Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2)(63)
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the dining hall.
Claudia waited until the noise died down before she spoke again. “There is nothing I can do about the other Families declaring Vance’s death an accident. So we will go to the tournament today, and we will fight, and we will honor Vance the best way we can. Understood?”
This time, the murmurs were much louder, and every single person nodded his or her head in agreement, including me.
“But know this. Someone has killed one of our own, and I will do everything in my power to find this person and make sure that he or she is punished accordingly.” Claudia’s voice rang with steely authority. “I promise it to every person in the Family, just as I promised it to Vance last night.”
Silence fell over the room. No one spoke, and no one moved.
“But until then, we will do our absolute best today, and we will show everyone—everyone—what the Sinclairs are really made of.” Claudia raised her sword high, mimicking the Family crest. “For Vance!”
We all shot to our feet, raised our own swords, and echoed her words. “For Vance!”
And we all meant it—every single Sinclair.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After breakfast, we packed up our gear and went to the fairgrounds.
We got there early, but the stone bleachers were already full, and practically every seat was taken, since this was the last and most popular day of the tournament. I filed into the stadium with the rest of the Sinclairs. Everyone stared at us, with whispers springing up in our wake. Everyone had heard what had happened to Vance, and the other Families were waiting to see how we would react.
Claudia led the way, waving and talking to folks she knew, and acting like nothing was wrong. But she didn’t so much as crack a smile, and anger still burned in her eyes. We all followed her example.
Claudia, Reginald, Mo, and Oscar headed up to the Sinclair box, while Angelo went over to the healers’ tent. Devon, Felix, and I headed toward the chain-link fence to wait for the first match of the day to start. Claudia had arranged for Henry to take Vance’s spot in the tournament, so there were still thirty-two competitors left, and the field would be narrowed to sixteen, then eight, then four. After a break, the action would pick up again this afternoon, and the final four would face off. Once the final match was finished and the winner determined, the tournament would wrap up, and a barbecue dinner and after-party would be held at the lake, just like it had been last night.
Devon, Felix, and I walked past Katia, who was standing with the Volkov guards who were still in the tournament. Katia smiled at me, then deliberately sniffed and turned her back to Felix. Couldn’t blame her for that. I’d seen how much she cared about him, so I knew how much he had hurt her, even though he hadn’t meant to.
Felix winced, but there was nothing he could do or say to make things better with Katia.
Poppy was waiting for us at the fence, and she rushed over the second she saw us. “You guys! I’m so sorry about Vance!”
Devon accepted her condolences on behalf of the Sinclairs. Poppy looked like she wanted to say more, but she realized that we didn’t want to talk about it. So she hugged us all, then went back over to the Ito guards.
Several folks from the other Families also came up and offered their sympathies. Devon nodded and spoke graciously to all of them. So did Felix. But I didn’t talk to anyone. I was too busy staring into their eyes and using my soulsight, trying to figure out which one of them might have killed Vance. But everyone radiated genuine shock and sorrow, instead of secret satisfaction. Nobody that I looked at had anything to do with Vance’s murder.
Blake and Deah were the last ones to come over to us, with Blake swaggering out front and Deah behind him.
Blake stopped in front of Devon. “I’m supposed to come over here and say how sorry I am about Vance and blah, blah, blah. So there you go.”
Devon’s hands curled into fists as though he wanted to punch Blake in the face. “Wow. Thanks for the sympathy.”
Blake snorted. “Whatever. If you ask me, Vance was an idiot for going that far back in the woods. He got what he deserved.”
I stared into his eyes. His brown gaze was cold as usual, but I didn’t feel that certain smugness that would tell me Blake’s words had some deadly, hidden meaning. He might be a grade A jerk, but Blake wasn’t the person who had killed Vance.
But if he hadn’t, who had?
Devon’s hands clenched together even tighter, his knuckles cracking from the pressure, and he took a step forward as though he was going to give in to his urge to punch Blake. But Deah sidled in between them.
“We really are sorry about Vance,” she said. “I didn’t know him, but nobody deserves what he went through.”
Sincerity and sympathy filled her face, and her genuine words were enough to get Devon to loosen his fists.
“Thanks, Deah,” he said. “Good luck today.”
She nodded. “You too. Let’s go, Blake. We need to get ready for our matches.”
Blake sneered at us again, but he let Deah lead him back over to the rest of the Draconis.
Devon waited until they were out of earshot before he turned to me. “Did you see anything when you looked at him?”
I sighed. “Unfortunately, no. I hate to say this, but I don’t think Blake had anything to do with Vance’s murder. Neither has anyone else who’s come up to us today.”