With a gasp of delight, she turns to me with a glowing smile. “Evie, look—”
“Amelie Fairfield,” I say in a rush, the power of her name ringing in my voice, “I forbid you from using the power of fire.”
The flame extinguishes along with her smile, all hope and pride draining from her eyes.
“For the next twenty-four hours,” I hurry to add. My chest heaves, shoulders trembling. The terror of seeing my sister conjure flame like it was nothing strikes me harder and harder with every second that ticks by. It had been so easy for her.Tooeasy. How could that be?
“I’m sorry,” Amelie whispers. “I never should have even thought of trying it.”
I grit my teeth and stalk over to the sitting area. With my back to my sister, I sink into one of the chairs. “Put the dresses in the wardrobe once you’re finished.”
The tension in the room is so heavy, it makes my skin crawl, and my mind continues to spin from the shock of what I just witnessed.
“Did Mother hate me?” Amelie asks, breaking the silence. Her words don’t diminish my discomfort, however; they add to it. How dare she mention Mother? How dare she even ask?
I turn in my chair to burn her with a glare.
Of course she doesn’t so much as flinch at my stare. She never was one to read a room, always saying the wrong thing in her sweet, naive way. Her next words come out tremulous. “Did she…die…hating me? Did you tell her the awful things I did?”
The air leaves my lungs as her words open a chasm of grief beneath me. I return to facing forward in my chair, fingers clenched tight around the armrest. I should silence her. I should forbid her to speak. But before I know it, my response is tumbling from my lips. “I told her the truth,” I say through my teeth, tone dripping venom. Then, against all reason, I soften the blow. “But I didn’t give her the details. I said you bargained away your name for love.”
“Love.” She scoffs the word like a curse. “I only bargained my ability to lie for love. We didn’t exchange names until after I left Bircharbor.”
Again, I clench the armrests. This time, it isn’t grief I’m fighting against but the rage that threatens to explode out of every pore in a fiery inferno. “So, you’re saying you gave him the ability to lie of your own free will? That he didn’t compel you with magic?”
“Exactly.” She says it as if she were speaking about someone else, a response to some juicy gossip regarding a foolish peer. From the corner of my eye, I see her carry an armload of dresses to the wardrobe where she begins to hang them. She’s changed into one of her makeshift gowns, a pale orange.
But all I can see is red. “So, you betrayed me from the very start, and yet you wonder why I can’t trust you.”
She turns to face me, taking a few steps closer. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Evie. He still had the power to lie back then. It was fading fast after the Holstrom girls’ deaths, but he had it and he used it on me. I’m sure he used it on you too.”
She’s right. He did use that power on me, well before he stole my sister. “How is that supposed to make a difference? You still did what you did.”
“I was misled.” There’s no pleading quality to her tone, only bitter resentment. “He said everything was supposed to be perfect. He and I would be together, as would you and Aspen. The four of us were supposed to be happy.”
Another flash of rage heats my veins, and it takes all my restraint to breathe it away. “Does anyone look happy to you?”
Amelie returns to the wardrobe and continues hanging the dresses. Once finished, she approaches the sitting area with slow, hesitant steps. I can’t bear to look at her as she lowers onto the couch nearby. “You looked happy,” she whispers.
My gaze flashes to hers, a scowl burning in my eyes. “Excuse me?”
“When I saw you and Aspen together today. You shared a moment that was so potent, even I could feel it.”
“You know nothing about me and Aspen.”
She laces her fingers together, then smooths them over her legs, an anxious gesture. “I knew he cared for you from the start. While you were unconscious after the incident with the kelpie, I saw a side of Aspen during our daily chats. It only came out when we talked about you.”
“Is that when you began your secret tryst with Cobalt?” I don’t bother hiding the malice in my tone.
“Yes.” Her confession comes without hesitation. “All along, I knew it was wrong for me to desire your fiancé. I was selfish and cruel to do what I did, conspiring with him to find a way for us to be together. He promised me the four of us would be paired with the mates we were best suited with. He said as long as I did everything he told me to and followed his plan, everything would work out perfectly. Seeing how Aspen cared for you fueled my justifications that it was the right thing to do, even if I had to keep the truth from you. Now, I regret the day Cobalt ever looked upon me. I curse the moment he declared his secret affection.” Her hands clench into fists at her sides, posture stiff as her eyes unfocus.
Her words weave conflict in my heart, reminding me what may have happened if shehadn’tbetrayed me. I could be the one in Amelie’s position, and she could be Aspen’s mate. There’s no way I can regret what brought me and Aspen together. Right?
“Everything was supposed to be perfect,” she whispers, tone wistful as she stares at her lap. “He promised me it would be, over and over. I believed him.”
Fire turns in my stomach. “Shouldn’t you have realized you were wrong when you abducted me from the palace and attacked me in the coral caves? How about when Cobalt had me trapped in a cage? Or when he stole the throne from Aspen?”
Her eyes are filled with tears when they meet mine. “I wasn’t myself during any of those instances. You have no idea how many of my words and actions were controlled by Cobalt.”
