Just like that, it’s over. The others drift away. I follow, trying not to stare at my feet and the red veins that run under the golden floor. Are there more of them now? Is this why Mom ran? Did she leave this place and take her chances with the vampires out in the world because this very mansion was a leech?

I’m through the next round. I’ve proven myself, and now I need answers. I whip back around before I can stop myself. “What happened to the others?”

Lucius turns to me, regarding me with eyes that would make me shiver if I hadn’t just cut a girl in half. “They did not have what it takes.” His words are slow and pointed.

“Obviously. But what happened to them? Where did they go?”

A smile creeps across his face with the deceptive patience of an adult who’s tired of questions from a kid who’s not even theirs. I’ve seen the look before. I’ve pushed that look to its breaking point one too many times and paid for it. My hands shake, but I clench my fingers into my palms.

He leans toward me. “They go home, little girl. You will go home with the barest sliver of the power you’ve developed a taste for and no memory of what it’s like to have more. Maybe one day you’ll feel the buzz of magic under your skin, but you won’t understand it. You’ll brush it away and go on with your inconsequential life.”

I flinch. I love the power, but I could live without it if I got to keep my troupe—my new family. But I won’t remember them either.

I shake myself. He wants to push me over the edge. He wants me to drop this conversation and move on. But I’m not good at doing what those in a position of power want—never have been.

It’s my turn to lean forward. “I saw the house eat a dying boy today. What about him?”

Lucius backs away from me and laughs. “Illusions, my child. Hasn’t your troupe taught you that everything is an illusion?” His eyes slide behind me. I realize for the first time that the entire hall is silent. “Perhaps I should speak to them about their choices.” A threat sits coldly in his words, just waiting to be released.

I don’t dare turn around to see my troupe’s faces, but their fear presses at my back, so I step away from him. I shake my head, dropping my eyes slightly.

For them, I will obey. I will not ask any more questions. At least not to him.

He turns from me without a second look, satisfied he broke me into submission.

I am good at pretending. I hunch over and scurry back to my troupe like a scared mouse.