Page 81 of What Is Dark Within Me

She looked at her hands; her palms were the deep red of a smoldering log and just as hot. When she inhaled, it didn’t relieve the growing pressure beneath her sternum.

“Alejandra,breathe.”

Her eyes found Roland again. He laughed with one of the men gutting fish on a table next to a large communal pot. No one dipped their heads in reverence as they passed him on the way to fill their bowls, but they didn’t regard him as they did each other. It was their expressions; even from her perch on the hill, she could tell they looked at him with a mixture of awe, respect, and a hint of fear.

“Theyworshiphim,” Nicolas grumbled, voice low.

“Don’t like sharing the pedestal?”

“No one worships me. I grant knowledge and favors for a price. There’s a difference.”

If he had anything else to say, it was interrupted when Roland set his bowl down and the crowd moved to allow him a path to the well at the square’s center. A line snaked through the buildings as those late for breakfast jostled for space, and a hush fell as Roland drew the bucket up and scooped water into a tin cup.

The first half of his sentence was lost to her, but even the birds quieted as he spoke.

“—mourn my brother as I do. I know it has not been easy to keep our faith in the darkness of his loss, in each bitter sip of the water that once nourished us. But the water will be sweet again, that I can promise. My brother did not leave us without a final gift.”

“Violet,” Aleja breathed. “He’s talking about Violet. We need to find where they’re keeping her. If we get her out, we can come back and shut this place down when we’re better prepared. We’ll wait until Roland is occupied, then you can glamour us and we’ll go down to search.”

The line shuffled forward, and Roland tilted the cup toward another villager’s lips.

“If he spots us, we’re dead. We need to lure Roland away.”

They’d come so far. Violet was so close. She racked her mind for something—anything—they could use.

“The Unholy Relic,” she said. “The vessel keeps the Remnant under control, right? What if we let it out?”

“That’s unhinged. Chaotic. It’ll do perfectly,” Nicolas said, with a smile that almost made her forget he’d slaughtered dozens in her name.

* * *

“Wait.You’re not coming with me? The bond…”

“The distance will hurt, but the thing in this vessel hates you in particular. I’ll use it to make enough ruckus to draw Roland out of the village.”

They were back in the tangle of trees, the light dim, though it must have been nearing noon. With humans now wandering the game trails to hunt or forage, she and Nicolas had been forced to veer into the woods.

“You sure he’ll come?” she asked.

“Yes. Even he won’t want a Remnant with no leader loose on these grounds.”

“But it’ll let him know you’re here,” Aleja said, crossing her arms as she reminded herself that she was only worried about Nicolas because their lives were bound. Not because he kissed her like he was drowning, and she was his last bit of precious air. How had she ever let herself believe he wasn’t the villain everyone claimed he was?

“I have no interest in confronting Roland without my powers restored. I’ll be gone by the time he arrives. We find Violet, we get out of here. Once the bond is broken, I’ll see to him myself.”

“Okay,” she breathed, trying to pretend this wasn’t the most terrifying thing she’d ever done. Warmth washed over her as Nicolas’s fingers danced in the air, casting a glamour.

“If you touch or speak to anyone, it’ll be broken. Stick to the shadows as much as you can. I’ll be a few minutes behind you.”

His hands moved away, but the warmth didn’t recede. She opened her eyes, not remembering when she’d closed them.

“Aleja,” he said. “I understand why you’re angry. I understand that when this is all over, you may choose to live out your human life and never speak to me again. Don’t worry about the bargain. I’ll never come to collect, and the Second can go fuck himself if he has an issue with it. But I want you to know one thing: I’d do it again. I’d go to war before I would let you be harmed.”

She opened her mouth, unsure of what to say. She was so afraid of the task ahead of her—of Roland, of what lurked in the well—but it hadn’t numbed the rage she felt toward Nicolas and the choice he’d stolen from her.

Believe him, said the voice.

What aboutmyfree will? Aleja shot back.

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