Hayle shrugged, coming to kiss my head, but not dragging me away from Vox to do it. He just crowded my back, and that one small gesture said everything. He was kissing me, but he was claiming Vox too.
Kian cleared his throat. “If you could not? That’s my baby sister.”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped out from between the guys, but not before running a reassuring hand across both their chests.
Lierick stood. “I’d like to reintroduce Eugene Rovan, the new and improved version.”
Eugene stood, a genuine smile on his face. “Hello, Heirs,” he said cordially. “Dirt scrabbler.” He addressed me, but there was none of his normal malice in it. It was pleasantly rude.
“I didn’t want to alter too much, as it’d raise suspicion. Run along, Eugene. Don’t want to miss the party tonight. I hear Ephily wants to dance with you.”
His eyes lit up. “Really?”
Lierick nodded, smiling gently. “She does. But you’re a mess right now. Go clean up. I bet you could convince her to be your wife, if you’re persistent enough.” He leaned forward. “She’ll never tell you this, and she’ll deny it in public, but stinkweed is her favorite flower. You should pick some on the way home and leave them on her bed.”
Eugene grinned wide. “Thanks, Lierick.” As he raced off into the woods back toward Eaglehoth, he seemed… happier.
“That was creepy as hell,” Hayle said, watching Eugene leave. He looked down at Alucius. “Make sure he gets there and doesn’t circle back.” Alucius yipped and took off after the Fourth Line Heir. “What did you do?”
“Removed the bigotry and malice, but left the better parts of his personality. So much of Eugene’s psyche was due to ‘lessons’ from his father. If I blocked those, it was easy enough to bring his slightly more endearing characteristics to the surface.”
“Endearing and Eugene aren’t even in the same dictionary,” Hayle muttered. “And you removed the memories?”
Lierick nodded, and a chill slipped down my spine.
“Eugene was the spy from last night?” Baron Taeme asked. “What aren’t you telling me, son?”
Hayle glanced at me quickly, but looked away. I knew he’d keep my secrets, even from his father. I hated making him lie to the man he respected so much.
Time for one of those leaps of faith again.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Viktor Taeme—who looked so much like his son—then over at my brothers. “I’m a Recreationist. I can reset time. We knew he was the spy, because we’ve already lived a timeline where he told Feodore Vylan, and Stanlus razed Boellium to the ground, slaughtering everyone below the Sixth Line. They murdered Master Proxius and put his head on a pike in the middle of the courtyard.”
The silence in the clearing was all-encompassing. Even the birds seemed to stop singing. It was like the world was holding its breath.
Hayle placed an arm around me, his palm resting on my hip. Vox twined his fingers in my free hand. Lierick stood off to the side, his face set in a grim mask.
If they took the news badly, would I let him erase their memories?
Selfishly, I knew the answer was yes.
“Since when?” Bach choked out. Kian just shook his head, like he already knew the answer.
Swallowing hard, I looked between them. “Since I was three.”
Bach stumbled back. “You really did kill her?”
Hayle growled low, ready to defend me, but I stepped forward. “No. I didn’t kill her. But I’m still the reason she’s dead. I reset time over and over, trying for a timeline where she lived, but I was three; I didn’t know what I was doing. Fuck, Istilldon’t know what I’m doing. But the Goddess intervened. I mightn’t have killed our mother, but I couldn’t save her either.”
I looked imploringly at Kian. His expression was closed off, but his complexion was pale. Vox was stiff behind me, like he was ready to kill them, if they so much as hurt my feelings.
“I didn’t want her to die,” I whispered to Kian, and that seemed to snap Bach out of his shock.
“You were three. You loved her as much as she loved you. Of course you didn’t want her to die.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I don’t understand. I…”
I walked to him slowly. “I know. It’s a lot,” I said softly. “Father can’t know.”
Bach dragged me into his arms. “Obviously, he can’t know.No onecan know, Avalon. You have to come home. Not back to Rewill, but somewhere where we can keep you safe.”
