“Can you think of anything?”
I sighed. “When we were little, there was a stall in the market that sold candied pear slices. Rheya would steal them.”
Kairos caressed my back. “It’ll come to you.”
The memory hovered out of reach, a shape in fog I couldn’t grab. I was failing her.
I rubbed my eyes. “I feel so useless.”
“You’re not.”
“I can’t save her. I can’t break the deal. I can’t figure out what she wants me to remember about pear trees. Some sister I am.”
“You raised her by yourself.”
“And then I handed her to him.”
“You made an impossible choice to protect her.”
Gods, I wanted to believe him. I exhaled slowly, forcingmy shoulders to drop. I couldn’t do anything for Rheya except stay alive and find that seal.
I slipped off the bed.
Kairos caught my waist, reeling me back to him.
“Should we go to the council?” I whispered.
He looked wrecked. Dark shadows bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and the calm he’d worn in front of Vaeris was gone.
I touched his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Vaeris,” he bit out. “The way he talks to you.”
I blinked. “You think I’m falling for it?”
His throat worked. “I think he’s trying to drive a wedge in between us.”
Theusvibrated through me like someone plucked a string in my heart.
“He’s good at watching people,” Kairos said hoarsely. “Learning what they fear, what they want. With you, he’s using all the tricks.”
I shrugged. “Well, it’s not working.”
Kairos’s eyes searched mine desperately. “He spoke to you like you’re his. It made mesick.”
I grabbed his neck, pulling him closer. “Even if he meant everything he said, I’d never choose him. Not over you.” I stroked his cheek. “You’re the one I trust.”
His jaw flexed like he was forcing something down. He didn’t say it back, or that I was his, or any of the things I suddenly wanted to hear.
“Council,” he said roughly. “Then we find a way to burn his plans to ash.”
His hand slipped from my waist, and the loss of his warmth was jarring. He turned toward the door without looking at me again.
The faint pressure tugged north. Vaeris didn’t have to tell me where he was anymore. He had stitched the answer in the deal, a nauseating thread that tightened every hour.
We gathered in the war room, Elwen, Uther, and Lioren filing in behind us.
Uther dropped into a chair, his jaw tight. “I’m going to kill him. Slowly. With my teeth. Just so everyone’s clear on that.”
