Page 6 of Heir of Illusion

“Ah. Continue.”

Darrow swallows, his eyes flickering to the shadow snake still wrapped around his throat. “He works in the tunnels beneath the palace now. I think what you’re searching for might be there.”

My brow furrows. Hearing Darrow admit to committing treason and betraying the king doesn’t shock me, but I tuck the confession away to use against him later. What does surprise me are these supposed tunnels. I’ve explored my home thoroughly over the years and have never found anything close to that.

The stranger shrugs. “Perhaps. Is he guarding something specific down there?”

Darrow nods. “A weapon he calls thewhisperer.”

A hiss escapes from one of the shadow snakes, sending a fresh wave of fear pulsing through me.

“Interesting.” His tone turns thoughtful. “And did he mention anything else about this whisperer?”

“No. Nothing, my lor—” Darrow chokes again, clutching at the shadows as he tries to loosen them. This continues for several seconds before I hear him inhale a deep breath.

“You were saying?” the stranger asks.

“Only the price!” Darrow cries.

“What price?”

“My informant said they were warned never to touch it! Whoever wields it pays a steep price, but I don’t know what it is. That’s all! I swear!”

The man steps closer to Darrow, leaning over him.

“I believe you.” His voice is soft now, almost bored. For a moment, I believe the Fates have smiled on us and he’s going to leave, but his next words remind me why that kind of wishful thinking is so dangerous. “One more thing. Did you share this information with anyone else?”

My heart pounds violently against my chest. Despite the darkness, I can spot terror twisting Darrow’s handsome features. His jaw is hard and his lips thin as he stares at the enemy before him. Silently, I reach for my blades and carefully remove two of them. Any moment now Darrow is going to give me up and reveal my presence.

“No, my lord.” He shakes his head. “Only you.”

Shock tears through me, but I don’t have time to process it as the stranger tsks.

“What a pity,” he says, taking a few steps back. “I had hoped to find further use for you, but I don’t keep liars in my employ.”

I don’t need to see him to know what’s coming next.

The shadows tighten again as Darrow’s face twists into a horrific visage. His mouth hangs open silently trying to suck in air. His brown eyes are wide and bloodshot as they desperately search the room for some kind of help. I flinch each time his gaze passes over me, though it never lingers. He still can’t see me.

Does he think I left, or does he somehow know I’m cowering in the corner while he dies right in front of me.

I try to block it out, taking deep breaths to remind myself I’m not the one being strangled. Phantom pressure grips my throat, but I force myself to stay in the present.

Don’t think about it. Don’t remember how it felt to be denied air.

Darrow may not be my friend, but he’s also not quite my enemy. I wouldn’t wish this kind of torture on him. I wouldn’t have killed him this way; I would have done it swiftly, a knife to the throat. This is cruel. Only one person deserves this kind of death, and he is currently across the city, sleeping peacefully in his palace.

I’ve always been aware that there’s an absence inside of me—a missing piece. Something that would have made me good and whole and right. A tug pulls at that empty space now, the ghost of an instinct that never grew.

Is this why I will always let people down when they need me the most?

Faces flash through my mind: some I killed, few I loved,oneI made a promise to. An oath sworn at the graveside of a friend I’d mistaken for an enemy.

Forcing the air into my lungs, I remind myself that I am not owned. I am not controlled or caged.

I am not thepetthey tamed.

I am thebeastthey let inside.

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