I stopped in my tracks. The wind had been knocked out of me and I couldn’t take a breath.
“Blake was there when this happened. He was not a weak child when it occurred. He could have done more,” Ash said, his hands shaking. “But he did nothing. When Roslyn was finally released after years of bloodshed, she was not the same. Blake is one of the most powerful mages I have ever met, and he did nothing. I warn you—be careful where you place your loyalty, Anna.”
He left me there, shaking, with only Roslyn in my mind’s eye. That couldn’t be the entire story. Blake cared about Roslyn deeply. He’d never allow something like that to happen. He’d never stand idly by if she were in danger.
Right?
Chapter 40
Nexus Bound
ANNA
Isaw Blake for the first time since Ash’s chambers at play rehearsal a few days later.
To my surprise, he was going to resume his role as Aryus Ryth’enir. It was as if he were someone else as I watched him rehearse and when it came to our scene together, I was so nervous that I could barely remember my lines.
Of course, I wasn’t going to get out of this.
His eyes were the familiar slate, no trace of red anywhere but my memory. Being near him on the stage was like a test. While near me, he was still being watched, and he was in the mindset of one of the most notorious blood mages in the history of the Realm.
If he could be near me here, then perhaps we would be okay.
I understood him. But I still hated it. The brief moments of closeness during rehearsals were not enough. I missed him.
It was late one evening after rehearsal that I finally caught him before he disappeared right after.
We were backstage, and the others were still chatting in the theater. I realized the previous rehearsal there was a back exit, and he had been coming this way to avoid me.
I crossed my arms, glaring at him.
“Anna,” he said, his voice weary and frustrated.
“Stop avoiding me,” I said firmly. “I’m not scared of you, Blake! It’s not like you’re stalking women like Malakai. You have this under control.”
“I have it under control because I am being careful. Perhaps pretending to be a raving mad blood mage who murders his lover after drinking her blood is not the best idea right now,” Blake retorted. “But that is not why I am avoiding you.”
I raised my brows. “Then what is?”
Blake ran his hand through his hair. “I do not want you going to the Realm for me. It is not safe. There were so many wraiths in Divide’s Edge that day—it’s getting worse. And I certainly do not want you to come to Raven Falls. I came to Nightfall to find a way to stop the bloodmist and stabilize the rift and get my people out one day, not to bring more people back to my world which is falling into oblivion. But I have failed, the curse is more unstable than ever and only getting worse.”
I staggered back as if he’d shoved me.
“You can’t be serious?” I whispered.
Blake looked down, his face unreadable. “Anna, I cannot be the reason you get hurt. Not by me, or by anyone near me. I do not want you to go to the Realm.”
I shook my head. “You said there was time.”
“I thought there was. But Melanie was right. You would be a fool to go there now.”
Blake neared me and pressed his forehead to mine. He stayed there for a moment before quickly abandoning me to my thoughts.
When I gotto my room I slammed the door, emotionally and physically exhausted, and spotted a scroll on my bed. Grabbing it, I ripped it open.
I stared at the words, my hands shaking, and rushed to Isabella’s room. I threw her door open without knocking and found her sitting in the corner chair. The room was dark with only slivers of moonlight creeping through her closed curtains. My nervous excitement faded as I paused, unsure if I should enter. My arm went slack at my side, my hold on the letter loosening.
“Bella?” I called.
