Page 6 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood
I throw open the door without knocking and find Willow sitting cross-legged on her bed, reading a book, her back propped against the dull gray wall as she keeps her eyes glued to the page she’s on.
She doesn’t look up when she speaks. “I told you not to tell her.”
Her words are aimed at Cora, whose face reddens under the weight of her exposed betrayal. The door clicks shut behind her as I step forward and snatch the book out of Willow’s hand and throw it onto the small wooden dresser—the only other piece of furniture a pureblood is allowed to have in their room.
“Hey, I was just getting to the good bit.”
I roll my eyes. “You’ve read it a thousand times. You already know how it ends.”
She looks up at me like I’m stupid. “That doesn’t make it any less fun. Maybe if you put down the dagger and picked up a book more often, you’d know that.”
I lift my gaze to the ceiling before meeting hers again.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick again?”
My twin stares back at me with a face that does not match my own. We often joke that we might not even be sisters, let alone twins, given how different we look. She rolls a set of dark brown eyes as she scoops her locs up into a bun atop her head, as though this is just another day.
She shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m always sick.”
She moves across the room to straighten the book I threw. Always needing everything so damn tidy.
“You know what I mean, Willow.”
She spins to face me and holds her arms out in a big, dramatic gesture. “I’mfine. See. Some people just like to exaggerate.”
Her eyes flicker over my shoulder to where Cora stands silently.
She’s lying,Athriel drawls.
I know.
“You’re doing it again,” Willow says.
“What?”
“Talking tohead guy. Whatever he said, tell him to mind his own gods-damned business.”
Tell her you are my business.
I don’t have time for this.
Tell her.
“He said to tell you that I am his business.”
“Well, you can tell him this.” She flips him off, and he laughs.
“I know you’re just trying to distract me,” I tell her.
“I’m no—”
“Let me see it.” I point to her stomach. “Now.”
Her eyes pin me in a challenge.
“Gods help me, Willow, if I have to rip the clothes off your body, then I will.”
She curses under her breath but gives in, peeling the thin cloth from her body before throwing it to the floor.
