We Become Darkness

by Grace Morrow

Genres: Romantic Fantasy; Gothic; Romance; Paranormal Romance; Vampires

Synopsis

A human and a Vampyr forge an unsteady alliance in this marriage-of-convenience romantic fantasy, perfect for fans of The Serpent and the Wings of Night and One Dark Window.

Thalia, Princess of Agripa, has spent the last four years hunting her ex-lover, Cassius—the man who shattered her heart and betrayed her kingdom by becoming a Vampyr. Vampyrs and humans have had a tenuous past since Thalia’s father and sister were murdered thirteen years ago. But with Agripa’s ore supply—the lifeblood of human cities—running out, Thalia’s mother strikes a desperate and dangerous deal: Thalia will marry a Vampyr prince in exchange for their ore.

Thalia is blindsided by the arrangement—and horrified to find Cassius, now serving as the prince’s Hand, is the man tasked with bringing her to the Vampyr kingdom safely. To save her people, she agrees to the marriage—but she plans to dismantle the Vampyr kingdom from within by killing the prince.

The Vampyr court is rife with danger and secrets, and Cassius is always watching. When a monstrous new threat emerges, Thalia realizes the safety and security of their world is far more fragile than she ever believed.

Caught between duty and desire, Thalia must grapple with her feelings for Cassius and decide if she will fulfill her duty to the human crown or embrace the darkness within herself to protect both realms.

We Become Darkness is an atmospheric romantasy, perfect for fans of Nosferatu to sink their teeth into.

Release date: April 7, 2026

Publisher: Alcove Press

Print pages: 352

Sample

Chapter One

“There hasn’t been a new lead in six months. Not since you gutted that Vampyr in Cardin,” Reina whispered.

Thalia turned, peeling her eyes from the carnage. The shadows covering the captain’s dark face did little to hide her revulsion. Her armor glittered in the moonlight, although the muted gold seemed garish against the field of corpses.

“It’s him,” Thalia said. Her gaze roamed over the bodies peppering the land like lumps of coal—bodies that had been ripped apart and propped back together like some sort of macabre chessboard. The crops had been razed to the ground, destroyed as if some feral beast had been set loose upon them.

Reina made a face, scrubbing a hand over her short-cropped dark hair. “And you’re sure it’s him?”

Him.

It would have been better if it were some feral beast, not the Vampyr she sought.

Thalia clenched her jaw, ignoring the emotions rising hot in her gut. “This death reeks of him.”

Reina studied her a moment longer, brown eyes flashing. “We need to head back to Corithian.”

Thalia wiped the sweat from her brow. Even with night in full swing, the heat of summer worked its way down the back of her spine, itching like a pesky bug. “Why?”

“Your mother sent word.”

“I’m not done here. You’ve seen the fields—these townsfolk won’t last the next few months without their crops. They are as good as dead out here.”

Reina sighed, shifting slightly. “She’s the queen; her word is law even for her daughter. She’s changed her mind about you going off and doing this.”

“This?” Thalia’s voice dropped, although they were far enough away from the ramshackle town that no one would hear them. Far enough away that no one would notice the Queen of Agripa’s inner circle was in their midst. “You mean doing my duty in ensuring the townsfolk of Agripa are safe? Ensuring that they are provided enough resources that they won’t starve come winter? Ensuring that he doesn’t take any more innocent lives?”

“Listen, Princess.” Reina added the last bit with enough bite that Thalia stiffened. “I do what I’m told. She said you’ve had your fun.”

Thalia snorted, toying with the end of her light-blonde braid, ignoring the stench of decaying flesh brushing against her nose. “Fun? My duty is to the people of Agripa. I was assigned this role, and she gave me leave for this mission. To fix my mistake.” Her mistake of allowing him to still breathe.

Reina leaned closer, keeping her voice soft. “I know. And I know what it means for you to do this. But your mother wasn’t pleased about that stint in Cardin.”

