If they refused to take in Heidi left her to fend for herself?—
There’s no way she survived. She’s dead.
My sister is dead.
My lungs feel like they’re collapsing. Oh, my fucking gods. I failed her. I was too caught up in my grief after losing Maven to think clearly. I failed to protect her from our family. She probably died terrified and alone in some horrific circumstances, and?—
Too late, I see the gleam of freshly summoned ice in my father’s hand. It’s sharp as a dagger, and he’s already thrusting it up toward my chest when something blurs between us, roughly knocking me aside.
Glass shatters. Alaric shouts as he’s tackled through the window by none other than Baelfire.
Who is now falling to his own death.
Maven shouts in frantic alarm, and that sound makes my chest clench painfully. I’m still in shock when Crypt swears and races forward to leap out the window next, dropping into Limbo immediately.
I scramble to the edge of the penthouse, my heart pounding as I watch Baelfire’s careening form getting smaller the further he falls. Godsdamn it, he can’t shift to save himself. Even a shifter can’t survive a fall from this distance?—
But like a blip, Crypt appears, grabs Baelfire, and then they both disappear before hitting the ground.
I exhale, relief flooding me so quickly that I get lightheaded.
When I hear Maven breathe out in equal relief beside me, I realize how closely and fearlessly she’s standing next to the ledge. I immediately grip her around the waist to pull her away from danger. Silas is still zoned out in his insanity, etching runes into one of the shards of ice nearby and whispering to the voices in his head.
Maven protests my fussiness, insisting she’s fine, but I’m too busy taking stock of every inch of her. She’s covered in gasoline, dirt, blood, and soot. Her wrists are red from how tightly theytied her to the stake, but despite the rips and tears in her straitjacket and clothes, she’s okay.
“Everett,” she murmurs, making me realize she’s been repeating my name as I’ve been analyzing any tiny nicks or cuts on her. She cups my face, making me look at her. My chest squeezes again, seeing the gentleness in her gaze. That boundless concern. “Are you okay?”
“You just had your identity revealed on live television. You were laughed at and wrongly convicted, and then you were almost burned at the stake for the entire remaining world to see,” I point out angrily. “Of course, I’m not fucking okay. I need to get you back to Everbound. Back to safety. If Douglas is still alive, we’ll have him transport us back immediately, and I’ll send a team here to raid the place for anything useful, including the etherium shielding?—”
“I meant your parents,” she interrupts gently, glancing at my mother’s motionless body. “I know your relationship with your family wasn’t ideal, but…”
Oh. She thinks their deaths are upsetting me.
At one time, years ago, I would have been heartbroken. Back then, I thought family meant family, no matter how cruel, and people owed each other just for sharing blood. In a warped, manipulated way, I loved my parents and their quintet and did anything I could to make them happy. To be a perfect heir.
Now? I haven’t had them twisting my arm in so long that I can see why Silas and Baelfire and even Crypt constantly criticized my family while we were growing up.
Whenever my parents took me to the Decimuses to “make allies” with other strong legacy children, I pretended not to notice how different Baelfire’s family was from mine. Still, he never missed the chance to point out how awfully my family treated me in comparison. A long time ago, before it ever enteredmy mind to go off on my own, Silas was the one who first suggested I get myself emancipated early.
They knew. It took years, but I get it now.
I shared blood with the Frosts, and I looked like my father, but I’m not them. And now that my sister is gone, I have only one person to mourn and no family to speak of.
I'm…whatever my quintet is.
A mess, basically.
But one I'm proud of.
I kiss Maven’s forehead, using one of my straitjacket sleeves to wipe gasoline and soot from her pretty face. “One less thing to threaten our quintet. I’m fine, Snowdrop.”
She studies me for a moment before her lips curl up slightly. “I was right. Angry Everett is definitely a sight to behold.”
Crypt finally steps out of Limbo into the frozen penthouse, letting Baelfire stumble into one of the nearby walls. The Nightmare Prince immediately stoops to pick up those godsdamned fingers that he apparently dropped before turning and offering them to Maven, entirely earnest as he gazes at her hopefully.
“Forgive me now, love?”
I gag at the sight of the bloody fingers this disturbed freak is pretending are flowers. Meanwhile, Maven’s lips twitch like she’s charmed and trying not to smile.
