Page 75 of Queen of Wrath

Nice save, Rowan! Even if the sentiment was oozing with sarcasm.

Kiyan's face twisted, unsure of how to respond. “I… Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly on good terms with him either right now.”

“Oh, great!” she responded before thinking. Then she let out a nervous laugh and released his hand. “Well, it's not great for you…”

I can't watch this carriage wreck anymore.

I grabbed her arm and dragged her away from Kiyan. “What's wrong with you, Rowan? Have you never talked to anyone else other than Akil and me before?”

“I'm sorry if my social skills aren't up to your standards. I didn’t know that Ryklira offered communication classes better than anywhere else,” she snapped back at me in a whisper, but I was still worried about Ravana and Kiyan overhearing her.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. That was one of the things I hadn’t mentioned to the kids.

The last thing I want is for either one of them to look at me like I'm a criminal.

I gritted my teeth as I murmured, “Low blow, Lexie.”

Ravana stepped in front of Kiyan with her arms crossed. The look on her face hinted that what she was about to say wasn’t going to be anything pleasant. “So let me get this straight. You've actually been working with the Department of Potion Regulations to take down Kiyan’s family. At what point did you think it was a good idea to pretend to be his friend in order to use him to get closer to your targets?”

My stomach dropped. A sickening feeling came over me. “Ravana, that isn't at all what happened.”

“You're trying to tell me that from all the research you must have done on the Ransom family, you had no idea Diesel and Omara had a son?”

I’d only found out much later, but there was nothing I could say that would make her believe me. It’d only end up making me look more guilty.

“Guys, stop fighting. This isn't helping anything.” Kiyan got in between us.

“Where is the potion sample we made?” Ravana turned to Kiyan with fire in her eyes. There was a vengefulness inside of her that echoed mine.

I watched in horror as it consumed her.

“Ravana, no,” he warned, but his words fell on deaf ears.

She grabbed a vial from Kiyan’s robe pocket. “That portion I created that was supposed to be for hunger didn't work out, but it did have an adverse effect,” she said as she made her way over to me.

She pulled the cork out of the top of the glass bottle, and threw its contents out on me.

I turned and closed my eyes just in time to protect myself. “What in Lunaira’s name are you doing?”

“What were your real thoughts when you discovered that Kiyan was a Ransom?” Her eyes were as sharp as daggers. Her face morphed into something horrifying. She became General Achlys right in front of my eyes.

A full-body shiver came over me as I backed away.

I was so frightened that it felt like my heart stopped in my chest.

Every breath was filled with ice.

“What is this? Why do you look like her?” My knees became weak as I fell to the ground.

“Answer the question, Emma—if that’s even your real name.” Ravana’s voice fluctuated between hers and the General’s.

“I thought of all the different ways I could use him to destroy his family! I knew there was a possibility that he’d end up getting hurt in the war between us, but I was willing to take that chance. I want to protect him, but I want to destroy the Ransoms more!” The words came bursting out of me, each one feeling like a small blade ripping up the inside of my throat as they passed through.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling tears pouring down my face, and when I opened them again, everything was back to normal. “What did you do to me?”

“It looks like you were wrong, Emma. I can't do anything good with my hands. I can only create horrible things. That potion to cure hunger ended up being a potion for eliciting your worst fears—making it easy to get someone to tell the truth. Glad we know where you stand now.” She threw the empty vial to the floor in front of me and walked out.

I slowly let my eyes find Kiyan, who looked beyond heartbroken. “I'm so sorry… You were never meant to find out like this.”

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