Page 114 of Skyshade
Her blood went cold, remembering the prophecy. But he didn’t know about that...not unless Azul told him, which she didn’t believe.
His words sunk in. “What do you mean kill you too?”
His gaze was sharp as his knife. “Do you really think I don’t know?”
“Know what?”
His voice shook with anger. “You murdered the entire coastal guard. Twenty warriors.”
She frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
Isla knew how unbelievable that was. She had killed innocents before. He had watched her lose control. She had told him about how many people she had killed, to get him to hate her.
But she didn’t need to convince him.
Oro blinked as he realized she was telling the truth. “They...they saw you. Witnesses saw you.”
Dread curled in her stomach. No. Lark couldn’t be here that quickly. It was impossible. She had seen her, just hours before, across the world.
She told him about Lark and her attack.
His expression turned to stone, melting into his familiar seriousness, but he was not wholly shocked. Of course he wasn’t.
Her voice trembled. “You always said you didn’t lie to me, but omitting the truth, what is that? Isn’t that a lie?” She could feel power radiating out of her, Starling energy gathering in her fists, along with her anger. “You knew about Lark. You knew I had family. You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
Oro’s gaze softened, just barely, a flame dimming. “Isla—”
“You were afraid I would seek her out, weren’t you? Wake her?” Maybe she would have. She didn’t know. The promise of family might have made her foolish. Still, he had kept it from her, and it hurt. She shook her head. It didn’t matter now. She was awake, and somehow had already gotten to Lightlark.
She had less time than she thought.
“There’s a deadly portal on Nightshade. I’m going to banish her through it; but to do that, I need to get past those gates.”
Oro studied her for moments, in silence. Weighing her words. Sensing the truth in them. Finally, he eyed her discarded battering ram. “That wouldn’t have worked.”
“Why?”
He walked toward the gates. “Because only my bloodline can open the gates.”
She wondered if that extended to her because he loved her. The augur would know. Seeming to sense her thoughts, he looked away and nodded. “Yes. Should you have done it correctly, they would have opened.”
“What is the right way?”
He ignored her question. Instead, he said, “If I let you through, I’m going with you.” She had figured as much. She didn’t pretend he trusted her for a second. His throat worked. “Lark is all our problem now. Especially if she’s here.”
She didn’t want him to go with her. Any time near him was torture. Any feelings she had tried to bury were now rising in full force.
But they were on his isle. Perhaps he could help her get the pages she needed.
“Fine.”
“You should know, there’s a reason only my bloodline is allowed inside.”
“Why?”
“Apart from holding our greatest enchantments...it has some of our harshest temperatures. Even Sunlings could die in the heat.”
“And...power can’t be used on the other side?”
