Page 90 of Vicious Is My Throne

“Where all the good treasure is always stored,” I quipped, crossing my arms over my chest. “In the bottom of the shoe closet.”

“From the design on the lid, we’re assuming this once belonged to the DeVaynes before a Ravenshade stole it. How they smuggled something magical through the ward, we don’t know.”

Tristan ran his finger over the symbol then absently reached up to touch his chest. “Do you think we all have one?” His hazel eyes met mine, spinning with questions. “You think we brought them with us.” He started nodding. “And we somehow got…separated from them. If keystones are as powerful as they say, taking them away from us would surely be a tactical move on the Oracle’s part.”

We all blinked at each other.

Holy gods. That explanation made perfect sense.

“And Varitus would be the perfect place to hide something like this.” Tavion smoothly picked up Tristan’s train of thought. “No one comes here, not for a millenium, maybe longer.”

“Nobody except Solok.” Raz’s eyebrows rose. “Every hundred years. They could have easily hidden keystones here and nobody would ever be the wiser. Sure, maybe one or two are still floating around Caladrius and Solarys but kept in the hands of kings.”

“Or queens. Keeping the already powerful…powerful,” Tavion continued. “Huh. It’s a genius move. And nobody would ever look here.”

“Side quest it is,” I murmured, and Raz groaned softly.

“What?” Bexley asked, his eyes fixed on the stone glowing in the tattered velvet.

“Nothing. Inside joke is all. The question is, can we afford the time right now to look for these while Caladrius is dying and Blackcastle might be overtaken?”

“We don’t have time to search an entire realm,” Raz muttered. “We should stay focused.”

“What if…” I blew out the longest breath ever, knowing I was right about this.

Because I’d lived with the Descendants most of my life, because it always behooved one to know their enemies as well as themselves.

Because greed was greed and power was power.

And because people were weak.

“We don’t have to search this entire realm, only Descendant estates. The good news is, they are all close. The rich stuck close together on their own hallowed soil to keep the rabble at bay.”

“How do you figure?” Tavion asked. “No doubting your logic, just wondering about your thought process.”

“Because the only thing that matters in Varitus is magic, and the royal families have remained in charge forever. There hasn’t been a new royal family established since this realm was created, and our king…he’s a figurehead. That kind of unassailable power has to start somewhere.” I grinned. “Like with a keystone given to you by the Fae King’s Oracle right before you’re banished to a new world.”

“Where you are all but assured you’ll go from being a common thief to royalty the moment you step across the ward. A true rags-to-riches story.” Raziel’s voice dripped with disgust. “How many royal families are there?”

“Eight,” I said, tallying up the largest estates in my head. “But I know exactly where to go from here. The Ravenshades were the richest house in Varitus, but House Rivière was the most influential. We visit them first, and if we turn up a stone, then we know our theory is correct and we go after the others.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but I was excited, absolutely exhilarated by the prospect of kicking some Descendant arse and uncovering their dirty little secrets.

And there was something deeper driving me, something ancient and possessive staring out from the deepest part of me.

I wanted to take back what they’d stolen from us.

“How are we supposed to find them?” Tavion was asking. “Search through every pantry and broom closet in every building in the realm?”

“Not exactly.” I pulled the stone from my pocket, which was practically glowing from the heat, vibrations thrumming down my arm.

“See that glow? They react when they’re close. We should at least try the next estate over and see if we’re right. If we fail, then we drop the wall, and at the end of the day we’re still one keystone richer.”

38

ZORANDER

“Iheard you missed me.”

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