“Tristan is right, Father,” Valaine added. “I, too, find it odd that no one has interviewed the guards until now, especially since the Darkling we killed was one of them.”

Corbin stood before us, his expression set in stone and difficult to read. He definitely didn’t like what he was hearing, and I could see why. But the more he lingered, the more suspicious I got. It was his daughter the Darklings had tried to murder. I would’ve turned the entire golden guard upside down, if I were him. I would’ve strung them all up by their ankles, deprived them of blood nutrition… I would’ve done a lot more, until some answers emerged.

“You’re wasting your time with the servants,” I continued. “The Darklings did not enter the palace with their help.”

“All we have is one traitor. Do you expect me to doubt all the Aeternae in my service, in the empire’s service, based solely on the actions of a single anarchist?” Corbin replied.

He wasn’t convincing me at all, and that just made me angry. With everything that had been going on, I could no longer be bothered to care for his feelings. Someone had tried to kill Valaine. Someone had killed Nethissis. I was done playing nice.

Stepping forward, I braced myself for conflict, unwilling to give in to his intimidation tactics. “I find it quite interesting that no one knows what the Darklings’ agenda is, to this day. After thousands of years, not only have you all failed to catch them, you don’t even know what they want,” I said.

“Tristan, wait—” Valaine tried to stop me, but I was on a roll.

“Also, have none of you noticed that the Darklings’ attacks intensify before and during a Black Fever outbreak?” I went on, shocking both Corbin and Valaine. Hell, even Eudora’s face was blank, her blue eyes bulging. Looking around, I could tell that the guards were equally astonished. Somehow, no one had noticed the pattern.

“What are you talking about?” Corbin asked.

“I checked the records. Every time the Darklings’ attacks intensified, the Black Fever was making a comeback,” I replied. “Sure, they’ve killed between the outbreaks, too, but not at a high, memorable rate. It took me a couple of hours of studying your archives on this topic to figure it out.”

Valaine was speechless, her lips parted as she stared at me.

“Seriously? Am I the only one who noticed?” I breathed.

“How did you catch this?” Corbin asked, his shoulders dropping. All of a sudden, the air between us was no longer thick and rife with crippling electricity. It was as if he’d caved in. As if I’d hit all the right buttons to knock him off his high horse.

“I couldn’t sleep much last night,” I said. “I had to find a way to burn some of the energy off, so I snuck into the library for some light reading. Checking the Black Fever records first, then all the materials you people have on the Darklings, and several dates jumped at me. From there, it wasn’t difficult to draw connective lines from one issue to the other. The pattern emerged, and you can check for yourselves. For as long as your history has been recorded, the Darklings have been more active before and during Black Fever outbreaks. I, for one, am dying to know why, and I’m certain you won’t get that information from the palace servants.”

Exhaling sharply, I felt a huge weight removed from my very being. I’d been holding this thought in for hours. The discovery of Nethissis’s body had thrown me for a loop, but now that I was focusing on this part of the investigation again, I had been dying to let this nugget out.

Valaine was genuinely distraught by what I’d just said. Corbin was unsettled, but I quickly realized it wasn’t shock I was seeing on his face. It was dismay. Disappointment. As if he should’ve been the first to see this. Well, he should’ve, but hindsight was always twenty-twenty.

“I have to rearrange this investigation,” he said after a long moment of silence.

“Father, start with the golden guards,” Valaine insisted. “You know—”

“Yes, I know!” he snapped, then narrowed his eyes at the soldiers present. “Send word through your ranks. As of lunch today, I am expecting all those of the golden guard for interviews in this room. Fetch me your tallies, too. I want to make sure I speak to each and every one of you.”

The guards exchanged nervous glances, but two of them nodded and left the room, their gold-plated armor jingling and clanging as they trotted down the hallway. I looked at Valaine, giving her a soft smile.

“We’ll figure this out, I promise,” I said.

“Let’s get you away from my father first, before he kills you,” she whispered, a smile testing her lips. She frowned at Corbin. “I’ll let you deal with the guards. Tristan and I will go into the city and check out the last known hideouts of the Darklings.”

Corbin shook his head. “What do you expect to find there? Those places were raided decades ago.”

“True, but the neighbors are the same. Some of them might know something. They might remember details,” Valaine replied. “You don’t need us here, anyway.”

“I don’t like you going out there on your own, not after what happened last night,” Corbin grumbled. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him.

“She won’t be alone,” I said.

“You don’t really count, vampire,” he shot back, waving at the remaining guards, whom he had questioned earlier. “You. I trust you. I know you and your parents. You’ve lost a couple of loved ones to the Darklings yourselves, haven’t you?”

