Verus shakes his head and levels me with an accusatory glower. “If you hadn’t attacked, everything would have gone according to plan.”
“I thought you were rogue.”
“Igeeyin don’t go rogue,” he snaps back, thoroughly offended.
I laugh, unable to stop myself. I don’t know who the Igeeyin are, but if this fool really thinks betrayal is impossible, he’s a dumb shit. My existence might prove him wrong if my sudden suspicions are right.
I lean forward in my chair, done with playing subdued and patient. “I understand that staring down a member of the Order of Scorpions is terrifying, and that’s probably why you missed it; however,Irecall very clearly Erif offering only two choices”—I hold up two fingers like he’s a daft cria who needs the visual—“a quick death or a brutal one. That’s it. I acted becauseyoupiss stains gave me no choice.”
Red blooms in his cheeks, and fury banks in his eyes. “Take off your glamour, or we’re done here. This doesn’t make any sense. You should know better than to doubt the clans, to question our vow,” he snarls, pressing against his restraints so hard that the tendons in his neck strain and a vicious vein rises on his forehead.
I watch him for a beat, debating whether or not we have enough or if I should push for more. His murderous look calms to a scowl, and I want to slap the pompous look right off his face. I turn to Tarek and then stand up, moving toward the dark entryway by the door. Tarek follows, silently blocking anyone else from seeing while he leans in and pulls back his thura.
My heart races as I stand there slowly being exposed bit by bit. Tarek’s powerful body protects me at the moment, but he’ll have to step away, and I’ll have no choice but to move out of the shadows. I don’t know what will happen then, how Verus will react when he sees me.
Will he recognize me?
Will he know what happened?
Will he tell me if he does?
I swallow past the lump forming in my throat, hating how vulnerable I feel right now. It’s one thing to be like this with the Scorpions, but Verus hasn’t earned this. I remind myself thatIhave. It’s not about him, even though it feels like everything is riding on whatever is about to happen. This is about me finally seeing once and for all what happens when I strip away the glamour and show the fae who looks like me who I am.
My stomach is a riot of knots.
Tarek grabs my hand, squeezing it once to tell me he’s done. I hold his firm hand tightly, not ready for him to move. I look up into his glamoured black eyes, searching them for something to anchor me, to remind me that no matter what, this is going to be okay. He lifts our hands between us and sets my palm on his chest and his on mine. He doesn’t say a word as we stand there. Slowly, our hearts begin to beat in unison. The steady rhythm is calming, and I’m able to match my breaths to his, stealing a little of his assured strength.
I nod to Tarek, letting him know I’m ready. I’ve been waiting for this since I saw the ghost leaping from rooftop to rooftop, since the cloaked figures pulled back their hoods and revealed themselves. It’s time to see if Verus can tell me what exists beyond the blank wall in my mind. With one more squeeze of my hand, Tarek backs away.
My silver eyes fix on Verus as I start to move out of the shadows of the entryway. I take one step and Verus gasps. Another determined step and his eyes grow wide. He reels back and shakes his head like he doesn’t understand as I move closer.
“How…you’re…how are you here?”
His question is trailed by croaks of astonishment as he struggles harder against the bonds holding him down.
“Is this some kind of test?” he snarls, looking wildly from me to the other Scorpions.
Their uninterested miens have all been abandoned. They watch with rapt attention every move Verus makes and listen closely to every stunned word that spills out of his mouth.
He knows who I am.
I open my mouth to say something, but I have no idea how to frame all that I’m burning to discover. I have two surging questions sitting on the tip of my tongue, and I don’t know which one is more important. How do I choose betweenwho am Iandwhere do I come from? Both feel vital, but there are split paths to getting Verus to answer either, and I know I can only choose one.
Fairy light illuminates me as I finally step from the dim alcove into the room. Verus looks as though everything he thought was right is now somehow wrong. His face crumples with confusion. His mouth drops open and flails as he struggles to wrap his mouth around what to say. And then it comes…on the softest of whispers…one word riding the current of a distressed exhale as his silver eyes search mine for answers.
“Princess?”
ChapterFifty-Four
Princess?
I stare at Verus,mymouth now flapping around as I try to grasp the ludicrous thing that just came plopping out of him like some overgrown swamp toad in search of a lazy meal.
Princess?
“How?” he pleads, the word eerily haunted as though none of what’s happening can be real.
The game ends. My ability to strategize or maneuver my way to the answers I want becomes a thorny hedge maze I have no hope of traversing. I can’t think ten steps ahead when I’m thunderstruck and rooted to the floor, unable to take even one stride forward.
