“According to our sources, they’ve gone to ground,” Jude answers, not seeming to think it’s a strange thing to ask. “Given the circumstances surrounding the factory’s collapse, and the way vampire activity in Fulton Heights has plummeted since the confrontation in Colgate Woods, they’ve realized that the Ascension was thwarted. Plus, they left behind multiple bodies with forged identities, which the authorities are still trying to investigate. They’ll lie low for a while.”

“And the Order of the Northern Wolf was completely destroyed,” I note. “The Syndicate must be in a pretty good mood.”

Jude takes a moment, producing a cigarette and lighting it up, watching the smoke from his exhalation catch the sunlight. “Actually? Things are pretty … tense in the Carpathians just now. The Syndicate is about as close to dissolving as it’s ever been.” He meets my gaze with a wry smile. “It turns out one of the Syndics was … keeping a few crucial secrets from the rest of us.”

“Oh?” I do my best to look surprised, but I remember the disloyal enforcers in the clearing—and Viviane’s words ring in my ears: There’s not a chance in hell that Azazel never revealed himself to a vampire with Syndicate lineage at some point.

“It’s a long story.” Jude turns his gaze to the treetops, their branches studded with burgeoning leaves. “Let’s just say that someone with a lot of influence had good reason to believe the prophecies, but decided to withhold the information, because he was expecting to be held in the Corrupter’s favor after the Ascension.” He picks a fleck of tobacco from his bottom lip—and I try not to think too much about what that bottom lip feels like. “I was expected to bring you back to Transylvania … and if I failed, this particular Syndic had a plan to smuggle you out under my nose so he could reap glory in a changed world.”

I reach up to adjust my glasses—forgetting that I still don’t wear them anymore—and move my hand to Gunnar’s necklace instead. “So I guess they’ve changed their official stance on the existence of the Corrupter, huh?”

“Oh no, not at all.” Jude lifts his brows. “Some of the Syndics are more committed than ever to insisting it’s all a myth—the last thing they want is to encourage future Rasputins.” Flicking ash off his cigarette, his expression clouding, he adds, “As for the rest of them … well, that’s part of why I need to go back. A lot of decisions have to be made.”

He falls silent, and the air between us hums with unsaid words. When I can’t take it anymore, I ask, “Have you heard anything about … the League of the Dark Star?”