Page 16 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

Her answer comes so swiftly that I feel like a crow smacked me in the face. Scrambling, I scoff, “What, there aren’t enough bedtime stories in Sorsha Hall’s library?”

“I’m not after a bedtime story.” Her cheeks flush as she smooths back the dark curls framing her face. She drops her voice. “I’m looking for a book Sabine was searching for.”

I step back in surprise.

Lady Suri closes the cottage door behind her and says quickly, “Before Lord Berolt’s passing, Sabine came to me for help. I wasn’t watched as closely as she was, so she thought I had a better chance of searching unnoticed.” She hugs her arms against the cold of my cottage. “She was after a one-of-a-kind set of volumes written after the First Return. She found the first volume in Sorsha Hall—apparently, it explained how the fae gods were awakened. But the second volume was missing.”

Suri glances toward the window as if the storm outside unnerves her. “Supposedly, that one reveals how humans two thousand years ago put the faebackto sleep.”

My eyebrow arches. Back to sleep? In the thousand years since the fae last walked the earth, people have spread all kinds of hair-brained lore. But not even the most far-fetched tales I’ve heard implied that humans could exert any power over the gods.

I grab a pair of socks to stuff in my knapsack.

Suri twiddles her thumbs anxiously. “Have you changed your mind about searching for Sabine?”

My hand freezes at the sound of the name. My knuckles go white without me even realizing it, as my heart pounds so damn hard it rivals the driving rain. I hesitate, thinking back on what little I remember of last night’s dream. Of my mystery woman. No—of Rian’s former fiancée.

I turn sharply back to my belongings on the bed. I shove the socks into the front pocket of my knapsack. “Sorry, Lady Suri, but you nailed it when you called me a bastard. I don’tknowher. And from what I hear, she’s a traitor to the realm.”

“For all that is holy! Wolf, you can’t actually believe that!” She throws her hands in the air. “Do you truly remember nothing?”

A muscle ticks in my jaw.

Sabine, I remind myself before the name slips away again.Sabine. Sabine.

“Nope.”

Suri’s brow wrinkles as her sympathetic nature bleeds through, and she says more softly, “She loved you. And you loved her. They wrote ballads about the two of you. A week ago, if she’d been taken, you would have scoured the earth from here to hell to bring her back. You’re a master tracker!”

“I don’tknowher!”

The force of my shout startles even me. Suri’s eyes somehow go even rounder, the velvet brown irises reflecting back my face like two silver mirrors. I scrub a hand on the back of my neck, pacing in front of the bed as my blood surges.

Sabine, I repeat in my head.Remember her name, you bastard.

Once my temper cools, I grip the bedrail, hair curtaining my face like a confessional.

Quietly, I mutter, “You don’t understand, Lady Suri. When Iyre took my memory of Sabine, she tookeverything. I don’t remember what she looks like. Hell, I couldn’t even remember her name until you said it just now. I know nothing about her habits, her movements, her associates. I have nothing to go off. I can’t track a shadow.”

Suri’s lips press together as she watches me, and I can’t fathom what must be going through her head.

After a moment, she bites gently on her bottom lip. “There’s the story of Immortal Iyre’s Memory Bottles. If Iyre put your memories in one of her bottles, then you could get them back?—”

“None of those old stories are true,” I mutter dismissively.

“You don’t know that.”

I keep my jaw tight as I continue to pack my bag.

A stretch of silence follows, and then she reaches into the inner pocket of her cloak. “I worried that Rian might pour poison in your ear about her, so I brought you something. To remind you of her. This belonged to Charlin.”

She takes out an envelope. It’s yellowed around the edges.

She continues, “Iyre stole your memories, but not even a goddess can strip away every last thing.” She pauses. “She lives in more than memories.”

I glance sidelong at the envelope, swallowing.

I’ll give Suri credit. I’ve had my walls up since the beginning of our conversation, but she seems determined to break them down. Poor girl—she doesn’t realize that she’s poking a beast with iron-thick skin.

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