If you’re dead,he said,Layla will be the heir to your court. That prize alone would be worth ending your life.
I didn’t want to think my sister would betray me.
Madrood swooped low and coasted above the city. Even from here, I could see people standing mid-task. Some kneeling. Even one person sitting, leaning against a wall with his head tipped back. He’d fallen asleep and had remained that way for twenty years.
Back at the fortress,I said,Brodine had started to develop feelings for me. To me, he always was and always will be like a brother to me, but he refused to listen. He kept pushing and pushing until I broke and shot power at him, scorching his nose.
Is he someone who could be motivated by revenge?Madrood asked.
He apologized and said he won’t push me for anything like that again.I’ve known him since I was little. I can’t imagine why he’d want to betray me.
Only if he had something to gain.
What could that be?
We both thought for a moment.
We won’t discount him, Madrood said.
No, we won’t.I’d have to watch everyone.I don’t know much about Airia. Do you know who collared her? As far as I know, she’s still wearing one, which means her fae lord can track her.
Ask her. No, make her tell you. Use force if you have to.
Really?I reeled backward, nearly unseating myself off his spine, something that hadn’t happened with a dragon in so long, I couldn’t remember when.I can’t do something like that.
One day soon, you may have to. What will you do when you discover who it is?A sneer came through in his voice.Ask them to stop trying to kill you?
Fuck.You’re right. I could send everyone away from Lydel.
What’s stopping them from coming back when you’re not looking?
Other than a few friends and allies, everyone wants to kill or betray me. What’s one more in that mix?
He grunted.Don’t you think it’s strange that Airia suddenly decided to flee Bledmire with you?
She said she hated it there. She’s a decent person.
So was Delaine, on occasion.
Good point.I’ll make her tell me who collared her. I’ll watch her.
It wouldn’t be easy to kill any of my friends, but I had the least relationship with her. If need be, I’d gut her before she could betray me again.
How could I so easily contemplate killing someone? I felt the same as before I met Vexxion, but I’d drastically changed. Had I changed enough to drive a knife into the chest of someone I considered a friend?
Reyla,I said.Like Brodine,I’ve known her most of my life. I love her. She’s more a sister to me than Layla. I can’t believe she’d try to kill me.
Motives. Think of motives. What could be hers?
She knows I came here to kill the king. She hates him as much as I do, so I can’t imagine she’d want to stop me. She has nothing to gain by my death.
Unless she made a deal with Ivenrail.
She wouldn’t.
Or would she? I told him about the book and how I thought I’d seen it in her bag.
Why would she hide it from you?he asked.
