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on us? She’s like a child playing at queen, and when she didn’t get her way, she took everything—our secrets, our treasures, our lore—and used it against us. Must I remind you how her perverse army of…of boys has nearly decimated us? It’s taken us centuries to rebuild the female vampire population. We can’t just run about biting girls, you know. Few survive the transformation. Those of the purest blood have the hardest time of all.”
    I want to ask, what of the males? Sons are rare. We Tracers are few, all of us kept in ignorance. Are we also of this line? Am I? But I dare not ask such provocative questions—Freya has slaughtered people more valuable than me for less.
    Carden grins and gives my arm a shake, as though he’s in a pub instead of this miserable, airless cave. “Buck up, lad. You’re just jealous that while you were off babysitting the others, I was bonding to our wee Annelise.”
    I look away, unable to meet his eyes, lest he see the truth of his words there. “I helped Annelise long before you were in the picture.”
    “But I’m in the picture now, aren’t I?” Carden tsks in that patronizing way of his, shaking his head at me. “Poor Ronan. Seems like you got the short end of the stick. I keep Drew close ”—he emphasizes the word—“and you’ve only—”
    I cut him off, defending myself to Freya. “Against all odds, I’ve helped keep Acari Drew alive for you.”
    And yet, in my most secret of hearts is a different truth.
    I’ve kept her alive for me.
    “As it should be,” Freya says. She reaches up and strokes the hand of one of her lackeys. “All my girls are of the highest lineage. Annelise, too.” Her tolerant, instructive tone makes her sound like a dog trainer. “We are all family.”
    I avert my eyes. This creepy “family” is the last thing Annelise would want.
    “One by one,” Freya continues, “I will save the children of my children. I will make them stronger. Mine will be the most powerful coven the world has ever known.”
    I struggle to make sense of her intentions. Annelise would rather die than become Vampire.
    Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Annelise would want this life.
    Loss—the potential of it—clouds my vision for a moment. Need stabs me. I’ve already lost so much. I will lose no more.
    I remember all we’ve shared. I think back to the Directorate Challenge. It’d been at the end of her first term here, when she’d faced her nemesis and almost died. Such trials require mental strength as much as physical. I believe in my heart it was partly my support that pulled her through.
    I cut my eyes to Carden. The connection I share with Annelise protects her more than any vampire guard dog could. The bond we share is stronger than any chemical reaction.
    And yet he claims to love her.
    Maybe I don’t know either of them at all. Carden is easy and charming in a way that makes girls want him—in a way I’ve never managed, at least not without relying on my powers. Maybe Annelise’s heart’s desire is to become Vampire and live forever by his side. Maybe.
    Or maybe not. It’s a hope that keeps me going.
    If I don’t know Annelise’s heart yet, there’s still time to learn.
    “I’ll continue your fight in secret,” I say. I’m past nerves, past defiance. All I know is I need to get back. “You have every reason to keep me installed on Eyja næturinnar. ”
    “No,” Freya says crisply. “I need you here. We muster our forces here. All our forces. Sonja’s massacre of ancients decimated us, but our strength is rebuilding.”
    “Please, Mistress Freya.”
    She leans forward from the shadows. With her tilted head and narrowed eyes, she considers me as one might a plate of food. I don’t often resort to pleading, and she knows it. She also knows leverage when she sees it.
    Suddenly, she sits back with a sharp sniff. “As you wish, Ronan. There is one way I’ll let you leave.”
    “Name it,” I say too quickly. Her concession is more