Page 175 of A Liar's Twisted Tongue

You do me a favor, Lucian Aibek. Fighting you was against my duties.

Wendy is looking at me with disgust. Then she looks at the rift. Not with shock or surprise, but malice. I step away from it and put up my hands.

I need a weapon.

Another damned branch flies right for my chest with enough force to punch my heart out. I drop to the floor and roll out of the way of another growing tree before I jump to my feet.

A sliver of a shadow shows itself, and in seconds I lift it and wrap it around Wendy’s throat as tight as I can. The next one around a branch that comes for my head, and another around her hands.

“I’m not a part of anything,” I barely manage to say as I catch my breath. “I don’t want to hurt you. But touch Desdemona, and I will kill you.”

* * *

Yuki’s waiting in my room when I get back. A pile of clothes taller than him sits on my bed. His shoulders and mouth sags and his head hangs lower. “Your parents sent these,” he says. “For the Collianth.”

I rub my temples. “Get out.”

There’s a crater in the middle of the mastick that Wendy can’t close. A moonaro that wanted to save me. A prophecy that Wendy swears will be the end of everything. A girl who for four months has been on my mind every day—from fantasizing about kissing her to killing her.

And a brother who, no matter what I do now, will always be dead.

“What? Luc?—”

“Get. Out.” My shadows flare, and he gets up.

Once he’s relieved me of his presence, I sit next to the insanity of what must be twenty different suits.

For the Collianth.

Chapter 36

Pot Meets Kettle

DESDEMONA

The Nepenthe are bloodthirsty monsters. Give them a position where they can be granted their blood from our least desirable groups. You will keep them happy while making the groups who will be doing our fighting hate them. It’s the easiest way to extinguish such a poor waste of life without dirtying your own hands.

– THE STUDY OF NATURE AND CORENTHS BY JJ ARIST (UNPUBLISHED)

It takes Leiholan three days of gaining consciousness momentarily, chugging his vesi, and going back to sleep before he truly wakes up. I throw myself on top of him, hugging him as tight as I can and trying not to cry into his shoulder.

Is this our routine? Will I emotionally stumble to him every time I further prove myself as a murderer?

“Am I missing something?” he mumbles groggily.

“Just your leg,” I whisper.

I’m pleasantly surprised when he laughs a little and hugs me back. “It was due in time. Most of us soldiers didn’t make it out with all our limbs.”

I stiffen, and I know he can tell because his hands flatten on my back. I press myself up, thinking that this isn’t how I wanted it to go. “You killed Folk?”

He groans. “You already know I did, Desdemona.” He scratches his overgrown beard. “I don’t want to talk about this?—”

“I’ll listen,” I tell him, locking my eyes on his. “I’ll hear you.” He groans and I say, “Maybe I was wrong. Because you’re the person I care about more than anyone in this academy.”

I think of Portricia, her split tongue and kind nature. Gingerly wrapping my body in golds and blues. That’s not what a merciless killer does.

Besides, I’ve killed Folk too. It feels like I’ve killed every kind of creature under our sun. Maybe I’m the merciless killer of this duo. Because he jumped in front of that creature to save me. Someone he doesn’t even like.

---