Anastasia moved a hand to Nicolae’s neck, checking for a pulse. “Isn’t it, though? Arsenic is used to weaken and incapacitate the victims, not kill. It would have proven too difficult for me to fight young men, and the murders too messy.”

“You wanted villagers to believe the stories of Dracula rising,” I said, suddenly understanding. “You couldn’t very well stab people and then claim their blood had been dined upon by a strigoi.”

“Legends are meant to inspire fear.” Anastasia stood. “They must be larger than the life we lead in order to maintain their lure for generations. Don’t go into the woods after sunset. We never think of a beautiful princess lurking in the night forest, do we? No. We imagine bloodthirsty demons. Vampires. Night reminds us that we’re also prey. We’re terrified and thrilled by the prospect of being hunted.”

“I still don’t understand one thing, though,” I said, gaze trailing from Nicolae’s limp form to Anastasia’s blood-coated body. “Why murder the maid?”

“That particular murder was homage paid to my ancestor. Now, then. Thomas,” she swung the gun back to my forehead, “end Prince Nicolae’s life now. I have hunted down Dracula’s heir. We may begin fresh. New. We will rise as Prince and Countess Dracula. Reclaim both this castle and your life.”

Tension coiled around the room, a match ready to set this battle ablaze. Thomas took an unsteady step back, focus flicking from Nicolae to the gun now at my head. I did not want him to do something he’d spend the rest of his life regretting. Thomas Cresswell was not Vlad Dracula. His life had not been built upon creating death, but on solving it. He was a light carving through the darkness like a scythe. But I knew he’d destroy himself to save me and not give it a second thought.

“Why involve Thomas?” I blurted. “If you’re the Countess Dracula, why make him kill?”

Anastasia stared at me as if I were the one who no longer made sense. “Thomas is the last male blood relative of the Impaler Lord. It is symbolic to have him end the life of this false prince, reclaim his bloodline, and bring ruin to the academy. No one will want to attend an academy where the students have died gruesomely under mysterious circumstances. Once the academy is no more, we can take it as our rightful home.”

“What of the current king and queen?”

“Have you not been paying attention?” Anastasia demanded. “Arsenic will end their lives, too. I’ll go through each noble household until Thomas’s claim is the only one left. I will succeed in destroying the Order that way, too.”

At that proclamation, two cloaked figures stepped forward. They’d been hidden behind the piles of bones surrounding us. I’d thought I’d lost the ability to be surprised, but I gasped when the taller figure flung its hood back and swept the cloak away from its weapons.

Daciana stood before us, clad in breeches and a tunic, wearing the insignia of the dragon along with more knives than Uncle had scalpels in his laboratory. Thomas flashed her an incredulous yet relieved look and kept the jeweled dagger firmly in his grip.

“There won’t be any more killing tonight, Contesă,” she said with a mock bow, a blade now directed toward Anastasia. “Ileana, please disarm her.”

The second figure removed its hood, and my breathing stilled. My attention snapped to Thomas, unsure if my mind were playing tricks on me. Perhaps I was having an elaborate nightmare and I’d wake soon, sweaty and tangled in my sheets. His sister and Ileana were… realization crashed through me the same instant it did for Thomas.

He met my gaze and shook his head, an expression of absolute wonder etched into his features. There was something oddly satisfying about him missing a piece of the puzzle for once.

Anastasia glanced from Thomas to Daciana and Ileana, confusion giving way to anger. She swung her weapon toward Nicolae’s chest.

“How dare you?” she screamed, staring at Ileana. “I worked everything out, everything! You—a pitiful maid—have no right!”

“Stand down, Anastasia,” Ileana said, in the tone of someone used to giving orders that were followed. “You have două seconds before—”

“I have no need to obey you!” Anastasia thrust herself forward, eyes blazing as she pulled the hammer of the gun back to execute Nicolae. But Ileana was faster. Her sword went directly through Anastasia’s body. I stared, horrified, as she slid down the blade, licking deep red blood from her lips, and laughed.

“Ucis… de… o servitoare,” Anastasia gasped, fresh blood now dripping from her mouth to blend with the red pool on the ground. “A Báthory murdered by a maid. How fitting.”

She laughed again, blood bubbling up her throat. No one attempted to help her while she lay dying, asphyxiating on her own life force. It was too late. Like the man she’d murdered on the train, Wilhelm Aldea, the girl from the village and her husband, and the maid Mariana, there was no bringing her back from Death’s Dominion now.

