My stomach twists, and I think I might be sick.
She left. I built up everything in my mind, everything I was going to say to her, everything I was going to apologize for, but then she arrived with the Hollowborn, and he had his arm around her like she belonged to him. Which, technically, she does. She’s his bride.
It doesn’t matter that she’ll be ours tomorrow.
I look at my brothers, hoping to see some sign of the direction we should go, but I see nothing. They’re hiding it well, but I’ve known them forever. They’re heartbroken. And they don’t have a clue how to handle this situation.
Heartbroken.The word echoes through me. I didn’t want the Hollowborn to be cruel to Harper, but there wasn’t a world where I imagined she’d… like him. A world where she’d seem closer to him than to us. A world where he would be vulnerable with her in a way we can’t.
That sick feeling churns up inside of me again, and I just open my mouth without thinking. “What the actual fuck?”
It wasn’t what I meant to say, but maybe it’s better than what would’ve tumbled out if I’d given it more time. Some pathetic pleading that she tells me she loves me and not him. Heat bites at the back of my eyes as I wait for her answer.
“What?” Harper asks, big hazel eyes staring up at me.
Her blonde hair has been tousled by the wind, by her ride with Ebron and the Hollowborn. Her cheeks are still flushed from the wind. She looks entirely like the Harper from my taunting dreams last night, and yet, everything is different.
I draw in a deep breath. “Tell us what the hell is going on with you and the Hollowborn.”
She doesn’t look surprised, just hesitant. “It’s complicated.”
“Harper,” Gareth says sharply, not wanting to be played with.
A fierce look comes over her face. “Fine. The truth is that from the moment Sevrin married me, he’s been nothing but kind and wonderful. He treats me… like a queen. Like I’mhisqueen. He’s gentle with me. He listens to me. And I feel… cared for by him.”
I turn away from her and drag my hands over my face, trying to gain control over my emotions, but it doesn’t work. Looking back at her, I say, “And what does that mean for us?”
She shrugs. Actually shrugs. “I don’t really know what you want from me. I know Sevrin wants me as his wife, his partner, his lover, and the mother of his children, but none of you have made it clear what your expectations are for this marriage.”
“Bullshit,” Alaric grumbles.
I realize my jaw is hanging open and close it. “That’s not what the savage actually wants. He’s just telling you what you want to hear.”
“Why?” she asks, cocking her head at me.
“Why?” I suddenly can’t think.
“Yeah, why would he lie about what he wants from me in a marriage?”
“Because he’s a Hollowborn!”
She looks at me like I’m stupid. “He’s more than that.”
“This is shit,” Gareth mutters.
“Sevrin has never lied to me or tried to deceive me. He’s been open and honest since our first encounter.”
“She says before she finds the knife in her back,” I say to my brothers, with a humorless laugh.
A warning flashes in her eyes, and her back stiffens. “You guys seem like you really want to focus on who Sevrin is, and what he wants with me, but you have nothing to say about whatyouwant with me. Maybe you’re the ones I should be afraid of.”
“Us? You know us,” Alaric says, and even I can hear the heartbreak in his voice.
She studies him. “Do I?”
Of course she knows us. This is stupid.“The fucking Hollowborn has just put all kinds of ideas in your head, that’s what the problem is. It has nothing to do with us.”
She looks baffled. “How many ways do I have to phrase this? How many different ways do we need to approach this? What do you want with me?”
