Page 116 of The Enemy's Daughter

“Isadora?”

I startle at my mother’s voice and crack an eye open. It’s the only one that works.

“Don’t move.”

Not a problem. I can’t.

“You’re safe.”

I exhale the wordhow. Because I shouldn’t be. Nothing is making sense. And... am I lying on a block of ice?

Through the sliver of my open eyelid, I see her smile. It spreads across her face, leaving deep indents in her cheeks and tears shiningin her eyes. Her hand grips my ice-cold fingers tightly. “You’re in a cave a half-mile north of Cohdor.”

Okay. I somehow survived, but now my arms are branches that don’t bend, and my head feels like it’s buried in sand. It’s even difficult to take a deep breath, which is terrifying. Did the poison paralyze me?

I can see there are candles. A small fire. And yes, the rock walls of a cave—which explains why it’s cold. I look down as much as I can and see I’m still in my wedding dress with a blanket draped over me. How much time has passed?

The sharp edges of Vador’s face appear above me. “Hi,” he says.

Even if my mouthcouldmove, I’m so shocked I’m not sure I’d know how to use it.

“Where to begin?” He clears his throat, then rubs at the cliff of his jaw. “I’ve never been much for talking, so how about I just give it to you straight? Your mother tracked down one of our spies late this morning, who brought her to me in the forest. We negotiated a trade—information on where to find Tristan and Henshaw in exchange for faking your death at your wedding.”

What?

“After you were poisoned the first time, Tristan asked Samuel to change the poison on most of his arrows to a paralytic called prickle posy. I believe you’re familiar with it.”

The memory of suggesting this to Tristan comes back to me. We were lying on his bed side by side after I took back some of the poison from him. I was half joking.

“Your mother confirmed that if we shot you with it in a nonvital place, you would appear dead within minutes. Even your chest would seem to have stopped moving.”

The sensations I felt this timeweredifferent. Less painful. Mostly a loss of feeling, a hollowing out of each part of my body until I couldn’t move.

“Though,” he says, and his eyes become troubled, “when you stabbed yourself with the second arrow, you very nearly died for real. Once we realized what you had done, we released Tristan so he could take onsomeof that load.”

They held him back so he couldn’t spoil the ruse.

“In the end, our plan was successful. Everyone, including your betrothed, thinks you’re dead. Nobody is going to come looking for you. The paralytic will work itself out of your system within hours, at most a day. Then you’re free.”

Free.

Shock reverberates through me at what this means. I’m free of Hanook. Free of a betrothal to Liam. Free of any responsibility or duty to the clans. But—“Tris-s-s-s...” I can’t get it out.

“He’s fine. He didn’t get as much as you because you passed out quite quickly. But it was enough. He saved your life. Again.”

Then why isn’t he here? Anxiety creeps over me, becoming like an itch I can’t scratch. Is he upset with me? He has every right to be. Once again, I took my life into my own hands and nearly died while he was forced to watch. I reach for the connection, praying for it to stir inside me, but there’s nothing there but a steel ball of fear in my gut.

Perfect. I’m finally free to be with who I want, but my actions have only hurt Tristan, possibly pushing him away.

More heartache comes to mind as I remember Father.

Tears sting my eyes as grief for him rumbles through me like a summer storm. I thought I hated him. I thought I wanted himruined. Taken down. But now that he’s gone, it hurts. He died trying to save me from Gerald.

The man he almost gave me away to. Twice.

My heart squeezes painfully at the memory of being used by him to serve his own selfish purposes. It doesn’t stop the sadness over his death. It adds to it. Tangles it into a messy knot. Will my love for the man who gave me life ever not be complicated?

Vador eyes the entrance to the cave. “I need to get going. I don’t want to test your new Saraf’s patience by being caught on clan land.”

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