Blinding light reflects in the mirrors, forcing Rian to shade his eyes. He’s turned away, ragged breath shaking out of him, but manages to peek between his fingers.
“Oh.Oh. Well—this changes things,” he murmurs in a daze.
I aim my palms toward his boots and blast out a bolt of fey.
His trouser cuffs catch with blue fire, which rapidly spreads up the fabric to lick at his already burned shirt. He scrambles backward, trying to pat out the brimfire with his one good hand.
He slams his back against the wall and rolls against the stones, but it does little to smother the flames.
A darkness rises in me. The predator closing in.
Suddenly, a wave of dark liquid splashes over Rian.
I blink, jolting out of my trance.
Basten pours the uncorked wine bottle over Rian’s clothes, extinguishing the blue flames, soaking him in blood-red merlot.
Rian collapses against the wall, slumped and struggling for breath, looking barely human in his wrecked clothes and burned skin. I’m not sure how he’s even still conscious.
He starts to sink to the floor slowly, but Basten grabs him by what’s left of his shirt collar and jerks him up.
“You don’t get the peace of a concussion,” he growls.
Rian’s eyes flutter, barely conscious. “Tell Sabine…that’s a hell of a party trick.”
As he coughs up phlegm, looking like a broken puppet with jumbled strings, the rage bleeds out of me.
My breath goes thin—I realize how close I came to killing him, and immediately throw my glamour back up, tugging on my ears until I feel them curve again.
My heart pounds hard, ashamed that I lost control. Then, I stumble over to where Basten has him up against the wall.
“What—what now?” I say breathlessly. “Do we kill him?”
“It’s what he deserves,” Basten vows, flashing his teeth. But then he lets out a long breath. “But we’re king and queen now. We have to do this right. Let the tribunals rule on his heresy, first.Thenwe can laugh at the gallows.”
I expect Rian to go white as limestone, but he only cackles instead. It turns into a cough. When he finally clears his throat, he cracks his eyes open—still some life in him.
“A fae?” Rian muses almost to himself, half-delirious. “I knew it. I mean…I didn’t know it…but Iknewit. Always knew there was more to you, songbird. Saw it the first time I laid eyes on you in that church nave. Let me guess… blue fire could be Thracia, but I’d bet my hand on Solene. No wonder the fucking birds worship you.”
My throat goes tight as I shift from foot to foot, cold in only my shift.
Once again, Rian sees me better than anyone. In one look, he can read the most closed-off person in the room. So, it should be no surprise that he sees me—reallyseesme—in a way few others do.
“That’s right,” I say, holding my chin high. “And it wasn’t wise for you, a mere human, to betray a goddess. You’d think a Valvere would know better.”
“Ah, but I’m not a Valvere, isn’t that the point?” He coughs again, wincing with every movement. “Basten wears the crown now. The kingdom has accepted him as their king. They’ve all turned their back on me—except the Golden Sentinels.”
Delirious as he seems, his eyes shine with cunning.
Basten tightens his hold on Rian’s collar, shoving him back harder against the wall. “Do your loyal Sentinels know you’ve been hiding here the whole time like a rat?”
Rian lifts one shoulder. “A rat, maybe, but one who could end this city’s war with a single word.” His eyes shift to mine, a cocky grin sliding over his blood-stained face. “I’ve overheard all kinds of things the past few days, songbird. You don’t want to work with Matron White? Fuck her. Youdon’tneed her. Let me go, and I’ll call my generals off. Order a surrender. The city will be yours. All the devastation and bloodshed ended in a snap.”
I stare at him, unblinking.
He’s… He’s… Gods, he’s so cunning that I’d almost laugh if I didn’t want to kill him so badly.
For a moment, the three of us, worn out, stare at one another, until finally, I turn away. “Let him go.”
