Page 19 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

Zylah turned away as he pulled off his shirt, unfastening her cloak and sword belt. “I missed Finn’s reason about the townsfolk.”

Water sloshed as he stepped in, and she shrugged off her trousers and tunic, resting them on top of her apron and her other belongings. Holt had seen her in her undergarments enough times, back when they shared a room in Virian, and tradition or not, she wasn’t about to strip any further.

His back was turned as she stepped into the pool, and she closed her eyes as the warmth and the weightlessness eased the ache in her back.

She felt a ripple of power, from the water or Holt, she wasn’t sure. When she opened her eyes, Holt was watching her, his hair dripping wet, steam rising from his shoulders, and she willed her gaze not to lower.

He inched closer as if he couldn’t help himself, and then paused. “He said some come to offer tributes, to have their wounded healed by magic.”

“And do the Fae here comply?” she asked, taking a step back, for fear that if she didn’t, she’d take a step closer to him.

Holt shrugged, water beading off his sculpted chest and along the scar that ran from his arm to his neck. “I suppose we’ll find out when we go inside.” He turned away again, offering her some privacy.

Zylah closed her eyes, relishing the roar of the waterfall behind them as she held out a hand in the water.

“What are you doing?” Holt asked quietly.

“I wanted to see if I could feel the spell, like I can feel wards.” She kept her eyes closed, but she felt the swell of the water as he moved closer to her.

“Spells and wards are different to our magic.”

Water sloshed as he spoke, and she wondered if he’d done it so she knew he was near.

“I wouldn’t know,” she murmured, eyes flicking open to meet his.

He moved around her in the water, just out of reach of her hand. “You can heal. You can evanesce. Those are rare gifts. Most Fae have abilities rooted in nature, the elements.” Like his, or what she’d witnessed. He reached for her upturned hand beneath the water and lifted it above the surface in his own.

Beads of water danced above Zylah’s open palm, and she sucked in a breath. “Tell me how you did that.”

“It’s the same feeling as the evanescing or the healing.” He turned her hand, and a stream of water danced around it. “I call to it, and it follows.”

Her gaze shifted from her hand to his face, to the way he was concentrating, the way the water dripped off his hair, and for a moment the roaring in her head silenced. Then his eyes found hers, and she saw herself reflected in them. Zylah tugged her hand away, sinking her shoulders beneath the surface, her gaze fixed on the waterfall as the dark thoughts rushed back in.

She wrapped her arms around herself and suppressed a shiver.

“We should get going,” Holt said quietly. “The High Lady of this court can be… difficult.” In the back of her mind, it sounded almost like an apology, but the words were distant as she stared into the water rippling away from her.

What if they knew? The Fae who waited beyond the waterfall. What if they saw her for what she truly was?Murderer. Monster. Curse.

Holt held out her robe as she stepped out of the water, and she couldn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t understand how he could bear to look at her.

She fastened the robe and secured her sword belt over the top of it—because Holt might not need a weapon, but she did—and scooped up her bundle of belongings.

For a moment, Zylah felt like that old, human version of herself. Running from the king’s men, afraid and alone.

Only she wasn’t alone now. Holt glanced back over his shoulder, throwing her a reassuring smile as he followed Kopi behind the waterfall, spray misting the air.

Zylah silenced every thought, snuffing them out until the roar of the waterfall filled every hollow space inside her chest, following her friends into the dark.

Chapter Seven

Itwasn’tthefirstFae party Zylah had attended, but it might as well have been for what a spectacle it was. The moment they passed under the waterfall, Zylah felt the wards bend and flex around her, pressing at her skin before they released.

The sound of the water had soon been drowned out by music, the darkness giving way to glittering orblights illuminating the way. Zylah had insisted they put their clothes back on, no matter the tradition, but felt thoroughly underdressed the moment they stepped out of the passage beneath the waterfall.

“Seven g—” The old words fell mute on her tongue. Nothing would mark her as different here more than exclaiming to the gods who were not gods.

She stopped to take it all in, Kopi perched on her shoulder, her robe thrown over her arm. She registered Holt’s silence beside her, surprise flickering across his face for a moment before he shut it down. Though they’d walked behind a waterfall, they stood before other waterfalls cascading into each other, rock pools flowing from one to the next with stepping stones between them. More passages like the one they’d come from seemed to branch off from the rock, Fae passing in and out of them and paying no heed to Holt and Zylah.

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