Thalia had found one of those bloodsuckers about to set fire to a granary, and she’d shoved an iron stake through its skull. But it wasn’t the Vampyr she hunted. The one who kept leaving what the townsfolk were calling “the Scarecrows.”

Thalia pulled her attention back, hazel eyes narrowing. “Why? It’s the first lead I had since Darein. She should have been pleased I’m making headway.”

Until that led to a dead end. Then another, and another.

Every city and town Thalia had traveled to had sent her on a wild-goose chase. Never close to what—to whom—she sought.

But Thalia could practically feel it, something humming through her veins, a deep sense of urgency whispering in her ear.

She was close to it. So very close to him.

“The Vampyr you killed was supposedly an important leader from one of the courts, did you know that?” Reina cocked her head.

“How the hell would I have known that? It’s not as though the Vampyr courts have been in contact with us, not since—” Thalia choked, the image of unseeing eyes staring at hers flashing in her mind. The phantom weight of blood coated her fingers as she tried to put her sister’s head back on her body after a Vampyr had ripped it off.

Maybe the Vampyr Thalia had killed belonged to the same monstrous family who’d taken her sister and father. If that was the case, important leader or not, a stake through its skull was a mercy compared to what she could have done to appease the ever-growing ache in her chest.

That thought sent the anger boiling in Thalia’s bloodstream into white-hot rage. “Good. I hope it’s burning in hell. I hope they all are.”

Something flashed in Reina’s eyes, but she quickly masked it. “Your mother needs you home.”

“Tell her I’m close. That I need more time.”

“To do what? You aren’t going to find him.”

Thalia’s teeth ground together, and she looked away, unable to face the hard truth in Reina’s eyes. “I will.”

Only so she could stab a stake through his traitorous heart.

Reina sighed, muttering to the gods to save her. “What he did was shit.” Thalia stiffened. Shit was the understatement of the millennium. What he’d done was unforgivable—inhuman. But she supposed he wasn’t human anymore. Thalia shoved down the bile rising in her throat as Reina continued, “But your mother needs you back. There’s been a new development. Something to do with the ore.”

“What about it?” Thalia’s interest piqued. She’d passed the fields leached of color on her way into this town. The soil that refused to be tilled and the grain that shriveled like husks, not to mention the sickness that followed in its wake. When the ore was spread across the fields, it allowed the land to become fertile—thriving. When burned, it fueled homes and mills. They needed that ore to survive, especially with the ongoing war between the humans and Vampyrs. In recent years, the human reserves had rapidly dwindled.

Reina shook her head. “I don’t know. But you’re needed at the castle, immediately. Now, we can either go back to the palace the easy way, or …” She trailed off with a smirk.

Thalia didn’t take her threat seriously. Not that Reina wouldn’t tie her to a horse and carry her all the way to Corithian, Agripa’s capital city, if she refused. And Thalia knew she had no hope of taking her in a fight if it came to that. Reina was a good head taller than her, not to mention she knew every single one of her moves; she had taught them to Thalia herself.

Thalia forced her hands to unclench, to let go of the urgency racing through her veins. The sooner she got back to the castle, the sooner she could leave and ensure that no more townsfolk suffered because of her mistake. She’d finish her mission—for good. “Fine.”

She stalked away from the field, Reina at her heels. Their horses waited on an empty dirt road, their hides gleaming in the moonlight, the summer air thick and muggy.

“We’re already late,” Reina said, swinging into her saddle. “I received the letter this morning; you were expected a day ago. We need to move quickly, or your mother will not be pleased.”

She never was.

Thalia swung herself up onto her horse, and Reina dug her heels into her beast’s side, taking off to pass through the nearly empty town.

Thalia turned to follow but froze.

Even from a distance, the Scarecrows stood out like a raised scar among the graying field. They swayed slightly in the summer breeze. Once morning came, the corpses would cook in the sun, the heat turning the remaining bits of hanging flesh into strips of leather.

Someone should take them down.

Someone needed to take them down.

But Thalia remained frozen, transfixed, as one particular corpse swayed harder than the others, almost as though it were curling a finger toward her in a promise.

