Page 123 of Of Blood and Banes
“That happened weeks ago, and you’re just now wanting to talk about it? He’s a grown man—he has no excuse to act the way he does now. That all happened a long, long time ago.” Sethan turns his attention to writing a new sentence on his paper, as if I were simply sharing what the weather was like outside.
“Something like that follows you, Sethan! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
His head snaps up, glaring at me through his lowered eyebrows. “I know that. And I’ve had to carry the fact I didn’t step up to help that boy my entire life. But he has so many other skeletons in his closet he’s responsible for, that part of me doesn’t feel so bad anymore.”
“Do you fucking hear yourself right now?” I bubble over and close the space between me and his desk. Gripping the edge of the wooden piece of furniture, I lean over it. “He was a child!”
He raises an eyebrow, watching me with fascination, before something clicks. He tilts his chin up in recognition, tosses his pen onto the table, and leans back into his chair as he crosses his arms. “You care about him.”
“No. But it doesn’t mean he should be subjected to torture or ridicule! No matter how long it’s been!”
He shakes his head, jaw clenched. “He’s a dangerous man, Katerina. You’d be wise to not involve yourself with him.”
Too late for that, though I won’t admit it to him. Besides, it was only sex. Only something to distract me from the oncoming war that could only mean death and destruction.
“We’re all dangerous people, Sethan. You involved me when you started beating the absolutefuckout of him back in Midkeep!”
“It was necessary.”
“It was notfuckingnecessary!” I slam a fist into the desk.
He smirks. And I’m so godsdammned furious I’m ready to throw myself over the desk and throttle him.
His voice is quiet. “You’re quite angry. Tell me, have you gotten those answers from him you were so confident you’d get?”
Not backing down from his gaze, I hold my anger behind clenched teeth. His quiet tone alone prods the fire within me. Testing me.
He stands from his chair, never breaking eye contact. “That’s what I thought. Because for men like Darian, you will not bend him. You have to break him.”
“Have you ever stopped to consider people like you are the reason why he is the way he is? That maybe if you had stepped up to help him, if you’d shown him kindness, he might have turned out to be someone else entirely?”
“It doesn’t matter now. You need to keep a comfortable distance from him, Katerina. If he had no problem killing his father, he surely would have no problem killing you.”
All the blood drains from my face. “Wh-what do you mean killing his father?”
Sethan dips his head slowly, confirming his statement. “Darian killed Jurrock.”
“No. No…Celeste said Jurrock died in battle?—”
Sethan shakes his head, his brown eyes sad. “I told her that because I was trying to protect her. She loves Darian, and if she knew he killed her father, it would have destroyed her. I had to create a cover that Jurrock died in battle, but it wasn’t the truth. The truth is Darian was young, and he possessed the same temper his father had.”
“I don’t…I don’t believe you,” I mutter, taking a few hesitant steps back.
“Then ask him. But you keep it between me, you, and Darian. You do not tell anyone else.”
“Why would you tell me such a thing and ask for me to keep it a secret?” I ask angrily. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t need to know such a heavy secret.
“You weren’t going to take my warning seriously, otherwise.”
CHAPTER 40
LIS FOARTH GASH DINNEN
We spend one more night in Mossmead. After dinner, I practice sparring with Darian in my room, becoming more and more confident with using my left hand for sword fighting. Darian was right—there’s a certain natural ease to using my left hand. I also manage to improve my resistance in keeping myself from tipping into his seduction again—thanks to Sethan’s lingering warning.
After sleeping for a few hours, I slip out with Marge and spend another two hours channeling the ley lines. The goal is to pull the small blue wisps up from the ground and form them into a sphere. I get them maybe two inches off the ground before they slip and fade.
As encouragement, Marge reminds me the ley lines are the hardest to pull from with how deep they’re buried in the earth. What I’ve done with the ripples, the fire back in Vathstone, and the poison that killed Corvin is easier. I only need to keep training.
