Page 86 of Fractured
Every word he said was like a knife straight through my gut. “Rune’s father.”
“Rune Kalygorn—the killer,” said Vair, and this time I moved. I sat up, lowered my legs, looked him in the eye.
“Runedid notkill the queen.”
I could have slapped the shit out of Vair, and he’d have probably looked less surprised. “He did. The Midnight King said?—”
“Yes, the Midnight King—that guywho went to the queen and took over the Frozen Court—that guywho had everything to gain from her death. That guy blamed a six-year-old boy, Vair.” My voice had changed. My blood was suddenly boiling—I wasn’t weak at all.
It was all mental, which I already knew, but damn. Sometimes my own body took me by surprise.
“But the prophecy,” was what he whispered.
“I don’t care about the prophecy—Rune didn’t do it. He was six years old—but more than that. He saved my life, Vair. He came after the same guy who was planning tokill mebefore he took me to heal the prince, and he saved me. Took care of me. He’s the reason why I’m still here. Can you explainthatwith your prophecy?”
“Then…who?” the lynx said, still as confused as he looked at the ground. “Who killed her?”
“The Seer of Shadows,” I whispered. “That’s what the Chronicler said—the Seer of Shadows knows who killed the queen, and once we know that…” My voice trailed off.
A battle raged in my head—my own self against me.
“We will be one step closer to the truth,” Vair finished for me, and goose bumps rose on my arms.
I looked around, so lost so suddenly it felt like I was seeing the darkness for the first time. That tree—how is it possible?!—and that thick cloud, the dead woods behind us…
Yes,lostwas the accurate word.
“What is it, Nilah?” Vair asked, coming closer until I felt the heat of his body radiating against my arm. “Tell me—what is it?”
“This,” I said, waving my hands around, though I wasn’t even sure which parts ofthisI meant. Just this whole thing—Lyall and Verenthia, Rune and the queen—it was too much. “I was just told by a…creaturewho switched a million faces right in front of my eyes that I am a vessel.Just a vessel for half the soul of a fae queen—which is really just hilarious, but do I want to knowmore?” I didn’t. I reallydidn’t want to know anymore. My curiosity could go fuck itself—I didn’t want to know.
“But youmust,” said Vair—exactly what I feared he would say. “You must know why she did this. I feel…” Again, he looked at me but didn’t actually see me, lost in his own head. “I feel it is important, Nilah. It isveryimportant to know why.”
“But I know enough,” I said, my voice breaking. “I know enough—I can live with being told that I am a vessel. Not mortal.Nota human being, as I was born—that’s fine.” Though it wasn’t fine at all because I had no idea what beinga vesselactually meant, but for now, I was okay. I was chockful of new information and I didn’t want any more.
“You don’t know the most important thing—thereason,” Vair said, and I found I could actually stand up now. Must have been this crazy need to get the hell away, to try to run—from the truth, too. As if it was just going to find me sitting here in this dead land. As if I wouldn’t have to do all the work to get to it instead.
But I was standing. My legs were weak, but they held me. I was breathing. I could see clearly.
I could go back.
So, I did.
Vair didn’t stop me. When I slipped between the trees and into the forest through which we’d come, he followed me and said, “Think about it, Nilah,” and I wasn’t going to. “Think about it—if it wasn’t Rune and you are certain, maybe…maybe when we knowwhoit was, Rune could be free. His banishment revoked. His traitor’s mark erased completely.”
And that is how the asshole basically won.
Stopping in my tracks, I closed my eyes and fistedmy hands, and I was so frustrated so suddenly I wasthisclose to screaming my guts out to the world.
“That isnot fair,”I said through gritted teeth instead.
“I didn’t say it was.” Vair stopped in front of me, sat on his hind legs and moved his fluffy tail to the sides as he looked up at me. So damn innocent looking—and he was glowing, too. He fucking glowed in the dark, yet that tongue of his…
And withmy own voice.Go figure.
“You need the truth. Without it, you will not be free. Whatever you choose to do, whatever it is that you think matters—it won’t when you get to it. You will have no choice but to go back.”
His every word rang true.
