Chapter 14
Kiera
What in the deep,dark, wandering hell wasRenwelldoing here? Had my mind broken under the weight of all the horror it’d experienced tonight?
I wanted to check on Yarina, but couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He looked the way I was used to—plain black cloak, gloves, and boots, his dark hair and beard shadowing his pale, gaunt face. No Rellmiran crown or royal clothes in sight.
Then again, he never enjoyed drawing attention to himself until his bloody schemes were successful.
The only thing that had changed was the handful of silver scars that crisscrossed over his face.
I felt a grim satisfaction knowing that he hadn’t left our last encounter unscathed.
“Look at you,” he murmured, stepping closer. His eyes glowed with a rare pride that sickened me. “Just how I always pictured you.”
“Fighting for my life against your Wolves?” I spat, trying to hide the way my body shook.
“Wielding my blade.” He nodded to the sunstone sword in my clenched fists. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“It feels like death. Something I’ve seen too much of lately. Because of you.”
The furrows in his cheeks deepened. “You seem to have no trouble dealing death to my Wolves.”
“Neither do you,” I retorted, gesturing at the body by my feet. I remembered what Nikella had said back at camp.He doesn’t remove a piece from the board unless it’s no longer of use to him.“Why did you kill him?”
Renwell tilted his head to the side. “I think you know the answer to that.”
I scowled. “You want something from me.”
“You betrayed me. Tried to kill me. Ran off with my enemies. What could I possibly want from you?”
“Thenwhydid you save me just now? Why spare my life when I escaped?” I ground out.
He stayed silent. His dark gaze slowly scraped over me, leaving me feeling raw and vulnerable.
My heart beat faster with every passing moment. I’d never admit it, but I desperately wanted to know if Nikella was wrong. I hated him, yes. But that hatred was rooted in pain. Pain that all the time he spent training and protecting me had everything to do with his plotting and nothing to do with care for me.
Shouts echoed from afar. The square still smoldered around us. Renwell ignored it all, acting as if we were back in his study playing a simple game of Death and Four.
He stepped closer to me, his gaze unblinking. “You’re still trying to find a weakness where there is none.”
“Everyone has a weakness,” I breathed, my grip tightening on the sword. “You just hide yours better than most.”
“And you display yours for all to see. Speaking of which, I’m surprised you haven’t asked about your brother and sister. Or do you no longer care for them now that you have a new family?” Hepointedly glanced at the square full of bodies. “Although you do seem to keep losing any family you have.”
Fury streaked through my veins. The sword twitched in my hands. Renwell’s smirk curved into something predatory.
“What did you do with Everett and Delysia?” I growled.
He held out a gloved hand and beckoned to me like a dog. “Come with me and find out.”
I wanted to slice off his hand with the sword he loved so much.
“I’m not your apprentice anymore, Renwell,” I snarled. “I will never follow your orders again.”
“Not even to save your siblings?”
