“Help me,” I whisper into the darkness. “Hala, help me. What does this mean?”
As the last word leaves my lips, the burning in my chest grows to a searing pain that makes me fold over, slamming my hands to my chest.
And when I straighten, gasping, an empty room greets me. My fingers reach out, and I turn my hand over. The light hasvanished, only my scratched palms from scrubbing the deck visible.
The banging at the door sends me scrambling away. “Selene. Open the door.”
Air pulses from my lips in short, trembling gasps. “Leave mealone.”
My voice cracks. And the door pushes open. I stare down at the floor, until his boots appear in front of me. My words are tired. “Do you have an issue with your hearing, Edgeborn?”
He kneels. “I have many issues. One of which is that your wrist is raw. What happened?”
My head still pounds. I don’t fight when he reaches for my arm. Callan is surprisingly gentle as he lifts it. “It’s nothing. It will heal.”
His fingers brush over the skin, avoiding the worst parts. “Some of these are older marks, Selene.”
I press my lips together, only unpeeling them when he waits for a response, seconds stretching out in the silence. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“Then how do I earn one?” He doesn’t look at my face, his gaze focused on my arm. Keeping my wrist in one large hand, he reaches for the pack at his side, digging through it. “This will help with the sting.”
He balances the small clay pot, unscrewing it and dipping his fingers inside. The pale gray paste cools my stinging skin. “What is that?”
“Some concoction from Matthias. I don’t know, truthfully, but they always seem to work.”
“Matthias?”
“Sol’s partner.” His lips twitch as he glances up, seeing my expression. “I know. Shockingly, thereissomeone out there who enjoys his company.”
I turn my face away. I don’t want to be amused by him. “I thought he was your friend.”
His fingers tighten, just barely. “He is. My closest, in fact. Solomon is a good male. But he struggles, being away from Matthias. He’s worried about what your arrival in Asteria might mean, when he has someone he loves waiting on the dock for him to return.”
My breathing stutters. “Why did Matthias not come with you?”
Callan’s lips twist. But it’s not a smile. “He was not permitted to leave.”
My brows furrow. I stay silent as he takes a strip of linen and winds it around my wrist with surprising skill, tucking the end carefully into place to create a neat-looking bandage.
His fingers trace the scarring that sits just above. “You were really there that day?”
Salt, and blood, and broken glass. Screaming. The bell. “Yes.”
His throat flexes, shimmering gold in the light. Bronze eyes fix on my face. “Then I am glad you survived. That somebody did.”
When he shifts back, I flip my wrist, grabbing hold of his arm. “There were no others? Not one is left? Nobody will be there?”
Nyx. Celeste. Erena. Mother. Deva. Maiden. Crone. Aylina.
So many faeytes. So many bright lights.
The swirling bronze darkens. “No. I’m sorry, Selene. Truly.”
The familiar rage surges, leaps in the bottom of my stomach. “You killed them all. Wereyouthere that day, Edgeborn? Did you see them?”
He does not look away from my anger. “Yes. I was there.”
I fight for breath. “And the others? Esmeray? Riordan?”
