Page 33 of Song of Night

I sit down next to Zara and take my own sip, a much smaller one. The liquid burns as it goes down my throat but creates a lovely warmth in my chest to balance the pain. I have no idea who Siduri is, but she makes good alcohol.

“It is,” Jaylen responds. “But since you’re no doubt wondering, no, she doesn’t know who I am.”

“I appreciate the help back there,” Zara says, taking the flask from me and passing it back to her sister. “But I’d really like to know what’s going on.”

“You’re not the only one,” Jaylen says. Her eyes narrow and look past Zara to me. “I’d like to know how my sister fell in with the destroyer of Night.”

I tense, but Zara shoots me a look that tells me to keep quiet. There isn’t anyone else alive I would heed, except for her. The realization sends a strange prickling sensation through my chest.

“Why don’t we start with present day, and then go back to the beginning,” Zara suggests.

Jaylen nods. She’s silent for a long moment, and then she begins.

Chapter Twenty-Four

ZARA

I stare into the purple eyes of my sister, eyes that are so very similar to mine. To our mother’s.

“How I got here is simple enough,” Jaylen says. “After the magical explosion in Night, I escaped before the Angelus and Animus warriors arrived.” Her eyes grow distant for a moment. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure you deserved saving, not after seeing you with him.”

Jaylen’s eyes fixate on Asher, burning with hatred. I shoot him another look of warning.

“But when my network of spies caught wind that you were being sent through the rift to Vyrin, I couldn’t just let you go. I followed you to Vyrin’s castle. Well, outside of his castle - I knew better than to go inside. I waited, and I hoped you’d come back out. And I was ready when you did.”

I turn this over in my mind, shaking my head. “The rumors of Falling Star… they said you could travel through the Waste. But how?”

Jaylen merely shakes her head. “Later. It’s your turn now. How did you fall in with him?” She jerks her head toward Asher.

I take a deep breath, my eyes darting a half-moment to Asher. “After escaping the prison camp, I was captured by House Animus. I’ve lived among them the last decade. And then, recently, I was sent to spy on the Lord of Night, to gain his trust, so that eventually I could kill him.”

At this Jaylen’s eyes widen, and she looks back and forth from me to Asher, clearly trying to judge his reaction. My stomach twists, a knot forming. I don’t want to recount the story that drove a wedge between us. A thorn bigger than the ones surrounding us now.

“But I learned that many of the things I was told about the Lord of Night were wrong. Were lies. And I grew to trust him more than the man who tutored me. We realized that we shared a connection to the wild magic, a connection that might help us save our goddess-forsaken city.” I draw in a shuddering breath. “Except then a crazy angel detonated a magical device that ruined everything and plunged us even further into chaos than we were before.”

Jaylen’s expression had grown more skeptical with each word that left my mouth. “So, you expect me to believe that this man can save our city, just because you fell in love with him?”

Asher’s chin jerks toward mine, but I keep my gaze firmly on Jaylen. “Your turn,” I say softly.

Jaylen crosses her arms over her chest but nods in acquiescence. “Fine. You want to know how I’m able to cross the Waste? I suppose for that, we have to go back to the beginning. To the day I was taken from the prison camp.”

My breath catches in my chest. That day had changed the entire trajectory of my life.

“I was supposed to go to the Palace of Night.” Jaylen’s eyes flick to Asher. “But Factionless intercepted the caravan, and several of us were taken.”

I nod. I’d discovered that much myself just recently.

“The Factionless who rescued me were part of a group obsessed with finding a way across the Waste. For years they failed at their attempts, always ending in someone’s horrific death. I should have been scared after hearing so many tales. But over the years, I realized that Night was no better. Every day people were dying from the war, or from a surge in the wild magic.”

Jaylen pauses and draws in a shaky breath.

“I realized that Death walked at my shoulder no matter what direction I traveled. So, I decided if I was going to die, it would be in a manner of my choosing. Not at the mercy of things I couldn’t control inside the boundaries of Night. So,” she says. “I set out across the Waste alone. And that was the day I found the monsters everyone talked about. Or rather, the wyrm found me.”

“Wyrm?” Asher asks, brow wrinkled.

“The thing that made those tunnels.”

“But you survived,” I say in awe.

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