Topp was silent, his bright green eyes already bracing for what was to come.
“The Nightshade Market got raided. Maybe that was my fault too, I don’t know. But I got her out. Took the tunnels to a shut-down spot, but when we exited into the square, someone saw me. I didn’t have my face covered.” Her head thudded against the wall. She should have had her face covered.
“Where’s Beatriz, Lys?”
Eyes finally glistening, her throat burned as she choked out the words. “She’s d-dead. A man threw a dagger at me, and she tackled me. It should have been me.” A muffled sob escaped her as she clapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking, and slid down to a crouch.
The bed creaked as Topp stood, dropping to the floor beside her, so he could reach one large, warm arm around her. Pulling her into his side, he rested his chin on her head.
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. Long enough that his shirt became stained with salty tears and her eyes were raw. Wrapping her fingers into his, she whispered, “I never should have gone there. I wanted her to make me feel better about what I have to do. It was selfish and reckless. You shouldhave seen Lily.”
His palm was familiar against hers as his thumb brushed against her skin. “What do you have to do?”
“Fix things before it’s too late.”
He leaned back so he could see her face, his gaze scanning over her. “Why do I feel like you’re about to do something stupid? Like stab a nearly immortal king at a ball stupid?”
Her face was blank, her emotions draining out of her until she was empty and blunt. “Stabbing your father wasn’t in the plan. He went off script. Imagine if the fucker had just died…” She winced, realizing who she was talking to, but the prince just nodded darkly in agreement.
“Should I be worried?”
“Probably,” she admitted.
His groan was heavy in his chest. “I know better than to think you’ll tell me, but I wish you would.”
She stretched out one leg, knocking her boot against his. “Where are you going now that you don’t need to keep enticing the gods?”
Topp considered this, waving his hand to keep the orb lights from dimming. “If what you’re saying is true, then maybe it’s time to focus on my own plans.” Elysia tensed, and he frowned. “What?”
She bit down on her lip, unsure of what she could tell him, but she’d had enough death. She knew there would likely be more before all of this was done, but after today, she didn’t care what rules it broke to tell him.
“You need to be careful. Whatever you’ve been thinking, I would scrap it and come up with a different plan.”
Absorbing this information, his eyes shone in calculation. “Slow down and regroup.”
She nodded. “Garrison isn’t mortal anymore. I know he’s working up to sailing for Sagondia, and it feels like time is running out, but you’re going to need more than a half-cocked plan run on emotion.” She faced him fully, her gaze taking in his familiarspread of freckles and electric presence. “You need to let other people help you. Maybe even the gods.”
“Ouch.” He clapped his hands against his chest like he’d been struck. “Is that what you thought I was going to do? Run in screaming and try to stab the bastard in broad daylight like someone else we know did?”
She slumped back tiredly. “Maybe.”
“I’ll be thoughtful, alright? Maybe I’ll go to Oren, but I hate to leave Rollie here with that emotionless bitch. Gods know what they’ll do together.”
“He loves her, doesn’t he?”
“Thinks she’s brilliant.”
Elysia laughed hollowly, but Topp was looking at her again a little too knowingly.
“Why aren’t you in the Deathlands doing this with him?”
She twisted her fingers together but said nothing.
Topp sighed, running his fingers through his wood-brown hair. He opened and shut his mouth more than once as he tried to find the words. “Lys, don’t make the same mistake we did. If you went to Beatriz, that means you feel bad about whatever it is you think you need to do. He’s not really in a place to judge you, just tell him whatever it is.”
Elysia slid him a look. “It’s annoying when you pay attention.”
“Everyone always thinks I’m all brawn and no brains, but I can work a thing or two out.” He grinned and she scoffed.
