“Malakai…” Ophelia stepped toward me, reaching for my arm, but I shook off her touch, striding for the stained-glass windows of the temple, the blues washing the city streets out with a drowning haze.
I didn’t look at Ophelia. I didn’t look at Tolek. How were they acting like this was normal?Your brother is here. Fucking Tolek. He said it as if it meant nothing, when those few words drove deep into the cracked foundation I’d been rebuilding within myself. They tore it up one shoddily placed brick at a time, until they were weighing down my shoulders, crushing me.
Ophelia and Tolek muttered behind me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. In truth, I didn’t care. They were likely talking about me. About…him. About what he was doing here, what it meant for the Engrossian threat, what it meant for us.
I was curious, but I was more furious than anything. A ray of light reflected off the glass, a blinding white spot on life outside these walls. How often I’d walked these streets in recent weeks, musing over my lingering questions.
Wondering how my father had kept so many secrets.
And now, after I’d decided to force away all my feelings on his actions, one of those secrets was thrown into my path.
Ophelia’s and Tol’s voices continued in hushed tones. Irritation prickled my skin—I wanted them tostop.
“I’ll see him,” I announced, clenching my fists. Their whispered conversation ceased. “Let’s go.”
I strode from the temple before they could respond.
Tolek ledus through the Sacred Quarter and into the palace, Ophelia a step behind him, but no one dared speak. Our boots echoed against marble floors, down grand staircases, and into the bowels of the building—the cells.
Good, I thought. Barrett and everything he stood for belonged imprisoned.
“Cypherion and Jezebel are standing guard,” Tol said, fingers brushing the family dagger at his hip. “We had to send Santorina in.”
“Why?” Ophelia asked. Mystlight gilded her profile and slid through the waves of her hair when she looked up at him.
Tolek smirked over his shoulder at me. “He didn’t like when we wouldn’t grant him an audience. He nearly impaled himself on our fence trying to climb it.”
I tried to stifle my laugh at the image. Ophelia narrowed her eyes at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Listen.” Tolek turned at the top of the final staircase into the cells. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked between us, choosing his words carefully. Ophelia nodded, and he focused on me. “I’m not going to pretend I understand how you feel, Mali, but we shouldn’t be too hostile.”
“What?” I seethed. If Tolek Vincienzo thought he could instruct me on how to act—what did he know of these matters? His life wasn’t as complex as mine.
“Doesn’t it strike you as odd that he’s here?” Tolek inclined his head.
I chewed the inside of my cheek to keep from snapping. “It’ssuspicious.”
“Perhaps.” He nodded, but there were opinions he was holding back. “But we need to find out why.”
“He’s right,” Ophelia added, gaze flickering between the daggerat my waist and my scowl. “There’s a smarter way to approach this than attacking him.”
I took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. The stone and iron furnishings were oppressive, my scars burning with the memories of my own prison, but there was a familiarity about it.
“We’ll see.”
That foundation within me crumbled further with each step down the final set of stairs, but I fought it—made an exceptional effort to build up my own base.
Goosebumps rose along my arms. It was a stark difference to the volcanic cell I’d lived in for two years, but the same stain hung in the air, like this place was used to blood and the hands of those who drew it. Like it had seen so much of it that the stench permanently clung to the slick stone walls—forever a reminder.
Rina was exiting the cell as we approached, an apron tied around her waist. Crimson stained the pockets.
“You went in alone?” I whispered once the thin wooden door was closed. It didn’t seem to be very sturdy—how careless of whoever selected this room.
“I can take care of myself,” she affirmed, but her voice softened when she took in my expression. “He didn’t attempt anything.”
