I remember that girl. Blonde ringlets, a laugh like shattering glass. Her father gave me to her for her use before she married. To ‘teach her how to keep her husband happy.’
“I don’t think about that anymore. The hatred burned down to something colder a long time ago.” Vel looks up, meeting my eyes. “But it’s still there. And every time I look at your human, I feel it stirring.”
I could tell her that Alleria isn’t like that huntmaster’s daughter, or the other noblewomen and men who visited the cages. But she won’t believe it, so I stay silent.
“Do you think she’s different? That one night between her legs will change what she is? She came to kill you, Cairn. And now she’s staying, and you’re what? Hoping she had a changeof heart?” She leans forward, lips curled back from her teeth. “What happens when she gets tired of playing victim? When she’s cold and hungry and remembers her palace, and her servants? What happens when her father begs for her to return home in exchange for our lives?”
“Are you done?”
“No.” Her palms flatten against the table. “I’ve followed you without question. Every decision you made, I have supported. But this—" She shakes her head. “I don’t trust her. I willnevertrust her. And if she costs us even one life, I’ll kill her myself.”
“You won’t touch her.” The words come out as a low growl.
“Then give me a reason not to.”
I could remind her who I am. I could order her to step down, and she’d have to obey me. But she’s earned more than that.
“The Nightwild magic is claiming her.”
Vel freezes.
“It started weeks ago. I thought it was the connection I forced on her when I used her blood to break my collar.” I hold her gaze. “It’s not. The magic is weaving her in the same way it wove you. The same way it wove in Therin, and Serath, and the others.”
“No.” She steps back from the table. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not.”
“Youhaveto be. The magic wouldn’t—” She shakes her head again. “She’shuman. It doesn’t work that way. It’sneverworked that way.”
“I know what it is, Vel.”
“You’re wrong. It must be a trick. It’s not possible.”
“I didn’t think so either. But the thread is there. The same one that connects me to you.”
“No!” Her voice is harder. “The magic that binds us? That’sours. It doesn’t belong to some human who was ready to kill youlittle more than a month ago.”
“I’m not asking you to accept it.” I keep my voice soft. “I’m telling you what is happening.”
She stares at me, fingers curled into fists.
“You’re wrong,” she says again, but she’s less certain this time. “You have to be.” She spins away, stalking toward the door. “I don’t trust her, Cairn.”
“I know.”
She leaves without another word, slamming the door behind her.
I tip my head back against the chair when she’s gone, closing my eyes. Vel isn’t wrong to be horrified. If someone had told me that the Nightwild magic would reach for a human, I wouldn’t have believed them either.
But it has. And if I want to figure out what it means, I can’t keep avoiding Alleria.
I leave the meeting room and walk along the hallway to her room. The door isn’t locked, so I push it open without knocking and walk in.
She’s asleep, curled on her side with her hair spread across the pillow. The blanket has slipped during the night, baring one shoulder and the thin shift she’s wearing. The collar at her throat catches the early light—my magic, wrapped around her skin. I ignore the surge of possessiveness that rises at the sight. With nothing more than a thought, a pile of clothes appears on the end of her bed—undergarments, pants, a tunic, thick socks, and boots sized to fit her.
I could let her sleep. Come back in an hour when she’s had time to wake up on her own. Instead, I kick the side of the bed.
“Get up.”
