Page 132 of Forging Darkness

I shake my head. I’m not going to verbally spar with her just for funsies. “I’ll let you get your rest,” I say instead.

Rising, I pad back to the door. I’m about to turn the knob when I glance over my shoulder at Silver. Her gaze is once again fixed on the nothing out the window.

“Do you think you’ll ever forgive Steel for what he did?”

“So he told you then?”

“Yes.”

She makes a sound in her chest that might be a laugh. “If someday someone you love—someone you care about in a way that transcends reason and understanding—betrays you, then you can come and ask me that question and I’ll give you an answer.”

“A simple ‘no’ would have worked as well.”

Her shoulders lift in a shrug. I slip out of Silver’s apartment with a new heaviness in my heart.

* * *

I sneak back into my room and pad to the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me. I fill a paper cup with water. Thorne’s bracelet catches my eye in the mirror’s reflection.

I don’t want Silver’s comments about the piece of jewelry or Thorne to bother me, but they do. Setting the cup of water down on the counter, I slide the gold cuff over my wrist.

I’ll give it to the Council in the morning. It belongs in whatever vault they’re keeping both of the orbs in anyway. I don’t need protection from the Fallen anymore.

My fingers linger on the warm metal as it sits innocently on the counter in front of me. I’m hesitant to part with it, but that’s silly. I release the bracelet, and a small wave of dizziness sweeps over me. I slap my hand against the wall to steady myself. Something thumps in the other room.

“What? Who?” I hear Ash call.

Blinking to clear my thoughts, I catch my reflection and something flashes red in my eyes.

“Emberly, are you in there?” Ash is standing right outside the door.

I step toward the mirror, checking my eyes, but there’s nothing there.

“Emberly?” Ash calls softly again.

Shaking off the feeling of wrongness, I down the cup of water and open the door. I turn off the lights as I slip back into the room.

“Yeah. I just got a little dizzy. I need a good night’s sleep. Sorry I woke you.”

Her head tilts as she regards me.

“You sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”

I smile, hoping the forced levity will calm her down. “I’m always pale. I just need some rest.”

“Yeah, okay. I guess that could be it.” She rubs her eyes, and I pull back the covers of my bed as she climbs back into her own. My wrist feels odd without the bracelet, but I tell myself to ignore it. I just got used to having it there over the last week, that’s all.

Sliding between the sheets, my body is heavy with fatigue. I must be more tired than I thought. My head hits the pillow, and as I drift off, a husky chuckle vibrates in my mind. My brain sparks with concern, but my body doesn’t follow suit. I can’t rouse myself as a heavy weight pulls me under and I’m asleep within moments.

Chapter Forty-Three

The world shakes, and I crack an eyelid.

“—told you I can’t wake her.”

An alarm sounds. An ice pick straight to my brain. I seal my lids again.

“It’s going off again. We need to get her up.” That’s Greyson.

---