Page 38 of A Tale of Treachery

“I don’t understand,” I lamented. “I can get you out. I can save you.”

Aine opened her mouth, but Aisling held out a hand to silence her little sister. “We don’t need to be saved, Duana.”

I shook my head. They must have lost their minds when they’d been captured. “You’re not thinking straight. None of you are.”

Aisling dismissed the two women with a look, and they went back to chasing each other around the pole. Once it was just her and me, she held my stare. “Malachi will be so disappointed to see you like this, living a life of lies.”

“Malachi…” I whispered. “You all hated him.” And they did. He’d tortured everyone in the village, including them. They’d received the brunt of his wrath since they’d dared to be my friends. “Wait a minute. What did you mean when you saidwill?”

Aisling had spoken in the future tense, like I would be seeing him sometime soon.

Aife stopped chasing Aine and turned to me, beaming. “We never hated him. He’s a god to us.” She screwed her eyes crossed and stuck out her tongue before squealing, “That’s blasphemy! Duana is being blasphemous!”

I rubbed my temples. It was like she was still ten years old.

I leveled Aisling with a stare. “Where is he?”

“Where do you think he is?” supplied Aisling. “He disappeared without a trace around the time the rift closed.” She held my stare and raised her brows. “You might say he’s in an entirely different world...”

I gazed at her for a moment, not understanding, but then it hit, and my breath hitched.

He was in the otherworld.

Trapped.

Malachi left me that day before the rift closed with a promise to return, but never did. It never occurred to me where he’d gone or why, but now it all made sense. He’d crossed over to the other side of the rift the same day it closed, the same day the war ended. And now he was stuck there.

Laughter bubbled up my throat, and though I tried to hold it back, it came spilling out. Sinful amusement had me doubled over, clutching my sides.

I’ve spent my whole life running from a ghost.

Aisling clearly did not find the situation as funny as I did. “Laugh all you want, but he will be freed and come for you. So enjoy your time now, while you can.”

I chuckled. “Sure, Aisling. Keep wishing on the stars.”

I hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to set them free, but it was clear they didn’t wish to be rescued. They’d lost their minds, and I didn’t have the heart to force my help on those who didn’t want it.

They were my last connection to a life I didn’t want to be a part of.

And so, feeling guilty at not saving them, I departed, leaving the three women to their fate. By this time tomorrow, they would be gone, and I would finally be free.

CHAPTER14

Ielbowed through the massive crowd that filled the outlying village square, trying to get a glimpse of the women. Something had felt off this morning when I’d awakened, a feeling of dread that hung over my head like a suffocating cloud. I needed to see them immediately and figure out what was happening. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d missed something when speaking with them, some key piece of information. I squeezed through the throng, who jeered with bloodlust, ready to watch the women burn. It was disgusting how people acted when subjected to a mob mentality.

When I reached the front of the crowd, my gaze went to the women tied to stakes atop a pyre. They were smiling, their eyes alight with joy as they willingly faced death.

How could they be so happy when today was the day they would die? An awful feeling gnawed away at my insides, telling me I was not understanding something vital. But it was too late to speak with them.

King Drake and Aiden sat on a wooden scaffolding overlooking the pyre. They always attended these events because the king dragged Aiden along, claiming it was his duty to the Crown. King Drake had a bored look on his face as he dusted an invisible speck of lint from his shoulder, like this was just another monotonous day in the life of royalty.

Aiden met my gaze, somehow picking me out of the people in the square. His eyes shifted, a brief look of concern flashing my way before it quickly disappeared. He dipped his head in a grim greeting and resumed watching the sickening display in front of us.

The air was different today, charged as if we stood at the precipice of a catastrophe. The invisible webs of fate spun tightly together, twisting and turning, changing the trajectory of the world as we knew it.

“Come to watch the execution?” a gruff voice sounded in my ear.

Ryken’s body pressed close to mine. My pulse picked up at his presence, knowing who he was just by scent alone. I melted at the feel of his proximity, a relaxed feeling rushing over the urgency and anxiety that had existed before his arrival. I don’t know why, but I leaned into him, pushing my back against him in an instinctual reaction to his presence, unable to comprehend my actions, but making no move to stop myself.

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