“Self-preservation, my dear Sunny,” Markam said. “You must take care to learn about it.”
He drove the blade into the rat’s belly.
“Markam has always been good at such things,” Azariah said, as she settled beside Thali and tried very hard not to look at the rat blood pooling on the cave floor. “I don’t know that he needs any help in saving himself.”
Sonara turned. “You.”
Azariah blinked back at her.
“Youdid this. You brought us to this damned place, and for what?”
“Leave her,” Thali commanded. “The Lady doesn’t answer to you.”
Sonara chuckled. “TheLadycan speak if she damn well pleases. She hired us to come here.Sheis going to explain what in the hell just happened at the Gathering, and what we’re to do next to get them toleavethis place. No one told us we’d be waiting for a bloody massacre. Did you know it would come to this?”
“That depends, Devil,” Thali said. “Did the princess know that the very person she hired would murder one of the Wanderers, instigatingsaidmassacre?”
Sonara felt her blood thrumming in her ears. “It wasn’t me.”
Still, the guilt inside of her raged.
“Wasn’t it, though?” Markam asked.
Sonara whirled around.
He held up his hands. “It’s a simple observation, Sunny. It was your hand that drove the sword in.”
“Mycurse,”Sonara said, not for the first time. “It made me do it.”
“It is because you are weak,” Thali answered. “The Children of Shadow were never meant to be controlled by their great magic.”
“There you go again, uttering nonsense.” Sonara closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe deeply, to will her pressing need todestroyfar, far away. She’d already done enough damage. And that blasted word—magic—wherever Thali had learned it, kept coming up. It sounded like some ridiculous term from the goddesses. From people who stared up at the stars each night and whispered their prayers to something long dead and dormant.
“It is not nonsense,” Azariah answered softly. “Thali has taught me everything I know. My magic has become an asset. A friend.”
“Yeah?” Sonara whirled on her. “And where was yourassetwhen we needed it during the attack? You could have blasted them all away with your lightning. You could have helpedeveryoneget free with the power that lives in your veins, and yet all you did was run.”
Azariah did not move an inch. The flames of the fire were reflected in her dark eyes, as if she were a devil herself.
“Why?” Sonara asked. “Why did you donothing?”
Azariah’s face remained passive.
They glared at each other from across the fire as Markam sighed and said, “Because she knew the attack would happen.”
The words swept across the cave like a secret.
“Markam.” Azariah looked at him with eyes burning like embers. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head and barked out a cold laugh. “I’m a fool for agreeing to help you when you came running to me. I think you knew exactly what would happen here. I think you let it happen because you care more about getting your hands on the Antheon than you care about your own kingdom. Your own people.”
“Oh, you’re one to talk,Trickster,”the princess spat. But there was pain in her voice, pain twisting her features. “Do we need to go over what happened in your short stay at Stonegrave? All you cared about was using me to get wealthier. It didn’t matter that you stomped over my heart in the process!”
Sonara glanced between the two of them, their auras becoming too much for her to bear.
Not quite hatred.
But it burned close enough.
