A glance passed between the brothers. Even now, with this weird…tensionbetween them, there was still a unity there.
But when Octavian twisted towards me again, I could see the anger still raging beneath his skin. And once again I wondered if that beast inside him was truly gone after all.
“Mordren offered us a deal,” he said, his voice a low, lethal earthquake. “But none of us is going to take it.”
“Precisely,” Radven agreed with a shrug. “So now we have to decide what our next move will be.”
I glanced at Alastor, who was watching his brothers like an older sibling who expected a fight to break out any moment. I noticed the furrow in his brow got deeper when it came to Octavian.
“You guys aren’t telling me something,” I said.
Before any of them could answer me, though, there were footsteps at the end of the corridor.
It was Talon. Despite the sheer exhaustion he must have been feeling—both physically and mentally—he looked nearly as chipper as the first time I’d seen him, just a bit worn around the edges. A couple of his birds were with him, one on each shoulder, and they looked a little worse for wear themselves.
Talon’s kohl-rimmed eyes went to Octavian first, then his brothers, then finally to me, where I stood fidgeting at the bedroom door.
“I told Ary to make sure you got to bed,” he told me.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said.
“You’re shaking,” he commented, his eyes flicking down to my fidgeting fingers.
The brothers all twisted to look at me, and I felt a flush rise to my cheeks beneath their scrutinizing gazes. I knew I needed to tell them what was going on with theshiver, but I didn’t want to say too much with Talon here.
“It’s… Stress has a tendency of building up,” I said. “And sometimes it has nowhere to go.”
I hoped that was obvious enough, and Radven gave me an almost-imperceptible nod to show he understood. Octavian, meanwhile, was looking a bit stricken, as if he was upset he hadn’t noticed my condition earlier.
Not that either of them could do anything.
“Ivo has some herbs that should help you relax and sleep,” Talon said. “I’ll have him bring them by your room.”
I had a feeling I was being dismissed.
I looked to the brothers, hoping we could continue our earlier conversation, but Octavian—who’d calmed down quite a bit since Talon’s appearance—said, “Go lie down. I’ll come by and check on you as soon as I can.”
Well, that was clear enough. I wasn’t going to get any more answers out of these guys. Not right now, anyway.
Obediently, I stepped back into the room, shutting the door behind me. But I stayed right next to it, ear pressed close so I could hear what they were discussing outside.
“No need to update me on the situation,” Talon said. “My little ones told me everything.”
“And I’m sure you have plenty of thoughts on the matter,” Radven said, with an exasperated edge to his voice. “But may I suggest we move somewhere more private before you regale us with youropinions?”
“Whatever you wish, of course.” I could hear the teasing smile in Talon’s voice, as if he were equal parts amused and annoyed by the other man’s dislike of him.
And then four sets of footsteps retreated down the corridor, apparently with little sympathy for curious eavesdroppers.
Why can’t anyone ever just tell me what the hell is going on?
I was too restless to lie down, and there was still no way I was ever going to fall asleep—even if I wanted to risk the nightmares I was sure I’d find.
I can’t take this anymore.I had so little control overanythinghere—and I was tired of being in the dark. Tired of things happeningtome, instead of the other way around.
Tonight—with all the death around me, and my sheer helplessness in the face of it all—was a wakeup call. I couldn’t just put blinders on and pretend this was a game, or a real-life Ren Faire. The truth would always catch up with me.
Which meant actuallylearningthe truth, once and for all.