Then a dark shadow stepped out from behind the Scarecrow.

Eyes the color of the mountain lakes stared back.

Thalia’s whole body locked up, her breath coming in deep pants.

He … he was—

“Thalia!”

Her horse shifted and Thalia jolted, glancing over her shoulder to find Reina waiting in the distance near some old trenches dug during the start of the war.

Thalia whipped back, heart pounding in her throat. But nothing was there. No glowing eyes. No dark presence. Even the Scarecrows were gone, toppled over by that fell wind.

Thalia shook her head, forcing down the dread rising in her stomach as she spurred her horse after Reina.

She tried to push aside the image of the Scarecrows. Tried to push past the smell of decaying flesh still clinging to her nostrils, and the eyes that had seared themselves into her brain—into her heart.

But as they rode hard through the night across Agripa’s dying land, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something watched her from the shadows.

Waiting to sink their teeth in.

---

“You’re late, Thalia.”

Thalia stiffened as she glanced up at her mother’s imposing figure sitting on her gilded throne.

Queen Helena Cesiaran of Agripa looked her daughter over, her features an immovable mask of marble. Her emerald eyes scanned Thalia from head to toe. Thalia was grateful she’d had time to bathe and change. Her mother was already displeased; tracking mud across the red-carpeted tile would have only served to irk her more.

“Apologies, my horse threw a shoe.” The lie rolled smoothly off her tongue as she rose, her seafoam silk gown falling off her frame like water. Thalia hadn’t questioned it when her handmaiden, Katrina, wrangled her into it. The gold press of her knife against her thigh echoed the coldness of her mother’s face.

The queen’s brows narrowed noting the lie. “You were expected days ago.”

Thalia ignored the stares of her mother’s scheming court. They tittered behind lace fans, their forked tongues whispering to each other, no doubt about her absence at court. “I was checking on the towns further north. They’ve been hit harder than most with the Scarecrows.”

“I see.” The queen’s delicate nostrils flared as Thalia took a spot next to her. “You reek of death.”

Thalia was glad her back was ramrod straight, only because it kept her from falling over. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The queen raised a well-groomed brow. The setting sun filtered in through the large-paned windows, highlighting the gold and marble of the throne room. It set her mother shining, the beams bouncing off blonde hair braided neatly into a chignon, making it glow like a halo. Thalia supposed that was how her mother wished to appear: like an angel, a savior.

“Why am I here? You know I have a duty to fulfill.” Thalia steered the conversation away from the supposed scent her mother could sniff out like a bloodhound. Away from him.

The queen shifted on her throne, her simple crown catching the light. The two olive branches wrapped around her brow. The branches were meant to be a symbol of victory—of hope.

But hope did not shelter here. It fled when darkness came, chased out by its warring cries.

“There has been a new development with the ore,” the queen said, pulling Thalia back.

“Reina said as much. Have they found something to replace it? Some new resource we may have overlooked?” Thalia’s heart rate picked up.

The queen’s green eyes flashed. “You know the only place to get that ore is in the mountain.”

Thalia’s stomach twisted like a knife. The mountain was at the very tip of their continent, accessible only to the monsters who had killed her father and sister, who hid behind an impenetrable forest. That was why the war had gone on for so long. The humans couldn’t break through the forest, and the Vampyrs seemed able to send only a few of their kind at a time to target the farms.

“Has Marcus found something in the library, then?” Thalia pushed. She craned her head, trying to spot the head librarian among the courtiers, but she didn’t find his curly head in the crowd.

The queen hesitated, then her face hardened. “Not quite.”

“Then what—”

The throne room doors boomed open, and her mother’s adviser, Kamith, strolled in. Although his hair was shot through with gray, he carried himself like a younger man. He wasn’t unattractive by any means, and Thalia had learned to ignore whispers among the displeased courtiers that he was bedding the queen.

“Your Majesty.” Kamith bowed before straightening. “Your guests are ready for you.”

“What guests?” Thalia asked, looking between the two.

