“She might know, brother,” she continued in the same steely calm voice, “because she didn’t infiltrate the Den with us. She didn’t join the fray untilafterwe’d sealed it off and Aiden had blown up the tunnel to the palace.”
Maz twisted to look up at me. “When I heard you joined the fight, I thought maybe you’d found them after you were done with Ruru. To have Aiden’s back, like I asked, remember?”
The question almost sounded like a plea. As if he knew something was off and didn’t want it to be true. Or he was reading the guilt in my expression and my silence.
But I owed him the truth. He deserved to know why he’d lost part of his clan.
“No,” I whispered. “I came from the palace.”
I ignored the murmurs that echoed through the room, focusing on the tightness in Maz’s face.
“Why?”
“Because I was trying to stop Aiden from killing my father.”
Maz recoiled, but still held my hand. “Your father? But who...”
Suddenly, I couldn’t stand it any longer. The lies. The secrets. They murdered any peace of mind I’d once had.
I stared deeply into his eyes, wrapping my other hand around ours. “I was born Princess Emilia Torvaine. My father was KingWeylin Torvaine. Renwell placed me in Aiden’s cell to learn his secrets and betray you all.”
Chapter 2
Kiera
For a moment,nothing. Nothing but suspended air and sound.
Then the room detonated like one of Nikella’s bombs. Shouts rose from every corner. Maz’s sisters shot forward as one, unsheathing their weapons. Twin blurs of movement darkened my periphery—Nikella and Aiden reaching for their own weapons.
But I couldn’t look away from Maz’s stricken expression. The strength bled from his grip, and I let his hand fall away from me.
Tears burned behind my eyes. “I’m sorry, Maz.”
Outraged questions and accusations hurled around me like arrows shot from bows, but I was numb to them. Sharp blades waved around me, but I couldn’t bring myself to grab my own.
Maz dragged his hand over his bearded face, then clenched it into a fist and slammed it on the floor. “SHUT UP!” he roared.
I flinched. Everyone else drew backward, falling silent.
He looked at me, his eyes swimming with pain and disappointment. “Why?” he croaked. “Gods damn it, why?”
The tears I’d held back for days suddenly spilled over. “Because I thought you all were the enemy. I thought you were going to harm my family.”
“So you decided to take out ours instead?” Sigrid hissed, still tapping her sword against her thigh as if she’d love nothing more than to plunge it into my gut. She gestured to Maz. “You handed our brother over to betorturedeven after you came to know him?”
“No!” I blurted out, reaching out to reassure Maz before pulling back. “No, I would never give someone to Korvin. That’s why I told Renwell when the attack was taking place. I was trying to save you.”
I heard a sharp intake of breath. Aiden?
Something cleared in Maz’s eyes. “You. You were the woman I heard screaming when... when Korvin had me.”
I nodded, dashing away my tears. “I had to give Renwell a shred of what he wanted, or he would’ve never let me leave with you.”
Maz’s forehead dropped back to his cot. “You should’ve left me. My life is worth sacrificing for my kin and our allies.”
“I’m sorry, Maz,” I whispered again.
I shakily stood up, my gaze passing over the shadowed faces around me. Davka and Sigrid still looked murderous, but there was a flicker of understanding in Yarina’s eyes. The expressions of the other Dags and bone-rattlers ranged from confused to contemptuous.
