Page 66 of No Greater Sorrow

“What the hell is this?” she snapped. “We trusted you. Wehelpedyou.”

“I didn’t lie,” Val said. His mask drew close around his face, as if it could shield him from her words. “I swear it, but once Violet told me what?—”

Violet turned her head away, unable to meet Aleja’s eyes. And Aleja, for her part, could not find the words to address her. She’d known Violet hid things, butthis?

“How long have you been a traitor?” Aleja asked, her voice low. It took all of her willpower to suppress the flames that wanted to claw out of her and set the trees ablaze. “Was it before the second Trial or after? When you talked me into handing you a glass heart, did you already know you would give us up to the Messenger?”

Violet said nothing. She kept her gaze fixed on the ground. Behind them, the Third thrashed and yowled like a lion caught in a trap, but Aleja didn’t dare turn around. She was still dizzy. Blue flashes of light filled her peripheral vision like she’d screwed her eyes shut for too long.

“Lady of Wrath, whether you know it or not, your friends have done you a great favor. Hands down. Attempt to strike us and Val will kill you all,” the Messenger said.

“Mother,” Val protested but silenced himself when she raised an index finger.

Aleja glanced back, half to hide the angry tears in her eyes and half to see what had become of the Third. Bright blue chains, crackling with electrical magic, bound his legs and torso. The eyes on his wings blinked frantically as his back strained against the bonds, but it was useless. Whatever magic held him in place was too powerful, too potent. Despite stalling and sabotaging his work, Merit had done well.

They needed to stop this. Even if it meant that they would all die here, and only the Third would walk away. In the future, another Knowing One would rise. That person would appoint new Dark Saints, and the whole bloody cycle could begin again.

Aleja wished she’d had the chance to tell Nicolas that she forgave him. That if she had any say in the matter, she’d do as he’d once promised and crawl her way through hell to return to him. But another tug on their bond made her push down the rising fire within her. Maybe he had a plan. One last wild hope for them to make it out of here.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt them if I helped you. If I told you when they—” Violet’s voice was so weak, Aleja almost didn’t hear it over the rustling leaves.

“And I intend to keep that promise,” the Messenger told her. “Step aside, Knowing One. Neither you nor your wife need die today. Let us leave with the Third and you can return to your armies.”

“Until you invade our lands and kill the Second,” Nicolas said.

The Messenger gave a low chuckle and turned to Val. “Is that what you told them to make sure they would give you the refuge you sought?”

It seemed impossible for Val’s mask to squeeze his head any more tightly, but the wings still tried to bend around his skull. Aleja wished she could rip the mask off his face and stare into the eyes of the man who’d damned her friends to death.

“Well, Knowing One,” the Messenger continued. “Will you let us take the Third, or are you going to start a fight that you cannot win? You witnessed my son’s capabilities. Who are you willing to sacrifice in order to stop me?”

“Listen to her,” Violet pleaded. “Please. You have to believe me—when I looked into the Authorities’ minds, I?—”

“Fuck. You,” Aleja snarled, but the curse was lost beneath the Messenger’s voice.

“Violet, that’s enough. Your friends have all the information they need to make a decision.”

She tugged on the bond again, hoping for some response from Nicolas. After a second, there was a tug back, accompanied by emotions. Sadness and regret. Love and devotion. It was a goodbye that nearly shattered Aleja, as if vibrations had spread hairline cracks across her entire body.

Aleja answered in turn. With love and blood andfire.

The flames erupting from her hands were the same color as those that usually engulfed Nicolas’s sword—black as pitch. His powers and hers, combined. The Messenger could barely utter a sound of disappointment before Aleja let loose. Not at the Messenger, but at Val.

The Messenger dove for him, and fire engulfed her.

“The sickle still has Val’s magic in it. Get the Third free,” Aleja screamed over the roar of the flames.

Nicolas disappeared in a blur of movement, but Aleja could not let her attention drift. It took more effort to use her magic like this than in bursts, and the Messenger was quick to recover. Aleja saw only the flash of a sword before the Messenger was upon her.

“Fools,” the Messenger hissed, finding her opening when Aleja’s flames sputtered. The air filled with the smell of burning trees and scorched flesh. A woman screamed. And in the deepest part of herself, Aleja hoped Violet had managed to duck before the fire hit her.

The Messenger was right. Alejawasa fool.

Aleja jumped back as the Messenger’s blade tore a chunk of bark from a felled tree. Another plume of dark fire surrounded her hands, but the Messenger was prepared. Her sword deflected Aleja’s torrent and forced her to retreat over the uneven ground.

“Fucking Otherlanders,” the Messenger laughed, “You think you know everything, don’t you?”

Again, came her sword. This time, Aleja didn’t move fast enough, and the blade sliced through her leather tunic. Blood poured down her arm before the pain registered, but then, she’d never expected to survive this anyway. She only needed to stall the Messenger long enough for Nicolas to free the Third.

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