She lunged for me.
I screamed.
ZARI!
ZARI!
And then I felt it, Alexandru shaking my body, hauling me out of my nightmare.
My eyes flew open.
Was I really awake this time?
“Zari,” Alexandru said hoarsely.
And then he was hauling me into his arms, and relief slammed into me as I felt the familiar heat of his body.
Thank God.
I didn’t even think of refusing the comfort my Master offered. I wrapped my arms around his neck as tightly as I could. I listened to his still-thunderous heartbeat, inhaled his scent, and pressed my hand against his chest. I did everything I could, feverishly, to assure myself that this was not another nightmare.
Before I realized what was happening, I had already started to cry, the tears falling silently down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry, pet.” My Master’s voice was raw. “I’m sorry for shouting at you.”
I shook my head against his chest. I deserve it. I didn’t dare speak yet. I was afraid if I did, I would find myself crying harder and the tears would never stop.
Guilt remained a crushing weight inside me, forcing me down into a bottomless pit of despair. I squeezed my eyes shut, but it was pointless. All I could see were my visions.
The school, razed to the ground…
Katarina, dying in front of me…
What if I really was the reason she would die?
What if she wasn’t the only one who’d die?
What if everyone in school died…and just because I was exactly what Rhapsody said – someone who loved a man who might not be able to love me in return?
Would I let everyone die just because of that?
My fingers tightened on Alexandru’s shirt. Master.
Alexandru stilled. What is it, pet?
I need to talk to Katarina. Alone.
Chapter Four
ZARI
That night, Katarina and I met in a private room in one of the resort’s restaurants. One of Alexandru’s guards accompanied me, and I watched silently as he performed a spell that would ensure whatever Katarina and I spoke of in this room, no one would hear.
The guard walked back to us and held out an empty chalice.
Katarina reached down, and I blinked when she came up with a pocketknife. Where could she have hidden that, I wondered absently. She was dressed in a one-shouldered tight-fitting gown, and I hadn’t even seen the barest outline of a knife under the silk.
I had dressed for the occasion, too, but next to her and her C-cups, I looked more like a boy pretending to be a girl.
Katarina noticed my gaze on her knife. As if she sensed my curiosity, she explained, “I hid it in one of my shoes.”
I frowned.
“I literally step on it all the time.”
What?
Pulling the knife out of its sheath, she said, “This one, I use for ordinary stuff.” She pricked her finger with the tip of the blade and a drop of her blood fell into the chalice.
I gulped. This was ordinary stuff for her?
“The knife on my left foot, on the other hand, that’s for killing demons. Its blade is dipped with poison.” As she spoke, Katarina twirled the knife in her hand before handing it to me, with the blade pointed at her for my safety.
I hesitated. Who knew if she had used preternatural powers to trick me into thinking that this was the same knife?
“Lady Zari.” Katarina’s voice was gentle. “Do you truly believe your Master would ever like someone able to commit cold-blooded murder without just cause?”
I took the knife from her hand. Pricking myself made me suck in my breath, and I was shaking by the time the guard walked away with my blood. “Thank you,” I mumbled as I gave the blade back to her.
The guard completed the spell with our blood and bowed to us afterwards before leaving. When we were alone, Katarina asked, “Alexandru says you wanted to talk to me?”
Something about her voice made me look at her. She hadn’t been…as cold as this before, when we first met.
“Are you actually angry with me?”
Reaching for her wine, she asked lightly, “Why do you sound so shocked?”
I shrugged awkwardly. “Probably because, I dunno…maybe because you’re centuries old, I’m eighteen, and it’s like getting mad at a baby?”
She laughed. “Oh, Lady Zari. You of all people should know that love has the power to make children of us all. Brats really, with the way it can make us selfish, greedy, and…” Her voice lowered a notch. “Shameless.”
My cheeks burned at the subtle dig, but I didn’t deny it. I had been shameless in the way I had blown up on Alexandru, and I would only act more like a kid if I couldn’t make myself accept that.
I said stiffly, “That’s not what I want to talk about.”
“I know.”
Again, she surprised me. “Y-you do?”
She nodded. “It’s been clear to me from the first day that you’re the type who dislikes confrontations.”
I tried not to grimace.