“Princess,” Kamith acknowledged, sliding his guarded gaze to hers. “Potential allies.”

Agripa didn’t have any allies, at least here in this land. The treacherous waters around Agripa made overseas journeys from other continents more perilous than they were worth.

“I thought you had something on the ore?” Thalia glanced between the two of them, picking at the skin around her thumbs.

The queen ignored her, nodding as the last of the sun’s rays fled the throne room. “Bring them in.”

Reina stepped forward, flashing a warning look at Thalia before she left with a few other soldiers. Thalia had failed to note how many guards in glinting armor lined the back walls.

The queen turned suddenly to her. “You must be on your best behavior tonight.”

Thalia resisted the urge to scowl. “I always am—”

“I mean it, Thalia.” The queen’s hand suddenly gripped her arm. “You cannot ruin this for us, for Agripa.”

Everything in Thalia went on high alert. “Why?”

Her mother made another face, displeasure on her full lips. “I have brokered a mutually beneficial deal that will help both our lands—that will end this war.” Thalia opened her mouth to speak, but her mother cut her off. “This deal, Thalia, will not be to your liking. But think of Agripa, think of your duty. You will do well to sit quietly while this plays out.”

The queen released her, and Thalia’s heart pounded in her chest, her thoughts racing. The courtiers all quieted as the soldiers’ hands drifted nearer to their swords.

The throne room doors creaked open, the sound eerily like the closing of a coffin.

Reina reentered, her steps clipped, and bowed. “Your Majesty.”

Thalia’s eyes trailed past her to the guards filing in, along with five cloaked figures.

“Welcome,” Kamith’s voice boomed out. “On behalf of Her Majesty, Queen Helena Cesiaran of Agripa, we thank you for joining us this evening.”

Thalia glanced at her mother, but she appeared stoic, unchanging, her face shifting to an unreadable mask once more.

The figure in the middle stepped forward, their hood concealing their features. “And on behalf of House Lorenzia, we want to thank you for such a … warm welcome.” Their voice was so cold it sent a shiver down Thalia’s spine. “Although we had hoped negotiations would have been concluded by now.”

“I apologize on behalf of my daughter.” The queen’s voice nearly shook Thalia from her stupor. “She is here, as you can see.”

“How excellent,” the figure said, pulling back his hood.

A gasp went out, and one of the courtiers fainted, their companion catching them in a swirl of purple silk.

Thalia’s stomach bottomed out.

Pale skin gleamed like cut glass, and red eyes met hers. Slicked-back blond hair was pulled away from the smooth planes of the Vampyr’s face, accentuating his deadly beauty.

“Perhaps we can speed up our negotiations, then.” Glimpses of sharp fangs showed behind bloodless lips.

Thalia’s knees locked as her mother tilted her head. “Of course. We wouldn’t wish to delay you further.”

Thalia’s breath seized in her lungs as soldiers stepped forward, carrying six chairs. This couldn’t be happening. There were … there were Vampyrs in her home. There hadn’t been any Vampyrs since that night over thirteen years ago. When she’d watched them rip off the head of her sister—when they’d punched a hole in her father’s chest so hard his spine had splattered to the ground—

Thalia jerked, only to have a gloved hand encircle her elbow.

Reina was at her side, her features hard. “Princess.” Thalia hadn’t realized a chair had been placed near her mother’s throne. “Sit.”

Thalia couldn’t.

She didn’t think she could even take a breath. The remaining four figures revealed themselves, ethereal beauty exposed like the bright side of the moon. From pale ivory to deep ebony to bronzed, the faces of the Vampyrs appeared before her eyes, though Thalia couldn’t quite understand what she was witnessing.

Reina helped her into her chair, her body going numb long before her mind did.

“We want to thank you again for your generous offer, Lord Damien,” Kamith spoke, ever the diplomat.

The middle Vampyr, the pale one who appeared to be Lord Damien, tilted his head. The movement was much too predatory. “And of your own.”

