“Ty, you didn’t fail—”
Just then, a loud boom of thunder sounded, and the sky opened up as large, wet flakes of snow began to fall. Ena released her one-handed hold on the reins to pull her cloak hood up, shielding her head from the onslaught.
“I’m gonna ride ahead and scout for a good place to camp,” Ty said, and without preamble, he kicked his horse into a trot, leaving Ena behind, wondering what the fuck had just happened.
Turner fell back beside her, a questioning look on his face. “What was that about?” he asked, the snow layering in his dirty-blond hair.
Ena sighed, feeling both annoyed and confused by that interaction with Ty. But she supposed it was time that someone told Turner what had happened.
“Before we left the Underworld, we sort of…broke up,” she said. Ena was surprised to find that a lump immediately filled her throat at the words, as if her body rejected them, and she had to look down at her hands to hide the tears that filled her eyes.
“I deduced that,” Turner said gently. “Do you want to tell me why? You guys seemed so…”
“We were,” Ena said, cutting him off before she could hear him fully describe the way they’d been. “But, we realized—Irealized—that it can’t last because he’s the heir. There’s no way we can be together in the Underworld forever. It’s not safe for either of us.”
“I see,” Turner said, his face grave. “You know, he didn’t exactly choose it. Being the heir, I mean.”
“I know,” Ena said. The concept was still new to her—how someone could be born to this role, rather than chosen—but she understood. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s what he is, and he can’t change it. I see how much the Underworld needs him, and how important it is to him to take care of them, so…I just…I have to let him go. Letusgo. I see that now,” she said, attempting to sound stoic, but her voice wobbled slightly.
“And you think you can? Just let him go?” Turner asked sincerely.
“I don’t know, but I’m trying,” Ena said quietly. “And I have responsibilities, too, to my family, and my Coven, that I need to uphold, so I’m trying to focus on that. Because doing this, breaking the bond, there’s a good chance I’ll face some negative consequences from that decision.”
“You and me both,” Turner said.
And Ena was glad for that window, because she was more than happy to change the topic off of her and Ty and onto Turner.
“Now that you mention it, why did you leave?” she asked. “I mean, I know you wanted to help Ty and that you believe in what we’re doing. But don’t you have responsibilities, too, with theimperi?”
“It’s exactly those responsibilities that I’m running from, if I’m being honest,” he said, giving her a sheepish look.
“What do you mean? Why?”
“I don’t know how much Ty explained to you about what I do, and what my father does, for theimperi.”
“Not much,” she said. “Just that you were in charge of them.”
“Yeah, I guess you could put it that way,” he replied ruefully. “The truth is, sometimes that means keeping track of them and their health—under the magic of theimperaecollar, they often don’t take very good care of themselves. But, sometimes my father gave me other…tasks. I’ve had to do a lot of things I’m not proud of.”
Ena paused, wondering if she should push further. But if she knew Turner—and at this point she thought she did know him at least reasonably well—he was hurting, and it seemed like maybe he wanted to open up to her.
“What kind of things?” she asked gently.
“Well,” he sighed. “Cole is a suspicious bastard, as you probably already know. He would often force a daemon into animperaecollar for almost no reason at all. But it was our job, mine and my father’s, to extract information from them. To figure out if they were plotting against him.”
“You mean you…”
“Tortured them. Yes. My father would ask them questions, and if he sensed a lie—any lie at all—that was license to punish them, so it was my job to…cause pain, with my Power.” Turner lookeddown, guilt and shame written across his face in a way she’d never seen.
“Why?” Ena was horrified to learn this. “Wouldn’t the collar make them tell you anything you wanted anyway? Why did you need to cause them pain?”
Ena saw him wince at her reaction, and she felt horrible.
“Let me rephrase that. Turner, it isnotyour fault that you were forced to do those things. You didn’t choose that. I saw your father, and Cole, and the way they manipulate with the power they have to get others to do things they don’t want or like. It’s not your fault—do you hear me?”
Turner looked at her, an immense guilt behind his eyes. “Thanks, Ena, for saying that.”
She didn’t miss the way he refused to agree with her, but she didn’t know what else to say to convince him.
