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Theo looked down at the cups suspiciously. He sniffed. “What’s this?” He leaned forward and then gagged. “Bloodmaiden, it smells fucking awful.”

Visha leaned over and grabbed him by the collar. “You’re right, it does. It’s called Fuck-Around-and-Find-Out.”

Theo narrowed his eyes. “Find out?”

“Find out what happens if you don’t drink it,” she clarified. “It’s a special Vaidya brew. You’re lucky the bartender happened to have the ingredients for it.”

“Lucky?” Theo repeated, looking dubious.

I peered at the mug. I could see a raw egg floating near the top. I thought I smelled fish. That was enough for me. “I hope you’re not expecting me to drink the other mug,” I muttered to Visha.

“Nope, that one’s for Theo, too.” Abruptly, she grabbed him, pinched the bridge of his nose and tilted his head back. “Drink up, buttercup.” Then, before he could stop her, she poured half the mug down his throat.

He sputtered, gagging, but had no choice but to swallow. “Fuck, Visha!” he bellowed as he wiped his mouth. “That was—” She did it again. Theo was groaning with his head on the table by the time the mugs were empty. “You’re a terrible friend,” he moaned. “That was the foulest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“I am an incredible friend,” Visha countered sweetly. “And you were being an incredible asshole. You don’t like being an asshole. That’s not who you are.”

He shrugged his shoulders sullenly. “Maybe it is now. Who cares anymore?”

“What’s really going on, Theo?” I asked. “And why weren’t you sitting by Vaughn today at the meeting?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. Whatever Visha had put in those mugs was already working. His eyes were already substantially less bloodshot. “Vaughn?”

“Yes, Vaughn.” I thought I understood. “Is it because of Blake? Because Vaughn was the one who brought the chains?” I glanced at Visha. “I wasn’t pleased about that either. But I understood why he did it. His intentions were good.”

“I understand why he did it, too,” Theo said dully. “And sure, I don’t blame him. But as for Vaughn and me?” He shook his head. “It’s pointless, we’re never going to work. He’s a blightborn. And I’m … I’m a high …” He burped and I smelled fish.

My nose wrinkled.

“You’re an idiot is what you are,” Visha said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, aren’t you a romantic? Love conquers all—isn’t that what they say?”

Theo studied her. Some more of the drunken bravado seemed to drain out of his face. “Love? Can a highblood even feel love?” He looked down at the empty mugs on the table. “You want to hear one of my favorite childhood memories? I was eight, maybe nine. The Drakharrows own an estate up north. The place is like a park, absolutely beautiful—forested land, riding trails, a big hunting lodge. Exclusively for highbloods, of course. We’re the holy, pure-blooded stewards of Sangratha, after all.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “Anyhow, the grown-ups threw a hunt. A festival, really. Horses and banners, servants scurrying everywhere with food and wine.” He stared off into space. “The day of the big hunt, I snuck away from my tutor and climbed a tree to watch.”

I held my breath. Visha didn’t interrupt. She crossed her arms, listening.

“Of course, you already know what I’m going to say,” Theo went on, eyeing her. “Your family was probably the same. They weren’t hunting deer or rabbits. Were they?” He gave a bitter laugh.

My skin started to crawl.

“No, they were hunting a blightborn boy. Not much older than me. They let him run first, gave him a head start. Everyone thought it was hilarious. They drank bloodwine, they placed bets.”

I felt sick.

“He ran into the woods, then they chased him on horseback like it was a sport. I watched him trip on a tree root. Get dragged back by the hair. They circled him like a pack of dogs.”

The café noise faded. All I could hear was Theo’s voice. I was imagining it all in detail as he spoke. The green branches that camouflaged him as he hid. The blightborn boy’s terror as the high-bloods caught him.

“They drank from him,” Theo said flatly. “One after another. Until he passed out. I thought he was dead. But then I watched them gamble over who’d get to keep him as their thrall, so I knew he wasn’t. Maybe he wished he was later. Who can say.”

“Whose?” I whispered in horror. “Whose hunt was it?”

“And that was a good outcome,” Theo added, ignoring me. “The hunts were unsanctioned, but they happened. They might have just killed him. Lots of highblood hunts ended that way. You know they did, Vish.”

“Was this Viktor’s estate?” I prodded.

He didn’t look at me. “The point,” he said, still looking at Visha, “is that Vaughn and I are doomed. You can’t undo centuries of something like that. You can’t fix it with words of love or good intentions.” He gave a bitter laugh. “A plague that infects only highbloods? Now, that’s fucking justice. It’s exactly what we all deserve.”

Visha straightened up. “So that’s it? That’s your excuse for why you were acting like a drunk idiot in a blightborn café, surrounded by the worst trash you could find?”