Thalia didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or puke all over the marble staircase. Or better yet, fly across the floor and plunge stakes through all their monstrous skulls.

“The ore you’ve provided will be enough to last us a decade,” Kamith continued, undeterred at the creatures before him.

A murmur broke out through the crowd.

Why was no one reacting? Why was no one screaming and wailing? These monsters had infiltrated their home, had tried to make a deal before—

“We have already broken the dams. The rivers are headed through to your forest as we speak,” the queen stated. None of the Vampyrs reacted, but Thalia jerked.

“What?” Her question was too loud. It echoed around the quiet room, hitting her back in the face. Agripa had blocked off the rivers that fed the Vampyrs’ sacred forest after the tentative peace between them ended over a decade ago. The dark woods allowed them to hunt during the day, and Thalia had been glad to know that the monsters’ sacred forest would strangle and rot just like her heart had.

But now the river was going back to feeding them?

Her mother cast her a warning look.

“Then it seems negotiations have already been sped along,” Lord Damien said, his red eyes flashing.

Thalia’s nails pierced her palms, and all the Vampyrs’ attention zeroed in on her.

Sweat dripped down her spine, her palms sticky with blood and water.

“We would also like to propose another offer,” Thalia’s mother said. It was enough to draw the attention of the Vampyrs. But Thalia still didn’t breathe, not as one of them caught her stare. His ebony skin gleamed against short-cropped hair, and golden eyes glinted like two coins. It must have been a trick of the light, because she could have sworn his skin had begun to sink in, his flesh pulling taut over his skull. Thalia blinked and it was gone.

“What more could you offer?” Lord Damien tilted his head.

“We have long since been at war. While this new deal is mutually beneficial for both our peoples, my council and I fear what should happen if we fall out of favor once more.”

Should one of the creatures decide to kill them as they’d done before. Thalia’s lips twisted in disgust. One of the Vampyrs stared at her palm, sensing the blood smeared against her heart lines.

“And what is this proposal?” Lord Damien asked.

“A marriage between House Lorenzia and the Cesiaran line. So that no more ill blood shall be spilled on behalf of our two peoples. United, we can hope to better the lives of both our kinds.”

Thalia whirled to her mother, heart pounding in her throat. “You can’t.”

Her sister’s dead face flashed in her mind—her body cooling not ten feet from where she now sat. They’d tried this before. Tried to broker a union between human and Vampyr—

The queen ignored her daughter, focusing on Lord Damien.

The Vampyr cocked his pale head, his ruby eyes looking the princess over. “A most interesting proposition, but I’m afraid—”

The throne room doors creaked open again, and everyone turned to see the newcomer. It was then that Thalia realized one chair had remained empty.

The cloaked figure didn’t walk with the fluid grace of the rest of the creatures in the room. There was almost something familiar about the way they moved, how their shoulders rolled under a velvet cloak.

“A most interesting proposition indeed.” The cloaked figure stopped in the half circle of chairs.

Another shiver rocked down Thalia’s spine.

“As hand to the prince, I speak on behalf of him, and I am most certain this would be advantageous to both our people. This war has gone on too long. 

Many have suffered, on both sides. But the time of peace is at hand, don’t you think so, Lord Damien?”

“Of course, Cassius. If that is what you believe His Highness would wish.”

Cassius—

Thalia jerked, stumbling to her feet, just as the Vampyr removed his hood.

Eyes bluer than the mountain lakes met hers.

She knew that sharp face. The jaw that could cut and the burnished dark-auburn hair brushing against powerful shoulders.

Not possible.

“You.” The word fell from her lips, breaking apart like ash.

The nausea swirling inside her gut quickly turned to white-hot rage.

The Vampyr grinned, twin fangs gleaming as his sensual lips stretched upward. “Hello, Princess. Did you miss me?”

Thalia launched herself down the dais, knife slashing straight for the strong column of the Vampyr’s throat. Chapter Two

“I’m going to kill you!” Thalia screamed, her blade angled to cut right through his artery.

