Blackhearted Betrayal Read Online Free PDF

knew, no such war had been declared.
     
    Surely we would have
heard
if a formal declaration had been …
     
    That thought faded when reality intruded. In all the millennia the Sisterhood had policed the arcane races, one thing had always held true: The Sisterhood stood united against the other species. Never once had we devolved into warring among ourselves, not to the extent that civil war had ever been declared. Even now, when sister fought against sister, would that unspoken rule be broken? No; to the outside world, appearances must be maintained. Formal war would never be declared if that war was waged within. The Sisterhood
would
stand together as far as others were concerned.
     
    Among ourselves, however, battle lines were clearly being drawn.
     
    “M—Marissa?”
     
    That choked comment came from a shaken Cori. She looked like she wanted to open a can of kickass on Durra the way she had before, but at the same time she trusted meto handle things so that she wouldn’t have to. I would
die
before I let her down.
     
    “What assurances do
we
have that the Megaera will keep
her
word?”
     
    Durra shook in Rage, taking the insult toward her superior much worse than the one to herself. Holding on to her temper took visible effort. Finally, she managed to grit her teeth and let out a sharp whistle. Moments later, a half dozen Megaeras strode down the staircase and stopped just behind Durra. Make that five Megaeras and one pissed-off Tisiphone.
     
    Patricia let out a relieved breath when she recognized Laurell. All I could notice was the fact that we were outnumbered, barely, but outnumbered all the same. Especially considering that, in a fight, Cori would be way more hindrance than help.
     
    One of the newcomers held out a ceremonial olive branch, the arcane version of a white flag and far more respected by our kind than its mortal equivalent. That they carried it meant they truly wished us no harm. Betraying its promise of safety would make them oathbreakers in the eyes of the gods and mark them for death—nasty, not-at-all-quick death. The Megaera with the olive branch nudged Laurell, who stalked past Durra without a word and took her place beside Patricia. That Megaera then stepped in front of Mom and went down on one knee. “I stand hostage for the Megaera’s goodwill while you appear before her.”
     
    Mom opened her mouth to make some no-doubt-diplomatic response, but I beat her to the punch. “And who are you to her that we should give a shit?”
     
    The other Megaeras bristled at this outright insult, but Durra hushed them so the branch-bearer couldanswer. “I am the Megaera’s great-aunt and mentor. She will not break her word, and any Megaera who violates her edict shall be executed.”
     
    I blinked, then blinked again. Prime Furies
did
have the right to execute traitors to their classes without trial, but it was a right even more rarely exercised than summoning sisters outside their own classes. The Megaera was playing hardball. This
had
to have something to do with Nan, recently awakened from her twenty-year coma only to jump into a political hotbed, not to mention the Prime Tisiphone refusing to appear before the Conclave. Why else would the Megaera first try to kill me, abduct Cori, and blockade my mother only to seek a conference with those she opposed?
     
    My pulse picked up speed when I realized the Prime Megaera’s offering a reciprocal hostage gave us another bargaining chip to hold over her head should the necessity arise. Each class jealously guarded the identity of its Prime sister to prevent others from tampering with her sovereignty. With the Megaera’s great-aunt as hostage, however, it would be easy to discern the identity of our hostage and work backward to discover the Prime’s identity as well. The Megaera knew this and was making a clear statement. Her desire to speak with us was great and, should treachery arise, it would
not
come about on her end. Of course, by claiming