There was no answer.
Lily carefully made her way through the debris and listened for any sign of life as she moved deeper into the house, stepping carefully around the tangled mess of wood and stone. The remnants of Oskar’s past stared back at her, a poignant reminder of what he’d lost.
“Lily?”
She turned and suddenly, there he was. He stood in the doorway behind her, leaning unsteadily against the frame. He looked dirty and battered, but uninjured as far as she could tell.
Her heart soared at the sight of him. How long had it been since she’d seen him last? It felt like a lifetime.
She wanted to run to him, throw her arms around him and lose herself in the feel of him, but something about his stance stopped her.
He seemed wary, like an animal that would bolt if she came too close.
“Oskar,” she whispered, taking a cautious step towards him. “Are you all right?”
“Lily?” Oskar repeated, his voice hoarse and raspy. “Is this real or am I dreaming?”
“It’s real,” Lily replied. “I found you.”
Oskar stared at her a moment as if he couldn’t trust the evidence of his own eyes. His gaze was haunted, full of pain.
“How did ye get free?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Ye should go, Lily. It isnae safe for ye here. Ye need to get away from me.”
Ignoring Oskar’s plea, Lily stepped forward and reached out to him, her fingers brushing against his soot-stained cheek. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
He reached up and removed her hand. His chest was heaving with emotion and she could see the turmoil in his eyes as he stared down at her.
“Dear God, Lily,” he said. “Ye dinna know how much I’ve dreamed of this. Of how much I’ve missed ye.” His expression hardened. “But ye canna be near me. It isnae safe. The things I’ve done, the people that are after me—”
“You mean the stories about how you’ve turned traitor? The stories about how you broke Alfred Brewer out of gaol? I don’t believe a word of them.”
“Then ye should!” he snapped, pulling away from her. “Because they are true! All of them! I led my old gang into the gaol and freed one of the Disinherited. I broke my oath to the Order of the Osprey. I betrayed everything I’ve ever believed in! And now they are coming for me. It willnae be long before they arrive. Ye need to leave.”
Lily stood her ground, her resolve unwavering despite Oskar’s hostility. She could see the conflict in his eyes, the battle between the man she knew and the ghost of the one he thought he was.
“I can’t begin to understand what’s going on or what’s happened with Alfred and the Order, but I know that Eberwyn is at the center of it. The things you’re accused of are not who you are. They’re just the actions of a man who had no choice.”
His eyes searched hers. “Ye dinna understand the depths of what I’ve done. I’ve destroyed the Order of the Osprey.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was all a trap,” he said. “Right from the beginning. Eberwyn had me steal a seal from Kai and he used it to forge orders, make it look like my rescue of Alfred Brewer had been sanctioned by the Order itself. If Kai and Conall are convicted, it will bring down the whole of the Order. Because of me.”
“Because ofEberwyn!” Lily snapped. “He used you, Oskar. He manipulated you. He’s the one responsible for all of this, not you!”
“No, Lily. I had a choice and I chose to—”
“Fine!” she cried, throwing up her hands. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“I dinna understand what ye—”
“If you’re so determined to take responsibility for someone else’s actions, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to hide here, wallowing in self-pity or are you going to fix it?”
“Self-pity?” he growled, sounding a little more like his old self. “This isnae self-pity—”