Someone grabbed her around her waist, yanking her back. Cold metal pressed against her spine as Reina wrapped a tight hand around her wrist.

“I told you to sit quietly,” the queen whispered harshly.

Cassius watched her, some sort of sick delight lighting his features as Thalia snarled, “You motherfucker—”

“If you do not hold your tongue, you will be removed.” The queen turned sharply to her. Thalia stiffened, Reina’s sharp breath echoing in her ear. The entire throne room had quieted, a silence that suffocated her almost as much as his presence. “Is that understood?”

Thalia glanced at the Vampyrs once more, her fingers tightening on her dagger. Then, finally, she nodded. Reina let her go but didn’t go far as Thalia stiffly sat back on the chair, blade angled.

“I apologize for my daughter. She is prone to … fits,” her mother said, turning back to the monsters before her.

Thalia could hardly pay attention over the pounding of her heart.

He was here.

Standing before her as though nothing had happened.

As though the last four years had never taken place—

Kamith cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “The treaty has been drawn up. All we need are the signatures before the ceremony.”

Ceremony.

Thalia wasn’t in her body; she was back to the night thirteen years ago when another ceremony had taken place. But instead of sitting by her mother, it had been her sister, Ariadna, she sat next to. Her sister and a Vampyr—

Thalia froze, her heart rate rising as her stomach rolled. She glanced around the room, noting the guards on the wall—guards who hadn’t been able to stop the Vampyrs, who were slaughtered alongside her father and sister—

Thalia’s chest seized. “This is a trap.”

Her words silenced whatever Kamith was saying to the Vampyrs.

“Princess?” Kamith’s brows furrowed.

Cassius was here.

Cassius who’d betrayed her. Who’d betrayed his kingdom. Who’d killed the one person who could have stopped this war long ago.

And now they were back here, under the guise of peace—

“This is a trap—” Thalia panted, her focus on him. The courtiers around the room murmured, unease spearing itself through the gathered crowd like oil on water. “They’re going to kill us like they did last time—they’re going to—”

In one blink Lord Damien was before her. He moved so fast Thalia didn’t have time to raise her dagger. She sat in the chair, helpless, as the Vampyr hovering over her cocked his head.

“If we wanted to kill you, you would all be choking on your own blood at this very moment.” His red eyes swept over her before he smiled at the dagger in her clenched fist.

Thalia couldn’t help the shiver of fear running down her spine. She swallowed her revulsion as he leaned closer.

“Charming. You truly are a treat.” The Vampyr cocked his head. “She’ll make a fine bride for our prince, don’t you think so, Cassius?”

He studied her a moment longer before he stepped back, leisurely returning to his companions. “The ceremony shall

be within the hour. Our prince does not like to be kept waiting.”

Without waiting for a dismissal, the Vampyrs all followed Lord Damien out, the guards keeping close behind them. Thalia could have sworn Cassius faltered on the threshold, but the traitor didn’t look back.

Thalia didn’t even realize the throne room had been cleared until her mother stood, her posture stiff.

“What ceremony?” Thalia croaked out. She couldn’t believe her throat worked, let alone that her heart still pumped blood through her.

Kamith glanced at her mother, but the queen ignored her adviser. “There will be a ceremony to bind you to the prince. This marriage is part of the treaty struck between our two realms to stop the war from continuing.”

Thalia jerked out of the chair. “Are you mad? They killed our family. Your husband—your daughter—” She choked on the last word. “We’ve tried to strike this deal before, and it ended in blood—”

“Do you think me a fool?” The queen whirled on her, speaking harshly. “To allow these creatures into our home without a plan? Without a safety net? This war has been waging for far too long. Our ore is depleted. Gone. You’ve seen for yourself what our towns to the north look like.”

