Alice pushed a lock of hair out of her face, her hand shaking. “Unfortunately, yes, I know him.”
Her eyes looked haunted. Ari must have left his mark on her.
“You’ve had run-ins with him?”
She sighed deeply, her shoulders curling inward. “Too many times to count. He wanted to conquer us. Enslave us.” Her gaze drifted to the window, lost somewhere far away. “It was a brutal fight. We almost lost everything.”
“How did he get back here?”
“Enzo Di Salvo almost killed him. He’s the Santi family’s vampire enforcer.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “But Ari?—”
“Is a slippery eel,” I finished. “Found a way to save his own skin?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip, blinking hard. “Joy was devastated when Ari escaped through the portal. All she could think about was you. And Brynn. Joy was hoping you got her out of the castle.”
The hope in her eyes. God, it nearly broke me.
“No.” I forced the word out. “She’s too heavily guarded. I didn’t have the means, the men.” I shook my head. “Not even Rabbit knows where the queen is keeping her now.”
Alice’s face fell. “So she’s still a prisoner.”
“Yes.” The word was a stone in my throat. “I made her a promise. I told her I’d come back for her.”
A promise I’d failed to keep. Just like all the others.
“Do you think she’s even still alive?”
I closed my eyes. The question I asked myself every single day.
“The queen is vicious.” My throat tightened. “She could be dead. She could be wishing she was dead.” I turned away. “I don’t know. I’ve tried not to think about it. Because if I do?—”
I couldn’t finish.
I needed to get back to my post. Needed to get out of this room. The walls were closing in, the air too thick, Brynn’s face swimming behind my eyes.
“Darius—”
The name should have felt like a wound. Instead it felt like something else. Something I wasn’t ready to name.
“Get some sleep.” I didn’t look back. “I’ll be in the other room.”
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, breathing hard. I half expected her to let me go. To let me wallow in the ghosts I’d stirred up.
Then I heard a soft knock on the door.
Of course she wouldn’t.
I opened it. Alice stood there, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like armor. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face pale. She looked small. Lost.
“I can’t sleep in there.” Her voice wavered. “Every time I close my eyes, I see her. I see the fire.”
My chest tightened.
“Can I sleep on the couch? I promise I won’t distract you. I just—” She hugged the blanket tighter. “I don’t want to be alone.”
How could I tell her no? Even if being near her cracked open every wound I’d tried to bury.
I gestured with my arm toward the couch.
