Page 17 of Curse of Darkness
“What he did to you?” Baylor’s head swivels toward Edain.
But neither of them hear him.No. It’s as if the rest of us no longer exist.
The heat drains from my face.
Andraste said Mother wore my face as she killed Lysander every day.
But she didn’t say that my mother held the knife herself.
No. That’s what she had Edain for. He was Mother’s shadow, her assassin, her knife in the dark. If someone needed to die, then he was the one who made sure it happened.
For the first time in my life, Edain lowers his gaze. “The queen made me do many things I didn’t… particularly wish to do. I can’t take the past back, but I can… make amends.”
“You didn’t seem to fight real fucking hard.”
Edain looks up, his hot, insolent glare finding Lysander again. “You knownothingof fighting.”
“Enough.” Is this the best I can offer my sister? A bane who begged to be sent because he can’t stand to be in the same room with me? A stepbrother who spent his entire life killing at my mother’s request? “If the two of you cannot bury your enmity then I will have to find someone else—”
“No.” Edain goes to one knee before me. “No. I will get her back. I swear. I will do anything to get her back.”
I turn to Lysander.
He closes his eyes, but not before I see the feral gleam within them. “I will pay him back, one day. I won’t forget any of it. I promise once. I promise twice. I promise thrice… I will have my vengeance upon him. One day. But for now…” He presses his lips thinly together and bows his head toward me. “I will serve my queen.”
“Good,” Thalia says, sweeping out of the shadows to hug him. “I’m so glad to see you back, Xander.”
He captures her in his arms, pressing his face into her hair. The way he clings to her makes my heart feel heavy again; it’s like he needed this so desperately. Needed to be embraced by a friend.
Thalia’s eyes are wet when she draws back, but she’s smiling. “You know, this whole week has been one long, monstrously shitty experience. It’s about time we got some good news.” Then she turns on me and I see her humor melt away.
Not good news.
“You need to pack,” Baylor tells Lysander, clapping a hand on his shoulder. He always reads the room so well, and right now, it’s telling him Thalia needs to talk to me alone. “A good meal, and then we’ll saddle the horses.”
It has to hurt—sending his brother away the second he returns—but there’s no sign of it on Baylor’s face.
I don’t deserve such loyal friends.
“Edain will need supplies too,” I tell them. “They can leave in the morning.”
Baylor doesn’t so much as twitch a brow. He’s faced enough difficult decisions in his time that he doesn’t let his emotions hold sway. “I’ll organize it.” He tips his head to me. “I’ll organize it all, Vi. You just focus on the rest.”
And then they’re gone, leaving me alone with Thalia.
Both of us grief-stained and stretched thin with duty.
I can’t fail them. No matter how much I want to hide myself in my rooms with Amaya and let the world exist without me.
“What’s the next order of business?” I sink onto the throne I never wanted to sit on.
Thalia claps her hands, and a hovering cloud of demi-fae appear, carrying a platter between them. “You need to eat.”
I stare at the papers on the table. “I’m not hungry.”
“You missed breakfast.”
I blink, trying to think back. Breakfast was a whirl. All I’d been able to think about was the fires….
