Page 14 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

The corner of her mouth tipped up unexpectedly. “Bael said much the same thing.”

Good. At least he hadn’t completely lost his mind. “Then why go?”

“I’ve explained this. If my mother is alive, she is most likely in the north. In any case, I was born there. You are correct that there are dangers in the north, but that’s not all there is.”

I shook my head. “And you seem to forget that I spent a decade in Aftermath. I know perfectly well what hell awaits us there, and I have no desire to return.”

She pressed her lips flat together. “So, you are not coming with us?”

I sat up straighter, so we were nearly eye-level. “Are you asking me to?”

“Would it matter if I did?” she asked, answering my question with a question in a way that would make any of the Fae proud.

For a long moment, I forgot the sound of the room. I could hear nothing but my own heartbeat, and her breathing. I licked my lips. “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps.” She sneered. “Perhapsyou could be doing anything. Just say what you mean, Scion.”

The sound of my name from her lips seemed to resonate through me like a siren song, but I pressed my own lips together, saying nothing, because I could not—could never.

Perhaps if she said she wanted me, I wouldn’t be able to deny her.

Perhaps I’d thrown myself head-long into the plans for taking back the capital, filling every waking hour with work, because I was determined to keep the vow I’d made to Bael in the crumbling tower; resolute in my conviction to avoid Lonnie until he asked otherwise, and never to betray our friendship again over this damned woman.

Perhaps I’d never had a reason to envy my cousin anything, but now I feared I’d grow to hate him because he was the one whom she’d deemed worthy of forgiveness; the one sharing her bed every night and making her late to breakfast.

Perhaps…

“Will you goto Overcast with the rest of your family?” she asked when I remained silent too long.

“No,” I replied, realizing this for the first time myself. Until I’d spoken I had not been certain that I had no intention of going into hiding along with the others, but now that seemed as if it should’ve been obvious all along.

“What, then?” she asked. “Or were you planning to make me keep guessing?”

“I wasn’t planning on anything. You’re the one who sought me out, rebel.”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t avoiding me.”

My lip curled. “Did you ever stop to think about why that might be? What if I don’t want to see you?”

She shook her head, brow furrowed in anger, and stepped back toward the door. “Right, never mind. I don’t know what possessed me to come down here.”

My jaw clenched as I turned my head away, unable to mask the anger boiling within me. Her leather boots thudded against the floor, a constant reminder of her presence and my frustration. But just as she reached the door, I heard her steps falter. My chest tightened, and I bit my tongue to keep from blurting out something I’d surely regret.

She hesitated before speaking, carefully choosing her words. “I know better than to ask a favor, so I won’t ask you to come with us... but I do wish you would offer.”

My head snapped up, caught off guard by her request, and my thoughts scattered when our eyes finally met.

Even though I expected it by now, the searing pain that shot through my body still caught me off guard. It was like wasting away from starvation, every fiber of my being screaming for relief. Like a thousand knives were being driven into me at once, each one piercing deeper, twisting in my gut. The intensity of it left me breathless, my muscles tensed and trembling with the effort of enduring it. How could something as innocent as a glance produce such an excruciating physical response?

I’d made an entire career from pain. I’d defined my immortal existence by it, and learned its intricacies so well that I knew the exact point at which a mind would splinter, unable to handle another moment of agony.

With every glance, she shattered me.

5

LONNIE

THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT

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