“Desperately.”

“You,” I hissed. “You’re the problem. It’s because of you that I do not have a closest friend. She’s dead, and you killed her.”

He stared at me for several long seconds, and I could practically see the calculation taking place behind his eyes. Perhaps he was running through all the women he’d killed, wondering which might have been a friend of mine. Finally, understanding dawned on his face. “Your sister.”

“Rosey,” I snapped. “At least say her name when you speak of murdering her.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t kill Rosey. You know that, but still you can say so without suffering the pain of lying. How is that possible?”

I shook my head. How was I supposed to know how magic worked? I only knew that I believed, with every fiber of my being, that if it were not for the male in front of me that my sister would still be alive. He might not have wielded the sword, but he killed her. It was as simple as that.

“Tell me what happened to her,” I demanded. “How did she know you? What was she doing in the rebel army in the first place? Why did she have to die?”

My voice cracked on the last word, and I looked down, hiding the tears that had sprung, unbidden, to my eyes.

“I’ll tell you,” he said tonelessly. “But I do not think it will bring you any comfort. You may hurt less not knowing.”

I scoffed. It was impossible for this to hurt more than it already did. “Tell me.”

“Fine.” He sighed. “Some three years ago, now, your sister approached one of my men in the capital.”

“She wouldn’t do that without some reason,” I insisted. “She wasn’t the type to break rules, let alone try to overthrow a kingdom.”

“Shehada reason,” he said patiently. “You must know she dreamed of the future.”

I sneered. “An ability you gave her, I assume.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Not at all. it’s impossible to share powers like that.”

My brow furrowed. “No it isn’t, I’ve seen it.”

I’d certainly seen Bael use my magic before, and even once, I was fairly sure I’d used his. Hell, if I’d had any idea how, and hadn’t been drugged, I might be able to use Scion’s powers right now. Ambrose was a Fae prince, he had to know more about magic than I did. Except, he was staring at me right now like he had no idea what I was talking about.

His brow wrinkled. “Well, if it is possible, that’s certainly not what happened to your sister. Rosey was probably a marginally-gifted seer because it’s the most common trait to be mixed into human blood. It could have passed from either one of your parents, and had little to do with your own magic. A lot of my rebels have some vague prophetic ability, but nothing like mine.”

But nothing like mine.How arrogant. I snorted a laugh. “So, you’re special then?”

“Yes,” he replied without a hint of remorse or embarrassment. “Your sister was not particularly gifted, but she did have one very specific ability that made her useful.”

“Which was?”

“She could see herself. I don’t know why, I’ve never met another seer who could have visions of their own future, but she did. She was good enough to see some of the most significant paths that the future might take, and to want to stop them, especially when it came to those she was close to.”

“Like what?”

“Like you joining the rebellion.”

There was a long, charged pause, in which I waited for him to continue, or perhaps jerk in pain as the heat of his lie burned his throat, but he didn’t. Finally, I shook my head and leaned forward. “You mean she saw herself joining the rebellion?”

“No, I mean she sawyou.”

“I wouldn’t,” I hissed. “I would never.”

He laughed. “Perhaps not now, but what about two years ago? I’ve watched you for years, and I know what you were like before all this.”

“What was I like?” I snapped, angrily. “Tell me, since clearly you think I don’t know myself.”

“Angry, rebellious, full of hatred toward all Fae, and the royal family especially. Do you not think it’s possible that you would have found your way to me, if my cousin and my brother had never found you in the forest? Or, perhaps, even later, if you’d found me when you spent nights sneaking out of the palace to search?”