The trials are the least of your concern. In my view, the trials appeared to be the greatest of my concerns. I needed to understand what other details he had.
I cleared my throat. “How did you know?” I asked, my voice low.
He frowned at me, the way he did before the trial had started. “What are you talking about?”
His bewildered expression returned, even as my eyes searched for evidence that he had no idea what he had just whispered in my ear.
“Nothing. Thank you for the shirt.”
I bit down on the inside of my lip, a nervous habit, as I dressed Georgie. My intention had been to forget the Shadow encounter, but the redhead’s vision irrevocably changed everything. My brutal, gruesome death wasn’t the only reason for that. Unlike the Shadow, the guy had no ties to the world of the gods, and somehow that made it easier for me to believe him.
As I finished placing the T-shirt on Georgie, a chill ran down my spine, and I hugged myself to ward off the cold.
“You can have mine.” Theo’s voice startled me from behind, and as I turned, I saw him staring with broken glasses perched on his nose and a T-shirt clutched in his hands. “Do you need help?” He pointed at the scratchy, shapeless improvisation bunched on my torso.
I nodded, and with a gentle tug, he helped me remove the clingy clothing before I put on his shirt. “Thanks,” I said, chin lifting toward his face. “What happened to your glasses? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It was just . . . the forest. You’ve seen what it can do. Georgie was lucky to have you.”
At that, my eyes searched the crowd for Yvonne. Where was she? Did she not make it back? Was she among the three deaths?
A wave of relief washed over me as I saw her in the distance, tucked away in a corner, lost in thought as she sat with her elbows resting on her knees. I could only assume the horrors that she had been through.
I got to my feet and walked to her, pressing a hand on her shoulder. She barely acknowledged my presence, her gaze distant, as if I were invisible.
“Yvonne?” I tried. “I thought you’d like to see Georgie.”
Her head snapped. “Georgie? But I saw her die. She’s alive?”
My heart softened. That’s what she must’ve seen in the forest. “Yes, she’s unconscious, but alive.”
She sprung up onto her feet, running past me and dropping on her knees next to her girlfriend. “Oh my god. Georgie?”
A silent understanding passed between Theo and me as we stepped aside, giving them some space.
“Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I would’ve told you if I realized it sooner?—”
He offered a faint smile. “I know. It’s okay.”
I bobbed my head. “Not that helpful, though.”
Theo looks down at both of us, biting the corner of his lips. “I figured. You look worse than I do and I had a handful of that wine,” he tried to joke, but it came out sour; none of us laughing.
“Did you see Hunter on your way out?” Draven appeared in front of me, jaw tight.
“Or Zachary?” Nicolas asked.
I looked down at my feet and offered them the only answer I could manage—a shake of my head.
Draven hissed and left without another word, while Nicolas stood there frozen as if the world ended right there for him. He’d lost his brother. His twin. I wanted to comfort him, but did anything have the power to soothe him in this moment?
“I’m sorry, Nicolas.”
As some grappled with the pain of losing someone, I realized no one asked about Arianna.
Later that night, I wandered the dimly lit hall of our chambers and halted before Georgie’s door. The need for rest tugged at me, but I could not give in to it. Every time I closed my eyes, I was haunted by Arianna’s final breath, Georgie’s bruised lips as she spoke, and the chilling image of my deceased mother. And whenever I tried to escape those memories, the Shadow’s instructions and its presence reverberated in my mind.
Since my arrival, I had dreamed and envisioned scenes in my mind. I had not been able to do it for so long, I forgot how ordinary it was.
