“Why would he change my dress?” It seems like a childish prank someone might pull at summer camp.

Unless it’s a threat. I know his secret. This could be a reminder of how easily he can get to me.

I’m a walking funeral compared to everyone else.

The room fills with even more color. Aristelle, Reina, and Diantha appear at my shoulder in their signature colors. Diantha stares a second too long at my dress.

“Roman changed it,” I say. “Green would have been so much better.”

“Figures,” Aristelle mutters. If everyone else is a jewel in a dragon’s lair, Aristelle is the dragon’s fire. Her strapless gown starts out red at the top and then fades in color until it becomes a startling yellow that swirls around her feet.

“We could change it back,” I say.

Diantha smiles. “It’d draw too much attention. Besides, black suits you.”

“Thanks.” I try not to notice Xander cringing beside me.

The room begins to fill even more around us, and we get pressed close to the rosebush in the center of the room until the crowd parts and Lucius strides through. He wears a golden suit embroidered with chaotic black vines. As his eyes scan the crowd, they settle on me for a moment. Our outfits are inverted matches, and now I look like I somehow knew. He gives me the briefest frown before turning away to address the crowd. “We all make sacrifices to keep ourselves safe, but more important, to keep the world safe from the curse Numerius triggered so long before. Today, we sacrifice even more to keep our stronghold safe. Because without this place, without me, we are nothing. Vampires will drain every last drop of magician blood, or worse: imprison us so we’re nothing more than blood bags, heightening their power until nobody can stand against them.” His voice is almost a snarl. The fierceness in his face and the bitterness in his eyes make me lean forward. Other magicians murmur their agreement. Some clap. There’s an energy in the crowd that’s its own kind of power. People believe him.

I can’t help but look at Roman. He’s already looking at me, wondering, I think, if this little speech will draw me in just as certainly as it’s drawing in everyone else. Well, almost everyone. Some people look decidedly grim. I catch sight of Julia with her arms folded across her chest. She doesn’t buy it.