How could Felix keep this from him? Did August even know him at all? What else was he hiding?
Get out.
Despite the screaming in his head, his feet remained stubbornly rooted to the spot. If he ran away, left it like this, he’d never see Felix again. He’d return to his previous empty, suffocating existence.
The thought of losing this, of losing Felix, was more terrifying than any risk he was taking by staying. How could he breathe without the anticipation of these visits?
“Five minutes,” August said finally, his voice unsteady.
Felix’s face softened, mouth tipping into a half-hearted smile. “Thank you.”
Marlow’s eyes narrowed. “Auggie? I thought your name was Henry.”
“It’s short for Henry,” Felix responded blithely. “Meet me downstairs?”
“Call me if you need help removing a body,” she said before pushing past them to the stairs.
“Come with me.” Felix headed down the hall, and when he realized August wasn’t following, he stopped and cast him an expectant look. “You’ve got questions, right?”
August scoffed. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but you have to trust me.” Still, August stayed put, so he added, “I will never use that on you again. I promise.”
Their eyes held for a long moment until, finally, August followed.
Felix led him to a bedroom half the size of his closet back home. It was cozy and warm in a way the castle could never be. A small bed was pressed against the far wall, and thin curtains covered the single window. August stayed in the doorway, and the bed creaked as Felix dropped onto it.
“Come sit.”
“No.”
“Fine, stay—”
“You’re a compulsionist,” August said, cutting him off.
“Charmer has a nicer ring to it.” Felix paused, then added, “Yes.”
August’s stomach lurched. It was one thing to suspect the truth, another entirely to hear it confirmed.
Silence settled over them, heavy and thick as stew.
Say something.
“So, you can just . . . ” His brow furrowed as he thought. “You can charm anyone into doing anything? Into giving you whatever you want?”
“It’s not that simple,” Felix answered quietly. “You felt what happens. It’s not subtle. So, yeah, I could use it to get anything I want. I could be rich, rolling in caern for a couple glorious minutes. But it’s not worth what would follow.”
Execution. That was what would happen if the Watch found out he’d used prohibited magic.
Was this the first time Felix had used it on him?
August pressed his back to the door frame. He thought back over the time they’d spent together, trying to remember if he’d ever noticed that tingling in his head before. Was everything he felt based on a lie?
The air always seemed to vibrate around Felix, a constant, low hum, but this was a different sensation. It felt like the tingling inAugust’s fingertips when his own abilities fought to break free. He would have noticed that.
“No, I’ve never used it on you before,” Felix said, answering the question he hadn’t asked.
August frowned.
