‘His blood isn’t the only thing that can release them,’ said Violet.
She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it sooner. She thought about all the plans they had made last night, and felt so stupid. Will had been indulging her, nodding and listening, and all the while planning to leave on his own.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Cyprian.
‘Will’s mother,’ said Violet. ‘Simon killed Will’s mother. Will never talks about it, but—’
‘But if it was violent,’ said Cyprian, ‘there would have been blood.’
The Blood of the Lady. She saw Cyprian realise it. Simon already had what he needed. He could release the Shadow Kings any time he wanted. He just needed to harness Will’s mother’s blood.
Had Will guessed that immediately? Had he heard Katherine’s words and understood right then what he had to do? But why hadn’t he told anyone? Why had he gone to face Simon in secret, and alone?
‘The place where his mother died,’ said Violet. ‘Will’s gone there to try to stop Simon.’
‘Where?’ said Cyprian urgently. ‘Do you know where that is?’
Nights sprawled out on their beds, talking until dawn. My mother and I, we moved around a lot, Will had said at a London inn. But he’d never spoken about his mother’s death. As if there was something in the story that he was holding close, something private that he didn’t want to tell. And now he was travelling there and they had no way to find him. Will, why didn’t you take me with you?
‘No,’ she said. ‘He never told me.’
The truth was that she knew very little about his life. She knew his mother had been killed, but he’d never told her how. She knew they’d moved from place to place, but he’d never told her where. He’d never said what he’d done in the months between his mother’s death and his own capture. He’d never talked about what had happened to him on Simon’s ship. Or on the run before that.
In all their conversations, he’d sprawled on the bed with his head propped on his hand and asked questions as he teased out her thoughts. She’d been the one who talked, telling him far more than he’d ever told her. For all that they’d fought side by side, she knew almost nothing about him.
‘We need to go after him,’ said Violet.
‘We don’t even know where to go.’
A burst of frustration. ‘We have to do someth—’
She broke off, hearing a strange sound, almost like the far-off cry of a hawk on the wind. Her body responded like prey sensing a predator.
‘Do you hear that?’
‘What?’ said Cyprian.
‘That,’ said Violet. ‘It’s coming from—’
‘—the gate,’ said Cyprian as the sound rang out again, louder.
Above them, sudden as a firework, the sky flared red. She looked up and saw the ghostly impression of a dome across the sky, shot through with sparking red.
‘What’s happening?’
‘The wards,’ said Cyprian, an awed fear in his voice as he stared up at the red sky as if this was new to him. ‘I think – I think the wards are under attack.’
The red was spreading. It looked like a great dome was burning, red streaking across its surface, the wards visible for the first time.
‘Will they hold?’
‘I don’t know.’
Inside, Elizabeth was in the centre of the room, while Sarah was pressed with her back in the corner. ‘She won’t move,’ said Elizabeth. ‘She just keeps staring like that.’ Sarah’s eyes were glazed the way they had been when they’d found her and Grace in the devastated Hall. ‘I’ll pinch her if you like.’ Elizabeth took a step forward.
‘No,’ said Violet quickly, grabbing Elizabeth’s small arm.
The chilling sound cut through the air again, louder and closer, and it wasn’t the cry of a hawk. It was a scream that came from no human throat.
‘What is that?’ said Elizabeth.
It sounded like it was coming from outside the wards. As if there was something out there on the marshes. Something old and terrible, screaming to get in.
‘Don’t let it in,’ said Sarah, her voice sounding strange, ‘don’t let it get inside—’
Violet’s stomach turned. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. Violet found that she and Cyprian were staring at each other. They had spent the day looking for a way to track down Will; they had forgotten the true danger that hung over them all.