Something inside my chest crumpled at that envious gleam brightening his eyes.
I spent years—fucking years—learning to befineagain. My survival wasn’t luck or good fortune, this was the hard work of clawing myself up out of a dark hole by my fingernails and making deals with whatever monster happened to hold my fate in their hands.
Finewas nights spent wallowing in doubt so dark I contemplated not seeing the morning light, and when I did, regretted my decision. This was ugly choices and loneliness while I pretended I didn’t hear the cruel, cutting things they said behind my back.
But this bastard wouldn’t understand that.
“Yes, I amthatLyrae Antares. And since you’re here, Ryland, do me a favor, will you?” I asked sweetly, and Ryland’s shoulders softened, rounding toward me, his mouth turning up in that trademark smile that had meltedthe panties off hundreds—possibly thousands—of swoony females.
“Tell Queen Anaria you can’t deliver on your promises and leave this mission in more competent hands. Then get on your horse and ride back to whatever bumfuck tavern you crawled out of and never show your face in Tempeste again.”
Shock washed over his face like the first frost of fall, hardening those handsome features into granite. “There was a time when you thought my hands were pretty godsdamn competent,” he snapped, a dark red flush creeping up his neck.
“What can I say? I was young and inexperienced.” I shrugged, making it a point to run my ice-cold gaze down his body. “Now I know better.Much better.”
“This isn’t like you. I’m not your enemy, Lyrae,” he said tightly, “I never was.”
“You willalwaysbe my enemy. And tell Varian he signed his death warrant the day he dragged my sister to the gallows and sentenced her to death.” I turned on my heel and headed down the hall without looking back.
“Remind him of that, will you?”
6
LYRAE
“Commander. Thank you for coming so quickly.” Torin’s white, opaque eyes reflected the firelight like twin mirrors, staring straight through me, as if she could see until the end of time.
“Well, you know how it is. When the High Seer of Tempeste calls, you answer,” I said lightly, throwing myself into the other chair, letting the heat chase the chill from my bones. Hours standing up on the ramparts hadn’t cleared my head, and now all I had to show for my efforts was a runny nose.
“Tell me about Ryland Storme.”
“Ah, the direct approach. I like that about you, Torin. No small talk.”
“We don’t have time to waste, Lyrae. If Ryland’s a problem, I need to know now. We have too much riding on his involvement for this to fall apart, but if we must find another way to neutralize the Shadowlands, we’ll find it.”
“Storme’s not a problem,” I stared into the fire. “We have a past, but I can work with him.”
“Youhaveto work with him, there’s a difference.”
“Torin, I’ve lived ten different lifetimes and been ten different people since I knew him. I’m no longer that wide eyed thief from the slums of Blackcastle. If he can get meinto the Shadowlands to kill this prince, then he’s my best godsdamned friend in the world.”
I’m not your enemy, Lyrae. I never was.
Yeah, fuck you, Ryland Storme. And the horse you rode in on.
“And Varian…who is he to you?”
“Varian Kronos is nobody to me anymore. We grew up together in the streets of Southwell, poor little orphans who watched out for each other, and blah, blah blah, that’s the story of my sad, unhappy childhood.” I shrugged and threw my boots up on the delicate little writing table by the fire, just to see Torin’s little frown of disapproval. “Again, if Storme claims he needs Varian to get me across the border, then he does. We go in, get the job done, we’re home in a week.”
And if I left their rotting carcasses beside the road on my way back, this world would be a brighter place.
“I had another vision last night,” Torin said abruptly, her words harsh against the silence of the room, the blood pounding in my ears. “Which is why I wanted to speak to you privately.”
“What did you see?” In one move, my feet were off the table, shoulders hunched, hands clasped together. “Did something else happen? Are we already too late?”
She pursed her lips. “Too late…on that, I could not tell. This vision was not so…bloody. What do you know of the Sylvane Triune?”
“The Crown, the Thorn and the Mirror.” I shrugged, counting off on my fingers. “Fairytales to frighten children and myths to bewitch treasure hunters. What of them?”
