just Bellatrix. And she was captured because of me. At that moment, I had only one goal: save my familiar. Everything else could go wrong.

It must be the mixture of different feelings that caused my blood to boil; my heart to race and the burning to flare. And for once, I didn't care if I was losing control. I only knew that I was craving for something: blood and survival.

So... What if?

Evensen's words echoed in my head.

Your mind may be strong, but it will soon have to give in to what your nature demands.

Corey's heartbeat was steady. How many times had he been in situations like this? Probably hundreds. Truth casters had always been valuable, their services always on demand. That's where his confidence came from. Years and years of summoning one of the many human flaws—ugly truths.

I so desperately wanted to shatter that confidence. Stomp on his control and see fear and panic in his eyes. His blood was strong, humming through his veins, calling out to me. The same could be said for the two Bishops at the door. My ears burned at the sounds of their vital sounds and my throat burned at the smell of their blood through their skin.

I swallowed. Could I? Should I?

Again, the words echoed in my head. Just like my cousin Georgina's hand against my back, pushing me to fall. To stumble and roll and survive.

Your mind may be strong, but it will soon have to give in to what your nature demands.

At that moment, mind and nature dictated the same thing: feed off the enemy.

I didn't know how to do it, but perhaps my concession released the hunger. It was barely bound by a thread, and now, in my behest, it knew exactly what to do.

But I had one last thing to do. One more thing that Corey was too arrogant and careless to reveal. He gave me the names of the two bastards guarding the door.

Just all I needed.

I saw them stiffen when I summoned their names in my head as I swiftly grabbed my crux from the table. They sensed it, and they turned toward me, including Corey. But my word was faster than their instinct.

"Sleep."

Before they even knew it, they were locked in a nightmare.

And that nightmare was a new vampire starving for blood.