VALENCIA VENTURED INTO THE PALACE JAIL. Her short heels clicked on the floor as she passed each empty cell. The palace jail was not used often, but now, both Auden and Leya's thief were held here. At the end of the hall, on opposite sides, she found the doctor and the thief.

Ophelia already interrogated Auden and came up empty handed. But Valencia was more interested in the thief, the woman who stole magic to create a dark bomb. When Valencia took her first glance at the woman, she scoffed, stunned.

"Lady Astoria Howell!" Valencia said, "A thief!"

Astoria looked back at the empress, with high cheekbones and short, dark hair. Then her eyes casted to the floor.

"I would call you a traitor, but you aren't even from my empire. What shall I do with you?"

I have several ideas, her devil laughed in the background.

Valencia's hands clasped around the metal bars separating the two of them. "Do you work for Cyra Stone? Have you been conspiring against me?"

Astoria's lips remained a thin line.

"Answer me!"

The scream shook Astoria, but not enough to stop her small smile. "Caspian, actually. He told me to tell you he misses your darling face."

Valencia let out a frustrated scream as she pushed away from the cell and headed down the hallway.

You know what to do, her devil said.

You know who almost burned down Astoria's home, the devil urged.

You know who crawled his way into your home and your heart, the devil went on.

Valencia spun on her heel and went back to Astoria's cell. She saw her devil's shadow on the walls around her. His evil laugh echoed in her mind.

"Elliot. He's on your side."

Astoria nodded grimly.

My, my, the devil roared, looks like no one will ever love you like I do.

•   •   •

RONAN FOUND VALENCIA IN HER BEDCHAMBER. The empress sat on the floor at the foot of her bed, a dull and sorrowful look on her features. She didn't even look up as Ronan sat down beside her. Ronan's hand found Valencia's and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Our next move is your call."

"You were right."

Ronan pulled back. "About what?"

He didn't know what she was on about, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be right.

"About Elliot," she said, "he's been working for the Stone family. Astoria confirmed it."

Ronan looked everywhere around the bedchamber except at Valencia. He had his doubts about Elliot and his intentions, but he hadn't expected this. And the empress seemed to like him, so much so that he became a part of her inner circle.

He knew he should have gotten rid of Elliot the second Valencia called him her prisoner. The second Valencia wanted to incorrectly blame Ophelia for wrongfully accusing Elliot of arson. The second that video emerged of Elliot watching Valencia in a private moment.

The second Valencia started caring about him.

Ronan finally looked at Valencia. There were bags under her brown eyes from the lack of sleep and her pink lips were trembling with a frown. Ronan had never seen her on the verge of tears, let alone full on sobbing.

"Say it," Valencia said with a quiver in her voice, "You told me so."

"Valencia, tell me what to do. Jail him? Throw him out of the palace? Exile him? I will do it. Anything."

"I already looked for him," she admitted, "I think he's long gone."

The idiot might have some common sense after all. He must have known Auden or Astoria would say something.

"Then we will comb through the entire empire to look for him."

Ronan knew she needed to get the last word. That's how Valencia was.

A tear streamed down her cheek. And another, and another, until she was silently crying in front of him. Ronan pulled Valencia into his arms, an embrace that caused an audible sob to get past her lips.

"I want to scream and cry and devour them all," the empress cried, "I want to ignite and burn bright but hide in the shadows. I want to love and I want to hate."

Him. She wanted to love and hate him.

"Ophelia and I can deal with the capital fire," Ronan said.

He didn't know what more comfort to offer her, but Ronan held her close anyway.

• • •

ELLIOT KNOX CREPT INTO THE PALACE JAIL. He had a habit and knowledge of sneaking around. He passed into the jail just as Valencia left, so all her guards left with her. The spy stalked down the hall of empty cells before reaching Auden and Astoria.

"What the hell."

It wasn't a question. Not quite a statement either. Just pure shock at whatever mess Elliot's life has come to. On one hand, his loyalty had always laid with Caspian, and he'd hate to see the former prince come crashing down at Valencia's wrath. But then there was the mystery that is Valencia Lenard, the woman who Elliot is confused if he should trust. He believed everything Valencia told him, but what Mira told him showed a different side to Valencia.

"Auden," Elliot looked over at the doctor, "I need the truth about Valencia or Homer or whoever the hell else is involved in this story."

Elliot didn't know about Homer until Valencia spilled about him. He didn't know about Mira, the witch, either. Who knows what other crazy people Valencia had working for her during her campaign.

Auden grunted. "Who says I know?"

Elliot walked up to Auden's cell. "You know about everything that happened in this palace when you worked here for Cyra. I'm sure you knew Homer."

"He was charming," Auden said after a long pause, "It was actually Princess Lena Daines that let him into the palace."

"I'm going to stop you right there. Who. the. fuck. is Princess Lena Daines?"

Auden sighed, green eyes as bloodshot as ever. "Lena is Cyra's younger sister. She was the heiress apparent, not Caspian. The public didn't know Lena Daines existed and that's how Cyra wanted it—to protect her sister and their family legacy as rulers. But during Homer's stay at the palace, Lena disappeared and no one knew why. She was never found. So Caspian became crown prince."

"You're telling me the empire was never meant to be Caspian's."

"That lying bastard," Astoria seethed, hands firmly gripped around the metal bars locking her away.

Elliot knew the crown prince was a bit too cocky and a bit too greedy. And now that it's clear Caspian fucked everyone over but himself, Elliot is shaking with anger. He felt the urge to punch the wall and punch Caspian right in the jaw while he was at it. And goddamn Caspian, he could run away with his money and fame and glory and never feel the wrath of all the people he's hurt.

Valencia might be all kinds of messed up too, but Elliot knew one thing for sure: she would never hurt the people truly loyal to her. And that was the key difference between the former prince and the current empress that still made Elliot slightly more favorable to her.

"Go on," Astoria urged. "And who the hell is Homer while we're at it?"

That was a question for Elliot. "He was Valencia's friend that went to the palace to possibly assassinate Cyra and Andreas Stone."

Auden went on. "Lena and Homer were friends. It looked like Cyra was the one who got too attached to him. I think she fell in love, but Homer didn't feel the same way. So she came to me in hysterics asking for a love potion. I had no choice but to give it to her. Who knows if Homer took the potion? All I can say is that Cyra became more obsessed with him, more crazy, and more violent."

"That's when she went on that killing spree."

Elliot remembered seeing it on the news. The former empress had become a literal murderess, a literal serial killer. Because of love? Because of an obsession? Elliot didn't know Cyra and Homer that well, but how could a fierce and confident woman like Cyra go insane over a man? She didn't even love her own husband!

"Yes," Auden confirmed. "Cyra was a murderess even before the spree, I'll admit. That one time is a mistake she regrets deeply. But the killing spree after Homer's arrival was...unlike her."

"When exactly did Lena disappear?" Astoria asked randomly.

Auden didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Just before Cyra's murders."

"You don't think...?" Astoria trailed off.

"I don't know."

A morbid silence hung in the air.

Elliot needed to know more. "How did Homer die?"

"Cyra accuses Valencia of it," Auden answered, "but I was not around to witness it. When I came back from a trip abroad, Cyra had gone back to her normal self, albeit mourning her lover's death."

Elliot mulled over what he now knew. He believed Valencia killed Homer, but he didn't know for sure if Homer tried to kill her first. Or if Mira was right — that Valencia simply killed him for betraying her trust.

And he knew exactly who might give him a straight answer.

Fuck, he thought, I have to find Cyra Stone.