Melaena shrieked when I barged into her room, and guilt pinched me when I remembered her fear over the last intrusion she experienced.
But I was nearly feverish with desperation.
I demanded to know if she’d ever told Kiera about my plan, the little Melaena knew about it. And she said no.
“What’s going on, Aiden?” she gasped, clutching her dressing robe around her. “I thought she was trying to save your life. She loves you!”
“No, she doesn’t!” I roared. I shoved my hands through my wild hair. “It was a lie. It was all a lie. She betrayed me.”
I rushed out the door with Melaena calling my name. I hurried back through the tunnel, hardly noticing the crushing fear I usually felt in dark, cramped spaces.
On a whim, I quickly inventoried all the items in the warehouse—the ones Kiera had been so interested in—but they all seemed to be there.
“What was your game, little thief?” I muttered, slamming the door and locking it behind me. “And did you win?”
I ran down the street leading to the main road, turned a corner, and barreled into two Shadow-Wolves. Thatthingthat had been snapping and snarling in my chest, pushing against the bars of its cage since Kiera had leapt at me with her mother’s knife, suddenly broke free.
I whipped out my knives and slashed at the Wolves. They ducked and evaded, unsheathing their own knives. That damned black sunstone.
I roared again, with rage, with heartbreak, and attacked again and again. They kicked me, adding more pain on the outside to equal the inside.
I stabbed one in the chest, but the other kicked the back of my knee. I fell. But I blocked his downward strike and slammed my knife into his gut. I shoved his body off my blade. I didn’t even stop to see if they lived or died. I simply moved on, covered in blood and bruises.
Limping my way down the cliff road, I spiedMynastra’s Wingsstill in the harbor. That was a good sign. I got closeenough to the ship to ensure all was well before turning around. I couldn’t face Maz. Not like this. Not with Kiera’s betrayal. It would cut deeper than Korvin’s knife had.
I froze, placing a bloody hand on a wall to steady myself. Gods, had she known about that too? Was that her fault?
No, she’d been devastated by what happened. Or was it guilt?
Fucking Four, I was going mad.
I stumbled to the Docks room I rented. The first one I’d brought her to after our escape. I collapsed into one of the hammocks, closing my eyes, reliving every moment with her. Searching for more lies. Had she felt anything for me? Or was I simply a mark?
My doubts chased me into my dreams.
When I woke, at least a few answers had revealed themselves. I rose, washed myself, and sent a note to Nikella via messenger.
It was near noon by the time she showed up. She entered the room with her staff. “Aiden.”
“Nikella.” I swallowed hard. “Did she wake?”
Nikella gave a curt nod. “I gave her food and water like you said but kept her tied up. I gave her more dreamdew before I left. I gave the whistler and the knives to Ruru and made him fetch these for you.”
She slung a pack off her back and pulled out my twin swords, the ones I usually kept in the underground training room of the Temple. She had smuggled them in a few years ago, but I never used them outside the Temple because they were too hard to hide.
But I wasn’t hiding tonight.
I rested the long, slightly curved swords in their black leather sheaths next to the crates of bombs Librius and Nikella had made.
“Are you sure about this, Aiden?”
“Yes. She didn’t know enough about my plan to destroy it. I checked everything and everyone last night. We’re secure.”
“What will you do with her?”
My jaw tightened. “I’ll go back for her when it’s over. I’ll set her loose to return to her brother when he wears the crown.”
Nikella pursed her lips. “You won’t just be killing Weylin anymore, Aiden. You’ll be killing her father. Right after she found out you killed her mother.”
