Total pages in book: 200
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
With my veil removed, Rylan’s gaze met mine. He’d seen that girl. “Do you think it was a Craven?”
Rylan said nothing.
“What else could it have been?” Tawny turned to where I sat in the chair. “You said yourself she was bit—”
“I said it looked like a bite, but it…it didn’t look like a Craven bite,” I told her.
“I know you’ve seen what a Craven can do.” She sat across from me, her fingers still twisting the pearl just as Agnes had done to the button on her blouse. “But how can you be sure?”
“The Craven have four elongated canines,” I explained, and she nodded. This was common knowledge. “But she only had two marks, as if…”
“As if two sharp fangs had penetrated her throat,” Rylan finished. Tawny’s head whipped in his direction.
“What if it was a cursed? Someone who hadn’t fully turned yet?” she asked.
“Then it would look like either normal teeth marks or a bite from a Craven,” Rylan answered, shaking his head as he stared out the window toward the Rise. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
I had to agree with him. “She…she was pale, and it wasn’t just the shroud of death. It was like she had no blood in her, and even if it were a two-fanged Craven—” My nose scrunched. “It would’ve been…messier and not so precise. She looked like…”
“Looked like what?”
My gaze dropped to my hands as the image of the woman reappeared. She’d been with someone, willing or not, and as far as I knew, Craven weren’t interested in anything but blood. “It just looked like someone had been in that room with her.”
Tawny sat back. “If it wasn’t a Craven, then who would do something like that?”
There were many people in and out of the castle—servants, guards, visitors…the Ascended. But that didn’t make sense either. “That wound appeared to be right over her jugular. There should’ve been blood everywhere, and I didn’t even see a drop of it.”
“That…that is more than just a little strange.”
I nodded. “And her neck was clearly broken. I know of no Craven that would do that.”
Tawny folded her arms around herself. “And I don’t want to know of any person capable of that.”
Neither did I, but we all knew that people were capable of all manner of atrocities, and so were the Ascended. After all, they too had been mortal at one time, and the capability for cruelty seemed to be one of the few traits some carried over.
My thoughts wandered to Lord Mazeen. He was cruel, a bully, and based on our latest interaction, I suspected that he could be much worse. But was he capable of what was done? I shuddered. Even if he were, why would he do it, and how? I didn’t have an answer for that.
There was only one thing I could think of that could do that, but it seemed too unreal to believe.
“Did you…did you recognize her?” Tawny asked softly.
“I didn’t, but I have to think she was a Lady in Wait or perhaps a visitor based on her gown,” I told her.
Tawny nodded silently, returning to twisting the pearl on her bodice. Silence crept into the space, and Vikter arrived not long after, stepping into the room to speak quietly to Rylan. I scooted to the edge of my seat when he stepped away from Rylan, sighing as he sat on the edge of the chest that rested at the foot of my bed.
“Every inch of this castle was searched, and we found no other victims or Craven,” he said, leaning forward. “Commander Jansen believes the grounds are safe.” He paused, squinting as he lifted his gaze. “Relatively speaking, that is.”
“Did you…did you see her?” I asked, and he nodded. “Do you think it was a Craven attack?”
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he replied, repeating what Rylan had said.
“What would that even mean?”
“I don’t know,” he stated, rubbing his hand against his forehead.
My attention zeroed in on him, noting how he massaged the skin above his brow and how he’d squinted when he looked to where we sat near the oil lamps. Sometimes, Vikter got headaches. Not like the ones I got after opening up my senses or using my gifts too much, but far more severe, where light and sound made him nauseous and his head pulse.
I opened up my senses and immediately felt the sharp pounding ache behind my eyes. I quickly severed the connection, and it was like visualizing a cord connecting me to him being snipped in two. The last thing I wanted was to end up with another throbbing headache keeping me up.
“If it wasn’t a Craven, then are there any suspects?” Tawny asked.
“The Duke believes it was the work of a Descenter.”
“What?” I demanded as I rose.
“Here? In the castle?” Tawny cried.
“That is what he believes.” Vikter lifted his head as I walked over to him, his gaze wary.