“That’s exactly what I mean,” Jude says, getting to his feet as well. “I’m sorry to put it like this, but the most obvious way to protect humankind from the Corrupter is to kill the vessel.” His tone is modulated, careful. “She knew that. If your body dies before he can Ascend, his time on Earth is over for a generation.”

He peters off awkwardly, and the silence between us is made from barbed wire. It’s not like I hadn’t considered this same issue—I even asked Daphne herself about it. But Rasputin intervened before I ever got my answer.

If Daphne and Mr. Strauss were both with the Brotherhood of Perseus, then one of them wasn’t following orders; and if Jude’s telling me the truth, then only my art teacher’s background is confirmed. Meanwhile, I can’t even prove Daphne was who she said she was when I first found out she wasn’t who she said she was. Why would she have protected me, saved my life three times, and finally died so I could escape Rasputin, if she worked for an organization that wanted me dead? And if she didn’t work for them … who was she?

Jude rubs his jaw, stretching out his long, elegant throat, and I stare at it. A few centuries ago, human and terrified, he decided that vampirism was the least of two dire fates—better undead than just dead. My pulse is going berserk, my skin hot and cold at once.

If I die, the Corrupter dies with me … but what if I come back?

“What happens if I Turn?” I ask before I lose my nerve. This isn’t even something I’m sure I want—to live like Jude or Gunnar; to figure out how to break the news to my parents. But I don’t want to die. “We could stop the Ascension, and I wouldn’t have to—”

“No, August.” Jude stares, eyes filled with pity. “I’m sorry, but I … I can’t.”

“Why not?” I’m fighting the urge to scream it.