It was a sight I knew would haunt me, along with the Ripper murders, for the rest of my life.

Order of the Dragon, c. 1400s.

CRYPT

CRIPTĂ

BRAN CASTLE

22 DECEMBER 1888

I stared at the blood slowly dripping from the tip of Ileana’s sword, words stuffed inside my throat, practically choking me. That was the only reason I hadn’t vomited all over Anastasia’s impaled body. My friend. I watched the life leave her eyes and was horrified by the serenity that befell her, though her entire body was covered in the black and red of both dried and fresh blood.

Thomas rubbed his hands along my arms, but it wasn’t enough to take the chill from deep within my soul. Ileana, the girl I knew as my maid, was part of a secret warrior society and had cut a woman down as if she were spearing a chunk of hard cheese. Right before my very eyes. Though Anastasia was hardly innocent in the matter. I knew Ileana had had no choice and yet… I sank against Thomas, too tired to worry about what anyone might think of my lack of decorum.

“Are you all right, Audrey Rose?” Ileana accepted a cloth from Daciana and wiped down her blade, blood streaking across the silver at first before disappearing with the next swipe.

“Of course,” I said automatically.

“All right” was such a relative term. My heart was beating, my body functioning and alive. On the surface I was most certainly all right. It was my mind that wanted to curl up and hibernate from the world and all the harshness within it. I was tired of destruction.

Thomas removed his gaze from Anastasia’s body and shifted it toward his sister. I could see his mind whirling around from one fact to the next. It was a way for him to cope with the devastation, I realized. He needed to work the puzzle out to find his calm center amidst a raging storm.

“How?” he asked.

Daciana knew precisely what he was asking. “When I turned eighteen, I received a partial inheritance from Mother. Some of her possessions—jewels, finery, art—and a bundle of letters. At first the letters were just little bits of her… stories of how she met Father. How much she loved and cherished us. Birthday cards she’d prewritten for me. A note for when I married.” Ileana brushed a tear from Daciana’s cheek. “For a long while, I couldn’t bring myself to read more. Then, one snowy afternoon, we were trapped inside. I took out the letters again and read one. Then flipped through toward the end.”

“And?” Thomas asked. “Please keep the suspense short.”

“Mother told stories of nobles who still believed in the ways of the Order. Who longed for corruption to be eradicated from the governing system. They approached her because of our family ties. Not to become a member herself, but to offer a safe space for them to gather. Do you remember the dragon painting in her chambers?”

Thomas nodded, face grimmer than I’d ever seen it before. I recalled the drawing he’d created on the train, and the story he’d shared about his memory of it.

“It was an honor bestowed upon your family line. And still is,” Ileana said quietly.

“The Order would like you to consider offering your services, Thomas,” Daciana said. “We need honest people who are unafraid of rooting out the corrupt.”

There was an extended moment of silence while Thomas considered this.

“In essence, the Order is simply a vigilante group.” He studied his sister and Ileana. “They are not the law, but believe they may uphold it better than the rulers.”

“No,” Daciana’s eyes widened, “we do not believe that at all! The Order simply means to keep the balance. To quite literally maintain order. Power often corrupts. It is a wise man—or woman—who accepts their role as one part of a whole. We are simply a line of defense. The royal family asked for our help.”

While Thomas peppered his sister with more questions, Ileana inspected me a bit too closely for comfort.

“We’ve all endured a long evening, so I’ll keep this brief,” she interrupted. “I am a high-ranking member of the Ordo Draconum. Our mission has always been to maintain order and peace. Once it was for the Dracula family; now it’s for nobility and commoners alike. Our loyalty is to our country. Which includes all of our people.”

“Ah. I see.” Thomas narrowed his eyes. “So Daciana has always been aware of the title you hold, then?”

Ileana nodded. “She’s kept my secret, and I hope you both will do the same. Very few know of my association with the Order. I am the first female to be invited into their ranks. Daciana is the second.”

“How did you know to infiltrate the castle?” I asked, ignoring the pool of blood at my feet. Part of me wished there was a bag of sawdust to sprinkle about the ground. “I assume you must have been placed here purposely.”

“Yes. Due to the arrival of members of the House of Basarab, I was tasked with infiltrating the staff. After the first murder, in Braşov, the Order felt it necessary to have someone close to the village. I’d also be in a good position to hear rumors going on at the academy. Maids and servants gossip. It seemed like an excellent place to gain information.”