Nothing—she'd spared Tatiana for nothing.
The heartbreaking reality settled on Lu as she stood beside the madwoman's hospital bed. She'd been so eager to see Tatiana that she'd violated her moral code regarding free will and bewitched the guards to let her inside.
I know the name of the witch who killed him, Tatiana had said before they'd broken the curse.
Lu's father had been dead for years, and while she no longer mourned, she often found herself thinking about him. About the mysterious fire that had taken him. No one had ever given a detailed explanation of what had happened, and there'd conveniently been no body to examine.
Those facts had haunted Lu since the demon-witch had made the proposal. And because Lu couldn't stand the itching curiosity, that hunger for the truth, she'd helped Tatiana get out of the cemetery alive. Despite Nika's displeasure, despite Elliot . . .
And it had all been for nothing.
Tatiana thrashed inside the bed, rattling the belabane-infused chains that coiled around her body. Locks of red hair littered the sheets and floor—from when she'd yanked them out of her own skull.
And now, her hands, though pinned at her sides, were grasping at the air. Spittle flew from her mouth as her eyes widened into watery planets.
"I loved you," she hissed. "I wanted to free you! Why did you try to kill me? What do you want?"
Ever since waking, Tatiana's delirium had grown uncontrollable without the aid of narcotics and restraints. She'd injured several keepers in trying to escape this room, and given the unpredictable nature of her magic, it had been decided that she needed a larger escort before being transported to the Vigil prison.
Lu's heart sank into her stomach as she watched the woman writhe and seize, snarling in a language Lu didn't understand.
Who else might know? she asked herself. Where and how did Tatiana learn of my dad's murder?
Perhaps she could've inquired Emil Kovac, but he'd died in the melee, too. Markos? The thought was terrifying. If Nika's father had kept it a secret, then maybe he'd been trying to spare the Lazarov family from more grief.
Lu met Tatiana's manic gaze. "Just give me a name. That's all I need."
The demon-witch went utterly still and whispered, "Asteroth."
Closing her eyes, Lu took a deep breath. This was pointless. So she slipped out of the infirmary room, bewitching the guards to forget about her visit, and aimlessly walked down the hall.
Her father murdered.
Elliot gone.
Nika unconscious.
Before today, she'd had a mission—break the curse and return home. And now that she was back, now that she was safe again . . .
Throat closing up, eyes burning, Lu sprinted for the nearest exit. She burst through the door, colliding with the cold air and a chorus of crickets. Her heart thundered as she focused on breathing.
Minutes passed before she let herself take in her surroundings. Konstantin Academy was quiet, having been placed on lockdown after recent events. But the night was peaceful, and on the eastern horizon, a strip of gray promised the coming of dawn.
Lu crashed into the wall of the infirmary building and slid down, tucking her knees against her chest. She knew it wasn't wise to sit out here alone. She should have been waiting at Nika's bedside, or heading to the administration building to see if her mother and sister had arrived yet. But she couldn't rally the strength to stand up again, and it felt like she never would. For that was the thing about wars—surviving was the easy part, and what came after was the true battle.
Movement in the periphery snagged Lu's attention. Then a figure stepped around the corner and cleared his throat, the sidewalk lamps lighting up the face of Misha Kovac.
Realizing he must have fled for the same reasons as her, Lu scrambled to her feet and wiped her tears. "Sorry," she muttered. "I'll leave you alone."
She was reaching for the door when he said, "You don't have to go." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "This bench is much more comfortable than the ground, I'm sure."
Lu blinked, then warily joined him around the corner of the building, where two trees rose on either side of the bench, their branches rustling in the soft breeze.
"I'd ask if you're okay," Misha said as they took a seat, "but since I feel like shit, I'm guessing you can't be any better."
Lu frowned. She hadn't even known him for a full day, and she'd already heard him swear more times than she could count. But since Nika believed she sounded like a badgering grandmother whenever she scolded someone for their choice of words, Lu instead said, "Thank you for helping Nika find me."
"Don't bother. I am getting paid for it." She allowed herself a breathy laugh. "Those tears—are they for Elliot?"
Lu twiddled her fingers. "Some of them."
"And the rest?" Her silence, apparently, was answer enough. "I guess that means you saw Tatiana's unfortunate state."
Lu only squinted, wondering how he'd known.
"I heard you tried to save her," he explained. "Is that true?"
Noting the edge to his tone, Lu replied, "I heard that your father was involved with Capello. Is that true?"
It brought a sliver of satisfaction when Misha bristled. "How do you know about that?"
"Jade Ramsay, Nika's roommate, is very good at unearthing secrets." A thought struck Lu then—perhaps Jade would be able to find out the details regarding her father's murder.
"He wasn't corrupt."
Lu met Misha's gray-green gaze. "Sometimes, we idolize the people we love and it turns out they're not who they claim to be."
She wondered what her own father had done to be targeted by a witch. He must have been exploring magic, which only sprung more questions. Had he been the man she always thought him to be? Or was there a side to him that he'd concealed even from his own daughter?
Misha scoffed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Lu turned toward the clusters of buildings sprawling out before them, a piece of the Daemonstri world hidden by forests and mountains. "I know there's nothing anyone can say to make you feel better," she admitted. "I'm not going to waste my energy trying."
Misha huffed a laugh.
"Amused?"
"No—well, yes. Not about the dead dad part, but the fact that you're so . . . practical."
Lu stared at him for a moment. "I never used to be."
"That thing you said, about idolizing the people we love. Are you speaking from experience?"
She was quiet for a long while. So long that Misha began to leave, at which point Lu found herself saying, "When I was little, I thought my dad could do no wrong. But he had secrets, too."
Misha leaned back into the bench. "Nothing brings two people together like daddy issues—which explains a lot about Nika and Ren."
"Ren—as in Romanovich?"
A nod, and then a wince. "I probably wasn't supposed to say anything about that."
Lu cocked an eyebrow. "Tell me."
"Nika and Ren are . . . to be honest, I'm not sure. But he's more than a keeper."
"I see. And what sort of daddy issues does he have?"
"He was abandoned as an infant." Just like Nika. "Ren has spent his whole life being his own father. I suppose that's why he's so grumpy all the time."
Lu laughed. She was so shocked by it that she snapped her mouth shut and gaped at Misha. It felt wrong to find joy in something after all the tragedy of the past twenty-four hours. Misha gave her a small smile, and somehow, she knew he understood.
"Why?" Misha said after a long silence. "That's what I keep asking myself. Why did he do any of it?"
Lu glanced back toward the infirmary, toward Tatiana and all the information now lost with her mind. Then she turned to Misha and said, "We may never know."