Page 114 of The War of Wings
This man who I loved and trusted entirely, despite the time he’d spent in pursuit of my life… He lied to me again.
Guilt flashed across Cal’s face, so intense I almost crumbled to pieces in front of him and told him I was sorry for what I’d said. But the outrage and betrayal at the fact he’d kept this from me? It was devastating, and it was gutting me.
The fact that I’d had a direct link to Malosym so close to me… That was one thing. But the part that hurt the most was the fact that Miles had endured this and I hadn’t been there to help him when I could’ve. Maybe I couldn’t have done anything to heal him, but he didn’t have to be so alone in this fight.
None of this was fair.
“Get out,” I growled, my finger pointed straight for the door.
“Petra, please–”
“Get thefuckout of here, Cal!”
Without another word, he made his way toward the door. The guilt on his face ripped a canyon through me, and all I wanted was to close my eyes, take a step back, and fall into its depths.
Chapter 44
Cal
The sun rose on a new world, one far worse than the one it had set on yesterday. When I pushed up from the library table I’d hunched over a few hours ago, my neck was stiff and my heart was stone. But my head was clear, and a plan had quickly taken shape.
The first item on my list was one of the hardest conversations I’d ever had in my life. Tears, I could’ve handled. Hysterics. Rage. All of that would’ve been better than the pure, motionless silence Cielle responded with when I told her Miles was gone. The corridor was quiet as I stood in her doorway and told her what Miles had asked me to tell her — that he loved her. I didn’t tell her about the darkness that had festered in him, or the fact that he knew their conversation in the courtyard would be their last. He fell from Gehenna, and that was all she needed to know.
And when she thanked me for telling her and retreated to her suite, I stood staring at her door, doing everything I could not to crumble to the floor when her wail finally sounded from within. A sound of agony I knew would haunt me until my last day.
Now, I stalked down the corridor, intent on checking the next item off my list. Every part of me wanted to see Petra, to see her soften under my gaze and melt into my arms. But every part of meknewthat wasn’t what she needed right now. I hoped she would forgive me eventually, for everything I’d done.
And everything I was about to do.
Slowly, quietly, I cracked open the door to our suite. Her suite, now, I supposed. Positive she wasn’t in the sitting room, I slipped inside, stopping to listen for any sign of her. Muffled crying sounded from behind the door to our — no,her— bedroom, and I almost lost my resolve right then and there. I could either open the door now and pray she’d let me take her into my arms, or I could do this one stupid thing that would very likely fail. But if it worked… Saints, if it worked, it would change everything.
My eyes fell on the blade that rested against the dining table — the blade that lacked a hilt but had something far, far greater. The empty sheath I’d swiped from the armory was the perfect size. I had no idea if I could even use the blade imbued with Petra’s power, no idea if it mattered who wielded it. But I didn’t have time to think through the implications of this decision. I exited the suite, clicking the door shut behind me as quietly as I could.
One more item checked off my list.
The next task was an easy one. I walked one door down and rapped my knuckles against the wood, my knees flexing as I waited.
“Cal?” Nell asked as she swung her door open, her face puffy and eyes heavy with sleep.
“Can I come in for a moment, please?”
“Uh, sure.” Nell rubbed a hand over her face as she opened the door wider.
My eyes scanned the room, falling on… “Nieve?” I asked, finding Cielle’s cousin sitting in an armchair, a book propped on her lap. She raised a single brow at me, obviously inconvenienced by my intrusion, but I shook my head, because whatever was going on here wasn’t fucking important right now. “Nell, I need you to do something for me.”
“Okay.” I saw her eyes go from sleepy to concerned when she saw whatever look was on my face.
“Something happened. Miles… He’s dead.”
Her hand flew over her mouth. “What?”
Nieve shot to her feet, her book thumping on the ground. “Miles is dead?”
“He fell from Gehenna, I–” Emotion clogged my throat.Dammit,I thought I had a handle on it.
Nieve was in front of me then, her eyes wide. “Does Cielle know?” she breathed.
“I told her a few minutes ago. She–”
