He had looked so furious, so masculine, and heartbreakingly beautiful. She’d nearly unraveled before my eyes, and no matter how fiercely I clawed at my thoughts, I couldn’t rid myself of the image of Kael taking her to that final, ruinous release.
I’d fled before I’d see the end of it, blind with tears, like a child whose heart had shattered for the very first time.
And since that night, one question had haunted every waking hour.
Why?
Why do what he’d done to me in the lavatorium, only to run and take Selena afterward?
The memories were quickly replaced by something else. Kael’s touch, his breath ghosting my skin, the roughness of his movements, the sting of his teeth.
I just didn’t understand. How could he claim to want me—so fiercely, so utterly—and then turn to another woman the very same night? Selena, of all people?
Maybe it had always been her. I mean, there’d been signs. MaybeIhad been the other woman without knowing it. The thought made my stomach twist.
I turned toward the mirror, my reflection pale in my night shift beneath the wash of dawn. The bite marks and bruises had finally faded. Lo had questioned me far too shrewdly after the ball. But he hadn’t seen the other mark.
The scar.
Where Kael’s power had struck me.
Dark pink veins wound from my shoulder like roots through soil, branching into the hollow of my neck and tracing down toward my elbow. I touched it, traced it with my finger, and the thought of Kael’s mark no longer seemed so abhorrent, only dangerously alluring. If Lo ever saw it, he’d know the truth—that I hadn’t fallen in the gallery or stumbled into a hedge of thorns.
One day, I would tell him what had truly happened. Just not yet. I wasn’t ready. How could I explain something I barely understood myself?
I dressed slowly. A teal wool tunic cinched at the waist over dark brown leather breeches. The collar climbed high enough to hide the scar. I tied my hair into a loose knot at the nape and stepped into my worn brown boots. Today, I would head to the mountain.
For twelve days I had buried myself in work, anything to keep from thinking of Kael, of Selena, of the way his hands had moved upon her and the bitter envy that thought awakened.
Instead, I focused on the blight, tracing its reach through the woods, mapping where the corruption had spread. So far, none of the other farms had been touched, which led me to suspect the Bracks’ goat had carried the disease to their land.
When they’d shown me where the herd had grazed, I’d searched the soil and found more of those black vines, thick and twisted, erupting from the earth and corrupting everything near them.
Today, I would climb higher, above the woods and up the mountain’s flank. I felt certain the heart of it lay above. I packed my satchel with care—research notes, a handful of nuts, a scrap of bread—and slung it over my shoulder.
I had no intention of being near the castle today.
I opened the door, only to find Lo mid-knock. He wore the tabard for outside-the-castle business, blue fabric gleaming faintly in the morning light.
“Lo!” I gasped, startled. “What are you doing here?”
He swept past me in a flourish, all righteous purpose and impatience, turning on his heel the instant I shut the door. Arms crossed, chin high, the picture of confrontation.
“Evie, darling, be honest with me.”
I blinked, caught between confusion and dread. “W-what do you mean?”
“You’ve been acting strange ever since the ball.”
Maybe today was the day I’d tell him after all.
“And you know what’s even stranger?” he pressed, eyes narrowing dramatically. “Kael has buried himself in some investigation about weapon smuggling and never sets foot in the castle anymore. I’m always on the move! Do you know how dreadful it is to chase the Court Wizard around being this handsome? Did something happen between you two?”
“I—”
“Don’t lie,” he cut in, wagging a finger. “You’re terrible at it.”
I drew a long, steady breath, exhaled slowly, buying myself a heartbeat, maybe two.
