“Let go!” I yelled, turning and smacking him in the face.
He grabbed the wrist that swung, and squeezed. “What did we just say about your behavior?”
His grip made my panic fester, and my eyes darted toward the maid, who brought over a few metal pieces.
“What is this, the Middle Ages?” I growled.
“Oh, don’t think of it like that. Think of it as decoration.”
The maid snapped the flat collar around my neck. The metal was a flashy gold, and on the collar, sharp fleur-de-lis decorated the top, poking upward. It was designed in a way that didn’t let me lower my head too far without it jabbing into my skin. It was more decorative than practical, like a way to ensure I could easily be secured or grabbed. There was a loop at the front of the collar as if to secure a lead to it. When she finished, she handed the key to Luka before gathering her things and leaving us alone.
I could feel his hungry eyes, so I refused to look at him.
“You can’t be mad at me forever. I am your only friend here,” he breathed against the bruised punctures on my shoulder.
“You lied to me.”
“Lie? No, you must be thinking of a different man,” he retorted. “I meant everything I said to you. Could he say the same?”
I picked at my nails, unsure if I could answer that honestly. If Luka could fool me, I was sure Silas could too.
“I meant it all,” he whispered, his fingers tracing the front of my hips.
“Youpretended to be a student to get close, learned about the things I was studying just so you could betray me in the end.” I glared. “How is that fair?”
“Well, I didn’t lie, like I said,” he explained plainly. “I was once a student, and I’ve been a doctor since before they studied medicine in schools.” He took my hand in his and studied my red-stained fingertips. “So you can imagine that it wasn’t hard to piece together who you were, though I wasn’t expecting you to be a woman, I will admit that.”
I pulled my hand away in disgust.
“You were never in danger. You never have been in your entire life,” he said flatly. “Mr. Astor—or I suppose you know him as Mr. Aston—kept you hidden away. Imagine his surprise when I told him the infamous Poisoner he had been hunting is his hidden gem.”
“What are you saying?” My voice wavered.
“Did your little friend not tell you?” he mocked. “Now I feel special that I get to be the one to tell you!”
“Tell me what?”
“Mr. Aston kept you close all these years because he knew that you were a Host. Why do you think his daughter was only allowed one single friend? Do you think a social butterfly like her didn’t keep other friends as a child out of personal preference? She begged for a single friend. It was the perfect place to keep an eye on you.”
“That can’t be true. She and I grew up together. We are the same age. She isn’t one of you,” I practically bit out. “You are lying.”
“That’s because even though we have to be born and grow, we just happen to stop at year twenty-five.” He laughed. “She’s just his recent child.”
“Recent?”
“Yes, well, you’ve met his eldest.”
My brow raised as I waited for him to continue.
“The golden boy didn’t tell you either? Today is not a good day to be Alina, is it?” He shook his head.
As the pieces clicked in my mind, I was internally punishing myself for being so blind. What I thought was simple rivalry and distaste was actually justsiblingsinteracting with each other. Their familiarity with one another was making more sense than ever. How could I not have seen through their banter?
That would explain her hesitancy with us spending so much time together.
They both knew and did not tell me a thing.
“She couldn’t have known this would happen.” I tried to at least make an excuse for Phoebe.
