Page 90 of A Legacy of Storms and Starlight

Hot breath huffed against her hair. “I was angry with myself. For putting you in that situation. For not noticing the throne was vanquicite.”

Zylah closed her eyes and breathed him in. “Why haven’t you come to see me?”

Raif laughed again, taking her face in his hands. His eyes were bright and clear, full of emotion. “Because I’m an insufferable asshole.” He loosened his hold, taking Zylah by the hand and closing the door behind her and Kopi. She shrugged out of her cloak as he led her to the lounger then knelt before her. Zylah swallowed. His walls were down. She recognised it now. One of the few times he let her in.

He took her hands in his. “Liss, I—”

Holt evanesced to the centre of the room, his gaze meeting Zylah’s. His clothes were unmarked, with no signs of any struggle but he looked utterly defeated.

“Tell me,” Zylah demanded.

Holt shook his head almost imperceptibly. “He’s gone.”

The world tilted. Zylah pulled her hands back from Raif’s, smoothing them over the front of her apron.Don’t underestimate how much your actions have contributed to mending what’s broken, Asha had told her.

This was her fault. All of it. Her eyes stung, and she willed herself not to cry.

The glass beads of the curtain clicked together and Saphi and Rose walked through.

“We heard,” Rose said quietly.

Kopi flew to Zylah’s hands, and she stroked his head, but all she saw was Asha’s face, agreeing to her plan. He’d been so confident. He’d said nothing would go wrong, that by the end of the night, both tyrants would be dead, and they’d truly be free. Zylah swallowed down the lump in her throat, vaguely aware that Holt and Raif had left the room.

“This is your fault. Asha. Marcus.” Rose stood in front of her, so close Zylah had to tilt her head back to meet Rose’s eyes.

Saphi reached for Rose, resting a hand on her arm. “Rose, that’s enough.”

“Asha made his own choices. I didn’t make him do anything.” Zylah said it more for herself than for Rose’s benefit. “You’ve never liked me.” It was the truth. Rose had tolerated her, at best.

Rose barked a bitter laugh. “You want to know why?”

Kopi didn’t move. Even with Rose as close as she was, he stayed still in Zylah’s hands, as if he knew she needed the comfort as she braced herself for whatever Rose was about to say.

“Rose, please.” Saphi tugged on Rose’s arm again, but Rose brushed her away.

“Because I’ve seen Raif’s death,” Rose spat. “And you’re there. You need to leave,Liss. You don’t belong here. You know it. I know it. Raif knows it. We all do.”

Zylah’s head was spinning, her breaths coming faster and faster. She cupped Kopi to her chest as Raif and Holt came back into the room. A hot tear rolled down her cheek and she sucked in a ragged breath. They’d heard. They must have. Worse than that, they would have known. Rose would have told them all, the moment she’d had the vision.

For a second, the life she could have had in Virian played out before her. It was all a lie. If her staying meant Raif would… that he coulddie, because of her. Just like Mala and Asha. No. She wouldn’t let that happen.

Another tear fell as her eyes met with Raif’s.

“Liss, no,” he pleaded, reaching for her.

But it was too late, Zylah had already evanesced away.

Chapter Thirty-Five

It was Kara she thought of as she evanesced. That she was somewhere safe, far away from all of this. Zylah’s feet hit the floor of her father’s cottage, and Kopi flew out of her hands, resting on a beam. It was the furthest she’d ever evanesced, but her practise in the tunnels had told her she could do it. Holt had told her she could do it when he’d confessed he’d evanesced most of the continent for his sister.

She looked around the cottage as she caught her breath, gritting her teeth against the ache in her back. Everything was exactly as it had been when she’d left. The fragrant besa leaves and alea blossom that always permeated everything hung thick in the air… and the coppery tang of blood.

A shiver ran down Zylah’s spine. “Father?” she called out. Kopi hooed quietly above her, ruffling his feathers. Zylah listened carefully, the sound of strained breathing carrying to her from her father’s bedroom.

She eased the wooden door open, sucking in a breath as she saw her father lying in his rickety old bed. “Father?” She rushed to him, kneeling beside him on the rough floorboards to take his hand. He was sleeping, but it looked wrong. His skin was ashen, his lips almost blue. She could barely hear his heartbeat. He was far beyond her healing capabilities.

A rusty patch stained his threadbare blanket, and Zylah reached out to take a look, just as Kopi hooed a warning. Zylah knew her brother’s scent before he walked through the door, but she didn’t release their father’s hand as Zack stood in the doorway, watching her.

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