Page 90 of Claiming Sarah

Jac’s eyes widened. “Sarah, maybe—"

She silenced him with a harsh glance.

I looked to Rex in disbelief as I climbed out from beneathAllegiantand stood. “You told her?”

“I did not,” he said, looking just as surprised.

I jammed my hands on my hips. “I thought you said you wouldn’t tell her.”

“And I didnot,” Rex said firmly.

“He didn’t have to tell me, Deacon,” Sarah said. “When he possessed me, I found the memory of it.”

Rex’s jaw clenched and his eyes flashed with anger. “You didwhat?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t go looking for the memory, Rex. I sort of fell into it. I was trying to stay out of your mind, and I thought of Deacon and Jac, but Deacon’s face popped into my mind. A much younger Deacon.”

Time slowed down in my head. I wanted to reverse it, so I could repair the damage, take back what she had learned, and make her less ashamed of me. But I was not a magician. This was not in my control. My chest tightened and my heart hurt every time it pumped blood through my system.

“And?” I asked, my voice tight.

“I saw everything he saw before you killed him.”

My body went hot and cold at the same time. The air outside had vanished, like the air in my lungs.They know. They know. They know.My heart raced on those words, panic and a hundred regrets colliding together inside of me.

I said the first things that came to my brain, the apology I had worked on in my mind a thousand times in the years since it happened, modified for the occasion, all formality because everything else inside of me had shut completely down.

“I…I…You must be so disappointed in me,” I said, my voice sounding disembodied to my own ears. “To find out your companion is a murderer. I would apologize, but such a thing seems insufficient compared to my error. I will finish the repairs and once things are more settled, we can discuss the dissolution of our union. Excuse me.”

I started to get onto the backskate again, needing to get beneathAllegiantbefore I began to fall apart.

“You should have told me!” Sarah said, sounding as devastated as I felt.

Rex quickly explained, “I had forgiven him years ago, Sarah, that’s why I didn’t tell you. Well, thatandI enjoyed tormenting him with the threat of telling you—”

“Notyou,” she barked at Rex as tears filled her eyes. “Him. Deacon should have told us! That’s all I wanted, Deacon, is just your trust and honesty.”

“Oh, well that,” Rex gave half a shrug. “It was not his finest hour, though it was impressive. I can understand why he would not tell anyone, I suppose, though he should have bragged about taking me down. Many seasoned warriors had tried.”

I swallowed back the nausea rising up in my throat. “I do not have the time to sort through this right now, Sarah,” I said, not knowing how to repair the damage I’d done. “I have a ship to fix, so we can get the hell away from this awful place. Please excuse me.”

“Rex, you said you could get to Faithless before he can finish, right?” Sarah asked, just as I laid back down on the backskate.

“Yes, without question,” he replied.

“And you have ships there that can carry all of us to where we need to go?”

Rex nodded. “I do.”

“Excellent,” she said, swiping at the tear that trickled down her cheek. “Make it happen.”

Rex paused, looking from her to me, and back again. “Are you certain that is what you want?”

Sarah stared at Rex unblinkingly. “Did I stammer?”

“Right away, Queen,” he said, and I didn’t miss his sidelong smirk at me as he left to collect his men for the journey.

Without another word, Sarah hobbled away toward the swamp, with Omen following behind.

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