I can hardly see him with how my eyes glaze. Why is he doing this? Why is he makingusabout more than sex? Why is he stealing my fucking heart—
“Inana Westwood?”
I freeze at the voice. It’s not exactly familiar, yet it brings about the faintest spark of recognition. Taking a step away from Dominic, I face the stranger.
No, not a stranger.
I can’t place her face, but I know her.
Or at least I did. From home.
“Is that really you?” the woman says. She’s a handful of years older than me, and her eyes look heavy. Haunted.
My mouth falls open, but I don’t know what to say. Dominic places a firm hand on my back, a wordless offer that he can usher me away, should I wish it.
I don’t budge.
“It’s me,” the woman says, “Tera Holmes. I was—”
“The tanner’s daughter,” I say, finally putting a memory to the name and face. My heart slams against my ribs. I should be relieved to see her, to see that someone truly did survive the attack on Dunway. But her presence feels more like an accusation somehow. “What are you doing here?”
“Eldeen was the closest place where I had family,” she says, eyes turning down at the corners. “The only place I could go after…Well, you know.”
“After Dunway was destroyed,” I say, voice trembling. “You said this is the closest place where you had family. How far away is Dunway?”
She furrows her brow. “Maybe fifteen miles southeast. Did you not realize that when you came here?”
I shake my head.
“Gods, no wonder you’re so surprised to see me. I’m surprised to see you too. Everything happened so fast, none of us were prepared. I had no idea you survived. So few of us made it out alive.”
My stomach churns as my next question crawls up my throat. “My parents…did they…”
Tera’s face falls. “No, hon. They were confirmed as casualties. Were you not aware?”
“I wasn’t there when it happened,” I say, my mind spinning. I may not have been close with my parents by then, and I could only assume they had died after Dominic told me what happened. But hearing their deaths confirmed is something else. It feels like a blow to the chest.
She puts a hand to her mouth. “Gods, that’s…I’m so sorry. That must have been a horrible thing to come home to.”
Her words blare in my ears, my mind.
Come home to…
Come home to…
Come home…
She has no clue I didn’t come home. I didn’t know. I didn’t mourn.
And…and it’s my fault.
Maybe I didn’t kill Henry. Maybe I did.
But if I hadn’t struggled, hadn’t fought for my life, Dunway would still be whole. It would have a duke, a dome of light, and my parents would be alive. If only I’d let him—
“Inana,” Dominic whispers, cutting through my thoughts. Something presses against my legs. Sloth, hidden in the shadows of my skirts, invisible in the daylight yet firm enough to feel. To comfort me. To help clear my head.
“It’s fine,” I bite out, my words meant for Dominic and Tera in equal measure. “I’m fine.”
