A cold chill raced down my spine. “How do you know?”
“My dad has a rather extensive fact sheet about you,” Arwyn replied, not looking too pleased with admitting it. “All those nights you spent in that club… Energy, isn’t it?”
One of my brows lifted. “It is.”
“You order the same drink every time. It kind of becomes obvious what your preference is.”
I was glad for the burning hiss of vodka to help wash down Arwyn’s admission. Usually I savoured my drink, but I found myself practically downing this one. “Is that supposed to make me feel special?”
“I just want you to know that I’m holding nothing back this time. No lies. No illusions. Just the truth.” Arwyn grimaced. “I’m sure you have lots of questions for me.”
It was simply put, and true. But how mundane it seemed, this idea that a soft conversation between us would shed light on everything that had come before it, didn’t seem strong enough.
“I guess you could say that.”
I hadn’t noticed that my spare hand was on my stomach, massaging the empty ache far beneath my flesh, until Arwyn’s gaze lingered south. “How does it feel?”
“Empty,” I answered, because there was no other word for it. “Hollow. Like a chunk of me is missing, and there is nothing worthy enough to fill it up.”
“You did what was required. And for Kai’s sake, I’m glad it worked.” Arwyn rocked back in his chair, slouching his large body into a position of comfort. “It isn’t every day we are asked to give up something… important to us.”
“I wouldn’t call Bahmet’s power important.”
“I would.”
Leaning over the table, I lowered my voice as my gaze shifted to the balcony atop the room. “For Kai’s safety, I think we keep conversations to a minimum regarding what price I’ve paid to bring his soul back from Bahmet’s clutches.”
Because if Bahmet knew that Kai was now the host of that broken shard of demonic power, it would turn the focus of everyone towards Kai. His life would’ve been saved only for it to be put at risk again.
Arwyn zipped his fingers over his full, sealed lips. “I agree. It won’t matter soon enough. When he wakes up he will forfeit, and leave before Bahmet can sink his talons into him.”
“Ah. About that.” I took another, much longer, sip of my drink. “There is no saying that’s going to happen. From the brief conversation I had with Romy, she didn’t seem too pleased with the idea.”
“That’s because Romy is loyal to you,” Arwyn replied. “Kai, however, may not be.”
“I could tell him the truth.”
“No,” Arwyn snapped, lunging forwards as if he could literally snatch my words out of the air and throw them away. “The moment Kai is aware of what has happened, the more danger he will put himself in.”
“And maybe that’s a good thing. We need Kai now, more than ever, to help destroy Bahmet. I can no longer do it. I gave that weapon up. If Kai leaves, we are back to square one, right?”
Arwyn buried his head in his hands, shoulder muscles shivering as he inhaled deeply and released it. It took a few seconds of tension before he spoke again, and when he did it was with his control regained over himself. “As long as Kai survives, destroying Bahmet is not off the table. What our focus must be ismaking sure one of us win these trials, and make sure my father does not get access to such endless limits of power.”
As Arwyn spoke, his eyes widened with a fear that belonged in the face of a child, not an adult. I wanted to lean across the small table and comfort him, take his hands in mine and never let go. But something was keeping me still.
I couldn’t name it, that haunting feeling thundering through me. It was controlling my actions as if a dam was holding back a ravine of wild waters. The moment I broke it, there would be no stopping what came next.
“Do you want to talk about him?” I asked, hoping I was clear enough with the follow-up question. “Tomin is probably a good starting point for everything we’ve got to say to one another.”
The creases beside Arwyn’s bright eyes softened a touch. “I do and I don’t. But you deserve to know everything, Hector. I hate to ask anything of you right now, but I will request that you are the one to propose the questions. My life has been a… tangle of messy threads. I wouldn’t know where to start with explaining myself.”
My breath caught in my throat at the pleading in his eyes. It wasn’t that his voice broke as he spoke, but a strange glint of emotion passed behind his stare and darkened it.
“I can do that,” I whispered.
“Thank you,” Arwyn mouthed.
In truth, I didn’t know where to start either. Despite fighting and surviving beside him since the Witch Trials had begun again, I couldn’t forget everything that came before.
