Page 117 of A Fate so Cruel

Selina sipped from her own glass. “And you say I have an alcohol problem.”

He set the glass down. “You do, and clearly you’re a bad influence. I shall have to tell my sister.”

“That’ll really get us in a brawl. She’s always been protective of you.”

Rion lifted a brow. “Does she talk about me often?”

“No, just prevents anyone from slandering your name. Gods help them if they do.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened.”

She sat back. “I was just curious. It was the others who called you a monster.”

“I take it that didn’t go over well for them?”

“Saoirse knocked their teeth out, so no, it didn’t.”

He chuckled, “They’re lucky that’s all she did.”

“You’ve seen her do worse, I take it?”

“There were a few tutors that . . . well, they took their shot. She saw it and snapped their arms before exiling them from the city.”

“Gods above.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you on her good side.”

Selina swirled her drink again and sipped on it. “Isn’t fifteen kind of young to be going out on missions? Weren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Saoirse schooled me herself. When she had assignments, she took me along. She didn’t believe I’d be safe otherwise. That’s how I got involved.”

“What about when you were a kid?”

Rion ran a finger through the condensation on his glass and downed another drink. His voice was low as he said, “I had someone who looked out for me then.” Selina watched him, waiting. “Caol was . . . like a second father.”

“Caol.” She considered the name. “The Fae we encountered before mentioned his name.”

“He was our teacher. My father’s ally. The two of them fought together on the field and he trained my siblings and me.”

“But?”

Rion shrugged. “There was an . . . accident. He didn’t believe me, or maybe he thought I’d become too much of a liability.”

“So you killed him?”

Rion kept his gaze on the glass, running his fingers around the rim. “I didn’t mean to. My magic was more volatile back then. It reacted to his killing blow. I barely made it back to Saoirse in time.”

She was silent for a time. “It’s funny how the truth of some stories never sees the light of day.” Selina lifted her arm and the waitress returned, refilled their drinks, then took their orders.

“Back to the mission when you were fifteen,” she said. “I’m guessing Saoirse didn’t plan your involvement?”

He smirked “No.”

“Details, that’s how dates work.”

Rion’s heart jolted at the word. Date.

“It wasn’t anything spectacular, if that’s what you’re hoping to hear. I just wanted to see the city.” She waited. “I went for a stroll and after a while, I realized not a single soul recognized me. It was . . . refreshing. I jumped from stall to stall and had so many things I could hardly carry them.”

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