Page 18 of The Sins of Silas

“You feeleveryemotion of the people you read?” she questioned with broadened eyes.

I nodded. “Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Jealousy.” I paused. “Desire.”

I could assume Erabella knew I had felt her arousal when I watched her cheeks turn pink. Edmund examined me with a raised brow.

“I can tell when people lie,” I continued grimly. “I feel when they are scared or embarrassed. I feel it all, and I feel it as if it’s my own.” I stared into the flames of the fire before me. “But emotions aren’t always easy to understand. Most people have trouble understanding theirownemotions.”

Just because I could feel what someone felt, like sadness, for example, didn’t mean I automatically comprehended it. Someone could be sad about a multitude of things.

I shrugged. “Feeling the emotion is the simple part. Connecting those emotions to understand thewhyis what proves difficult at times.”

The firelight danced in Erabella’s brown eyes as she scanned me from head to toe. “That sounds awful.”

I scoffed. “You’ve no idea.”

“So that’s how you knew to trust Silas?” Edmund asked, his face now resting on his carbonado fist, trying to stay awake. “Using that power?”

The feelings I felt from Silas were…strange. I didn’t wish to bring that up—especially near his wife.

“I was able to know he was telling the truth about not wishing to harm Lena, yes.”

“That power seems like it’ll be useful in this war,” Edmund replied sleepily.

I nodded, resting back on my palms. I was exhausted, too. But if there really were Vampires, or even just Otacians looking for us, we needed at least one of us alert—ideally a Mage.

I blinked slowly, and my eyes caught Era’s again, her own blinks suggesting she’d be back asleep soon. The warm, crackling fire, the pleasant nighttime breeze, and the stars in the sky made it hard for any of us to stay awake after such a long day of travel.

Her mouth parted as if to say something, and I cocked my head to the side, choosing to read her again.

Her words caught in her throat, presumably at the sight of my eye color turning dark, and she laughed softly. “Is it always necessary? To read someone?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Amongst those of an enemy kingdom, I’d say so.”

Her smile vanished, and after a few moments more of looking at me, she turned to lie on Silas’s chest, who, in his sleep, held on to her closer.

I felt a few emotions from her…annoyance and disappointment. But I was not expecting the last one.

Hurt.

I supposed what I said came out pretty bitter…but what did she expect? Her kind had hated mine for decades. A handful of my people were slaughtered by hers just a few weeks ago.

She felt hurt by my words.

I wasn’t expecting that fact to bother me, either. But it did.

Chapter Six

LENA

The sun was just rising when Elowen shook me awake, the sky a blend of light blue, pink, and gold behind the myriad of puffy clouds.

“Rise and shine!” she sang in her usual upbeat tone.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes as she retreated, blinking to clear my vision. Elowen had always been a morning person. Even though Mother and I would get up early on Thursday mornings back in Otacia, I always enjoyed it when I could sleep in.

She and Hendry had taken the second watch, so she was already awake and alert. Now, it was time to travel through Half-Life Pass.

I grunted as I brought myself to my feet, rotating my neck and wincing from the unsavory sleeping conditions. I didn’t bother changing into the loungewear packed by Ayla; none of us did. Itwould be safer to utilize those when we found an inn to stay in. Plus, I didn’t feel like changing in the forest.

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