One of the soldiers nodded. “Yes, master commander. We do not meddle with those freaks, and we’re more than willing to prove it.”

“Good,” Corbin replied. “You’ll be shadowing them. Do not leave them on their own, or I will have your heads. And if one of you tries something funny, you’ll see a side of my daughter I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. You’ll be there for backup, if Valaine needs it. Am I clear?”

The six golden guards straightened their backs and bowed briefly. I was a little insulted, but I didn’t exactly mind the backup. If there were Darklings out there waiting to catch Valaine with her guard down again, then these fellas came in handy. My only problem was that I couldn’t exactly trust them with our safety. What if one of them was a Darkling? Then again, I couldn’t prove it. The uncertainty angered me, but we couldn’t stall things for much longer.

Esme and Kalon were busy with Nethissis’s murder. I wanted to get these Darklings out of the way sooner rather than later, so I could join my sister and bring our friend’s killer to justice. These were thoughts I hadn’t voiced in Corbin’s presence. I’d noticed he wasn’t comfortable with the prospect of an Aeternae killer being responsible for what had happened to Nethissis, much like Zoltan and the other Aeternae higher-ups. No one liked belonging to the same species that had produced our friend’s murderer, it seemed.

It made me wonder… was this just their collective pride getting in the way, or did they know something they didn’t want us to find out?

“If anything seems suspicious, I want you to come right back to the palace,” Corbin said to Valaine. “Stay away from the dark alley, and make sure you always have an exit strategy, okay?”

“Father, I’m not five anymore,” Valaine replied.

“Maybe not, but you’re still my daughter, and as much as I hate to admit it, Tristan here has made several unpleasant but good points.” He looked at me. “You’d better keep an eye on her. Valaine tends to wander off, with no regard for her own safety sometimes.”

“I thought I didn’t count,” I retorted, pursing my lips.

“You don’t. But I don’t want you to feel useless,” Corbin said, throwing me a cold sneer.

Valaine clicked her teeth, looking downright annoyed. “You’re both forgetting I’ve won several Blood Arena tournaments. All the tournaments I’ve participated in, actually. I’m not a porcelain doll!”

“Just… be careful,” Corbin muttered, giving her a pleading look. “I need you to come back to me, alive and well.”

For a moment, the animosity between them—that friction that was always present between a stubborn father and a wily daughter—vanished. Corbin and Valaine were equals again. Corbin was her guardian. She was his charge. His most precious accomplishment. His priceless treasure. And they were both vulnerable, visibly pained by the prospect of losing one another.

An hour later, Valaine and I were somewhere south of the palace, close to one of the busiest marketplaces in the city. The people seemed blissfully unaware of the turmoil that had plagued the royal residence last night. They laughed and shopped around the many stalls, loaded with fine silks and beautiful jewelry and rare items that must’ve been brought from all over Visio—judging solely by the unique designs and different materials. They moved around, stopping to taste blood from vendors dressed in crisp white tunics, or to smell the colorful flower bouquets on display, on the eastern corner of the market.

To everyone else, nothing had happened.

They didn’t know about the Black Fever’s first three victims. They didn’t know about the attempt on Valaine’s life. And they certainly didn’t know about Nethissis. It was better that way. The more people were aware, the higher the odds of civil unrest.

I was still reeling from our earlier conversation with Corbin. I’d called him out, and he’d taken it. Valaine noticed my silence, quickly making the connection as we walked through the marketplace, lost in a sea of voices and laughter and gold coins jingling in leather purses.

“You’re quieter than usual,” she said. “Is it because of my father?”

“I do apologize if I offended you or him. But those things needed to be said,” I replied, my voice muffled by the sun mask. It made me stand out among the people, but there were so many pretty things around us, they were easily distracted, their gazes never lingering on me.

“Oh, I absolutely agree. It’s just that he’s not used to having his methods questioned. To be honest, I quite enjoyed the exchange. It was about time someone stood up to him.”

She smiled, her gaze wandering over the stalls as we made our way to the southeast corner of the marketplace. The gold guards were nearby, but we couldn’t see them. I could just feel their eyes on us, watching silently. It was a little creepy, given my distrust of their true allegiance.

“Standing up to him was not my intention,” I said. “It was just tiresome to go through the same motions without any results.”

“Questioning the gold guards was a good idea, though. Otherwise my father would’ve objected to your suggestion,” Valaine replied. “Tell me, any news from Esme and Kalon regarding Nethissis?”