Page 100 of Disillusioned
In fact, she noted, taking a curious step closer—they were gray again.
“Did you kill him?” she asked, remembering the vision of him bounding after the emissary.
“No,” he said curtly. “I saved him. I saved him so your country wouldn’t be demolished by Maximilian’s army, as it would be if he ever found out the queen of Brittany stabbed his dignitary to death.”
“Where is he now?”
“Safe at the inn. Kept away from you until your meeting, where you cannot harm him and preemptively destroy your allied relations.”
She couldn’t contain the shock and hurt any longer; the confusion would soon overwhelm her. Lilac spoke slowly, the words simmering off her tongue. “Why don’t I remember?”
“Myrddin helped me.”
Lilac stared at him, her jaw slack in disgust. “You had Myrddin remove my memory?”
“You would have regretted it.”
Lilac spat a laugh. “You do not care about the things I might come to regret. It was and is my only proposition. My killing him would have ensured I did not marry,” she said, speaking through her own reasoning. And his. “This went against your own interests.”
Garin’s expression darkened. “I was protecting you.”
Knowing he was a fucking liar, that she wouldn’t have known about any of it if she hadn’t swallowed his blood, made everything he said all the more difficult to believe. Her parents had claimed Albrecht’s letter was received three days into her journey.
The crash and stabbing had occurred on the first full day.
“Turning a count down would have been far too easy for me, wouldn’t it?” she shouted. “You knew it was not enough to sway me, even under your entrancement.Youwrote to my parents, didn’t you?”
He didn’t even try to deny it. Garin picked an invisible piece of dust off his collar. “Fortunately, the fellow carried a bundle of their official stationery in his satchel.”
Sickness and dread overtook her. “You wanted me to believe it was Albrecht coming to propose to me. You made no attempt to mention Maximilian at all.”
Garin jabbed a finger in her direction. “Precisely, Lilac. Do you know why? Catching you off guard was the only way you and your parents would end up hearing Maximilian’s offer. He is the most powerful ally you have on the continent. Henri and Marguerite would never let you pass it up, but if you knew it was Maximilian offering marriage, you would have bolted. Wouldn’t you?” He bent his head, condescending. “I might write your dear parents again, telling them of how you’re about to throw everything away for?—”
Garin stopped.
He froze, frowning. Listening. Garin’s face then twisted, lips curling around his fangs in a snarl as he turned.
Casmir stepped out of the shadows from behind him. The vampire said nothing, made no noise before bringing his closed fist in front of his face. At first, Lilac thought he was drawing back to hit Garin. The scream that stuck in her throat released into a large palm that clamped down over her mouth. The familiar aroma of tombstone and iron flooded her nostrils.
Casmir opened his fist and blew, sending a cloud of brown dust into the air—into Garin’s face, the scant remnants drifting over her and her assailant.
Lilac instinctively shielded her eyes. Nothing happened to her that she could feel, but Bastion yelped, his hands sliding off her face. He held onto her, tugging her body in his recoil, yanking her off her feet.
“Fuck’s sake, Casmir!” Bastion growled from over her shoulder.
But it seemed the powder had mildly affected Casmir too. He shook his palm, dusting it frantically against his lapel and scuttling back.
“I’ll kill you!” Garin choked on the dark dust, his eyes shut and drool dripping from his open mouth as he snarled and grabbed for Casmir, who easily dodged him. Even in the dim light, she could tell there was something wrong. Blood was running down Garin’s face, from both his eyes and nostrils.
It was sawdust.Hawthornsawdust.
Garin lunged blindly and slammed Casmir against the opposite wall. A flurry of soot and dust rained down. Casmir grabbed hold of him and yanked Garin sideways, pummeling his head against the wall.
“Stop it,” Lilac cried as they grappled, nearly breaking free from Bastion’s loosened hold on her. There was apopand cloud of thin smoke between them, followed by the scent of black powder; Myrddin stood between her and Garin, frantically fumbling in his robes. Bastion caught her then, and wrapped his arm around her once more, this time much too tightly for her to throw herself from his grasp.
They watched in horror as Myrddin threw what appeared to be a ball of leaf-dappled vines in Garin’s direction; the moment the vines made contact with Garin’s body, they snapped across him, pulling his arms behind his back and ensnaring his wrists. The same happened around his ankles with the toss of a second ball of vines.
“Hold him still,” Myrddin shouted at Casmir, hand outstretched.
