Page 39 of The Sorcerer's Thief
Kill them all. And those they love.I study Julian, and the man I’ve come to know is suddenly a stranger again.
I haven’t been afraid of him since that night in the alley, but a trickle of fear courses through my veins now.
Is Julian a killer? Cynical, moody, maybe a little crazy, yes. But a killer?
No.
And the coin, which has magic of its own, opinions of its own, a will of its own…does it want this? To turn Julian into a monster?
Surely not.
The coin has been nothing but good to me so long as I’ve had it. If it had ill intentions, I’d know by now. Wouldn’t I?
I’m afraid to ask my next question, voice quivering. “You mean to destroy whole families?”
“So what if I do?”
I flinch. “Speaking as someone whose entire family has been destroyed, can I sway you against it?”
His stare is cold. And sad. “Nothing can sway me. Not even you.”
A wall of air exits my lungs at once. “So that is why you want the coin. Revenge. It’s not worth it.”
“Oh, really? So you stealing that coin from the royal prince wasn’t worth it?”
“That wasn’t revenge.”
“Wasn’t it?”
Oh.Maybe it was a little bit. The exhilaration, the rush of the chase, the victory at getting away with the heist still lingers. It had, in fact, been sweet.
But no one was harmed. “That was different.”
“If you say so.” Julian conjures his bedding from his magical hidey-hole and spreads it out as far from me as possible.
Doesn’t look like I’ll be getting my magic lesson tonight. Which is fine. I’m not sure I want to learn from him when he’s in so foul a mood, to be honest.
We settle in for sleep without speaking. It’s early still, and the rain pounds the roof like it’s hammering in nails.
My mind spins in circles over Julian’s confession and continually lands on the same conclusion: I must help him.
Not to kill those people, no. Not even the ones who deserve it. But to help him with the closure he needs to move on.
There are other ways to punish wrongdoers in Luminia without resorting to murder. Imprisonment. Work camps.Forced dormancy, which the queen can order and inflict to keep dangerous people off the streets.
The effect would be the same—an end to the fae who hurt Jules—but without any blood on his hands.
That will have to be enough. Because a man who can’t bear to eat animals isn’t a man who can take another life without dire consequences.
I fear he’ll lose more than fingers and wings if he turns into a killer.
He’ll lose himself.
Chapter 12
Julian
The scent of damp hay creeps into my nose and triggers a sneeze. Cricket startles awake, gaze darting around wildly, hair sticking every which way.
