The vassal stumbled and fell to her knees just as Gesalac broke the circle around me and Sorin and approached her.
“Don’t you dare! Don’t touch her!” Ana shrieked.
He bent and picked the woman up by her hair, dragging her to her feet. He tipped her head back so that her neck was taut.
“Your vassal’s looking a little wan, Ana Maria,” Gesalac said. “Perhaps we should end her suffering.”
As he spoke, however, Isla began to convulse.
“Isla!” Ana screamed. “Isla, no!”
What was happening?
Ana broke from of her captor and raced for Isla.
“Sorin!” I commanded, and the vampire caught Ana about the waist as a terrifying sound came from Isla’s mouth. It was something akin to a scream, and Gesalac released her. Only Isla didn’t fall to the ground. She stood with her arms spread wide and her head thrown back. Her long hair began to rise and float around her, and as her mouth gaped, a red mist came from her throat, curling into the air.
“It’s here!” one of the noblesse yelled. “The crimson mist is here!”
A rush of bodies charged the exit, and most of the circle surrounding me broke away.
“Don’t let the queen escape!” Gesalac yelled, and though he tried to hurry back to me, he could not fight the rush of the crowd as they attempted to escape the mist that had begun to consume one person after another. Horrifying screams filled the room as bodies fell, skinned, to the ground.
Sorin dragged Ana backward, away from the reaching mist.
“Let me go to her! I can help!” I heard her yell.
I was so caught up in Ana’s anguish, I did not notice anyone approaching. Someone grabbed my shoulders and jerked me. As they did, I reached for my crown and shoved it into my attacker’s face. He cried out and released me, and I turned to find a mortal had attempted to take me hostage. He held his hands to his bloodied face but recovered enough to growl at me, so I rammed the crown into his face once more. He stumbled back and fell, motionless.
“Isolde!” Sorin called, holding open the door to the room adjacent to the great hall. Ana was nowhere in sight, and I guessed she’d already gone inside.
I turned, searching for my father, finding him just as he bent to retrieve a blade from a downed mortal.
“I’ve got him!” Killian called to me.
We fled inside the small room, shutting the door behind us.
“What the hell is that?” Killian asked.
“It’s called a crimson mist,” I said. “It’s what killed the villagers of Vaida.”
Killian paled, and more screams came from the other side of the door. We did not have much time. The mist would seep beneath the crack in the door and kill us all.
“I need you to get my father out of here,” I said to Sorin.
“And you, Your Majesty.”
“No. Ravena is here somewhere, and I think I know what she’s after.”
“I cannot let you go alone,” Sorin said.
“I’ll go with you,” Ana said.
“And so will I,” Killian said. I looked at him, shocked, but he shrugged. “You are my princess.”
I looked at Sorin. “Get my father out of here, then come find me.”
He nodded. We split up—Sorin and my father to the west tower, Ana, Killian, and I to the library. We ran, dodging staff and servants and members of the court. I did not know how fast the mist could move or how visible it would be against all the red. Still, I looked for it and for any sign of Ravena in reflections. Now, with access to Yesenia’s memories—my memories—I recalled that Ravena’s magic was portal magic, though she was rarely powerful enough to create one without some kind of reflective surface, so she often walked through mirrors or windows.
“You think she’s going after The Book of Dis,” said Ana.
“I know she’s going after The Book of Dis.”
Lothian thought it was blank, but it was only blank because it was spelled.
And I’d been the one to spell it.
We continued down hall after hall, and just as we reached the familiar ebony doors of the library, Gesalac burst from behind them.
I skidded to a halt, flanked by Killian and Ana.
“Now is not the time for your petty revenge,” I seethed.
“If not now, when? I can skin all three of you alive and claim it was the mist,” Gesalac said.
“You would let your people suffer in favor of my death?”
“Some revenge is just too sweet,” Gesalac said, and as he lifted his blade, I noticed Ana’s mouth moving, whispering hushed words. She was reciting a spell, but Ana had no magic. I could not hear the words she spoke, so I did not know what she summoned until blue lightning sparked at her fingertips, but it was nowhere near the shock she would need to attack Gesalac.