Page 8 of Acedia

Why was he being so kind to me? I didn’t know what to make of it.

“I can do it—” I began, moving to stand.

“I didn’t think you couldn’t, I was just wondering if you’d like me to. I’m over here by the sliding door anyway.”

“Oh okay. Then, yes, please. Tilly, outside.”

She immediately trotted away as the door slid opened, which meant she’d probably been waiting to go out since she didn’t move very promptly otherwise. I finished my food, huddling in a little closer on myself as the cool breeze blew in from outside.

“Shit, Mom’s calling. I better take this,” Travis said, his footsteps heading toward the yard.

Lucas cleared his throat, and I realized that I was alone in a room with a man I’d never met.

“So, you’re their sister. Right?” he asked quietly.

“Did they tell you that?”

“No.”

“Oh.” How could he know then?

“You guys look like triplets,” Lucas added. “You’re like the girl version of them.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” Nana had occasionally mentioned how strong her genes were, but she’d never explicitly stated that the three of us looked alike. I wondered if it was because she knew it would make me sad.

That appeared to be how I was feeling, though I didn’t entirely understand why. Sure, they were my brothers. But they’d hated me since the moment they were old enough to understand what hatred was. They’d been explicitly taught that skill by their parents.

“When Giles married your mother, there were some rumors in the family about how she’d had a baby from her first marriage, you know. I remember them. But I guess when no kid materialized, everyone sort of forgot about that. It’s crazy that she’s managed to keep you a secret—Moriah is pretty infamous after winning the bid for the treaty negotiations and the Shade-Hunter marriage and then, you know, botching the whole thing.”

“I don’t really know anything about that. I’m sure Moriah has a lot of pressure on her,” I offered weakly.

“You don’t call her Mom?”

“She prefers that I don’t. It’s best for everyone. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m blind. What use is a Hunter who can’t hunt?” I asked, repeating back the words Moriah and Giles had said to me so many times over the years. That even Nana had said a time or two, though she always seemed to feel bad about it right after.

“Don’t say that,” Lucas murmured uneasily, falling silent as my brothers came back into the room and Tilly noisily lapped at the water in her bowl.

Justin returned with beer, and the already painful evening got markedly worse as the drinks flowed. Fortunately, they were all content to leave me alone and I had the taste of pizza to savor, so it wasn’t entirely bad.

But thefear… this brand new fear that the past few hours had brought me was crippling. Someone knew that I existed, and who my mother was. That information was out there in the world now, and my entire life felt as though it was at the mercy of this strange man.

It was terrifying. And yet, in an odd way, thrilling. If nothing else, my life would never be entirely the same again, even if I ended up locked in the attic alone for the rest of my days.

Someoneknew I existed.

Chapter 3

“Ruvyn!” I called, striding up the corridor to clap him on the shoulder. “Where have you been? It’s been years!”

“Months, at most. You exaggerate, Your Highness,” he replied with a slightly sarcastic tilt of his head.

“Surely, it’s been longer than that.” I searched my brain, trying to think of the last time we’d laid around, drinking wine and debating the meaning of life.

“I haven’t visited since the new arrivals moved in. Things have been busy recently in the field of academia. I don’t have the luxury of frequent visits to court these days.”

“Nonsense, you could always just come for the night. Is there a special reason for this trip?”

“I’ve been doing a lot of theoretical research on the history between Shades and Hunters. I suppose it occurred to me recently that I should spend some time at the palace and see them for myself rather than keeping my nose buried in my books.”

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