"It can't be," he breathes, and then throws Kayden aside like he's nothing. My brother hits the wall, coughing.
Darius turns to me, his mask of rage cracking, shock bleeding through.
"It's true," I tell him, voice tight but steady. "I wouldn't lie about this."
"Itcan'tbe so," he repeats, the words less certain this time, almost a whisper.
"Yeah, well, we've been telling ourselves that," Kayden rasps, hauling himself upright, voice raw. "Hard to deny when she dies in your arms." He reaches for his fallen glass, pours some scotch, hands shaking.
The fight drains out of Darius. He suddenly looks hollowed, shaking his head like the world's slipped its axis. Whatever his version of twisted, possessive love was, it was real.
I pour a fresh drink and set it in his hand. He takes it without looking.
"Darius, someone killed Sage and then Darlene, but it wasn't us," I say, steady.
"Oh, that's because it was me," a familiar voice says from the doorway.
Cold runs under my skin.
We all turn.
Sage.
Kayden breathes it like a prayer. "But you're—"
"Dead, yeah." Her mouth tilts. The sound of her voice is different—mocking, with a dark edge. "People keep reminding me. I walked it off. Happens. Anyway, it's unexpected finding all three of you here. Convenient, though." She looks around at the mess. "I see you're having quite a party."
Darius looks from us to her, lost. "What?You… killed Darlene?"
"Yup." She shrugs. "She killed me first. Eye for an eye. Balance and all that." Her gaze flicks to Kayden. "By the way, nymph blood? A treat. I get why your kind hunted them to the edge. Darlene was… mmm. Worth the fuss."
Darius goes still, eyes wide with something I've never seen on him before—fear.
"No," he whispers, almost to himself. "No."
My mind wants to deny the truth before my eyes as well. It's Sage and not. The shape is hers, but the feeling isn't.
I take a step toward her anyway. "Sage—"
"Uh-uh." She lifts a finger, cutting me off. "I'm talking. And there are lives at stake, so you'll want to listen."
I stop.Lives. Dread coils.
"Oldest lover first," she says, turning to Darius. She fishes in her back pocket and tosses something. He catches it on instinct.
An engagement ring. Large diamond, sparkling in the light.
"I told you I pawned it," she says, a mock-contrite shrug. "I lied."
"You… kept it?" Kayden asks, face twisting with disbelief and betrayal.
"Yeah. Should've pawned it. Would've made things easier on the road. But your face right now? Worth the trouble." A dark laugh, jagged and wrong. "Bad news and good news, to keep the balance, okay? Bad news: I had feelings for Darius. I didn't run because I didn't love him—I ran because I wasn't sure it was real. Turns out it was. I loved him even while I was married to you." She tips her head. "Good news: I'm cured. Of him. And of you two."
She slides off our rings—Kayden's, then mine. She flicks them back. His hits the floor. I catch mine.
"I don't know what the hell this is, but it stops now," Kayden snarls, launching.
Sage moves faster than I've ever seen.