“Gone?” Thalia faltered, shaking her head. Yes, she knew the towns had run out of ore, but they still had some left in the castle’s supply being rationed out. “That … that can’t be possible. Marcus said you were close to finding something—”

“He lied.” The queen’s voice filled with a rare note of defeat. “Our reserves are gone, bled dry because of this war. You’ve already noted the devastation this has caused Agripa on your travels. The sickness in our lands that festers like a wound gone sour. The fact that our food is scarce, our people starving, dying—”

“I know,” Thalia bit out, and the queen paused, cocking her head. Thalia knew the state of Agripa better than the queen did. Because she’d been slowly watching Agripa fall into ruin, despite trying to do what she could, all while she sought him. “You’re delusional if you believe this won’t end in death.”

My death.

The queen stepped in front of her. “It will be different this time.”

“How?” Thalia scoffed.

“Because they need our water.” Kamith spoke his first words since the Vampyrs had left. “We’ve received word that their forest is on the brink of decay. They may live by a different set of rules, but they will uphold this treaty. They’re desperate to save what is sacred to them. Ever since that night thirteen years ago, their forest has begun to die. They will not jeopardize the one source that allows them to feed without fear of the light.”

“Tell that to the Vampyr who killed my sister,” Thalia snarled.

The queen suddenly gripped her, fingers ice cold on Thalia’s wrists. “They are leeches, Thalia, and will do anything to gorge themselves into security. They will not kill you.”

The image was less than reassuring.

Thalia glanced between the two of them. “Then why even do this? Why not let their forest die? Once it’s dead, we could get to the mountain, retrieve the ore ourselves.”

The queen sighed, letting go of Thalia’s arms. “Because we’ve also received word that the Vampyrs have begun looking elsewhere for allegiance.”

“Elsewhere?”

Kamith shifted. “There are other Vampyr courts outside of Agripa, as you know, those who’ve traveled from here to different lands. If the Vampyrs somehow gain allegiance with these courts across the seas, well, Agripa is already outnumbered; we don’t have the means or resources to fight a war on two fronts. We’re running out of time.”

Thalia swallowed. “So this is it, then? I’m to be a lamb headed to the slaughter?”

Her mother gripped her wrists once more. “Did you know that when you first came to me four years ago with the request to do more, I wanted to refuse you?” It took a moment for Thalia to catch up with the change of topic. “It was Kamith who advised me to let you, despite knowing you’d use the chance to leave these walls to also seek revenge. I know this agreement is not to your liking, but you must think of your duty to the crown.”

Thalia looked away, jaw aching. She didn’t want to think of her duty. How she’d ached to do more for the people of Agripa who were slowly dying from both the dwindling ore and the monsters in the north plaguing them. Then he’d decided to betray her, and she’d vowed to do more by killing him. Because he’d known what the Vampyrs had done to her family—to her—and yet he’d chosen to become one of them anyway. To prey on the innocents he’d sworn to protect. And she’d failed the only vow she’d given herself by letting him walk out of the room breathing, by letting them all walk out breathing—

Thalia slowly raised her eyes to the queen, realization dawning. “You want me to destroy them.”

The queen’s grip tightened. “You will be in a prime position to see the inner workings of their kingdom, to see what makes it tick. Then to pull it out from under them.”

Thalia sucked in a breath. “You want me to kill their prince?” The queen nodded. “They will know of this plan. They’ll suspect we’d try something after everything that’s been done. He will suspect—”

“I know.” Her mother squeezed her shoulder. “But you will have to be smarter, more cunning than they are. I know you blame yourself for the Scarecrows—for the deaths that have happened. You wish to finish your mission for good? You wish to save Agripa? This is your chance. Get close to the prince, to his court, and destroy it.”

The room fell silent, the queen’s words drifting between them like smoke.

But marriage?

Her mother must have sensed her hesitancy, because she straightened, her words becoming cold. “You know that alliance through marriage has always been your duty since birth, no matter the past failed attempts.” Thalia didn’t want to think about those failed attempts. About the night when her world had crumbled around her. “I married your father without prior knowledge of who he was. I married to save my kingdom, as you will do now.”

Thalia knew the story—the alliance that her mother’s and father’s families brokered, two powerful kingdoms made stronger by uniting. Her own fate had been drilled into her since the moment she was born female. ...