Then—my eyebrows bend—why did you take my glass?
All your food and wine will be tasted as long as you reside outside of the Sky Kingdom. Didn’t Aoife mention it?
She did.As he sets the cup back next to my plate, I ask,Should you really be the one to test for poison?
Poison cannot kill me, Behach Éan.
What if someone grinds obsidian into your drink?
My body evacuates it.
The fact that he uses the present tense is alarming.You’ve already been poisoned?
“Fallon can break my obsidian curse.”
I startle that Lorcan reveals this to the others. Shouldn’t that sort of information be kept supersecret?
I thought you trusted your friends.
Ido, butyoudon’t, so why did you tell them?
“Oh my Gods, Fal!” Syb’s pitch is so high it almost tears a hole inside my eardrums. “You must leave immediately!”
My pulse swells, creating a cacophony beneath my ribs. I cannot leave for I need to find—I shut down my intent before it can penetrate Lorcan’s mind.
“I agree,” Gia says. “Once Meriam’s arrested—or killed—”
“Except that this is why Fallon is here.” Lorcan drums his fingers. “She wants Meriam to find her.”
Syb gasps. “Is that true?”
“Do you have a death wish?” Gia hisses.
Antoni bangs a fist against the table. “Why would you let her out of your kingdom knowing she planned on acting like a fucking lure, Mórrgaht?”
Lorcan’s leathers creak as he shifts in his seat. “Same reason you told her where to find the stairs I allowed Cian to build for his non-Crow mate.”
I suck in a breath, then swallow so hard my saliva jams in my throat.You read his note?!
I read your mind, not his note.
That was private.
So was the existence of that staircase—which I’m having demolished. The same way I should have him—
Don’t you dare finish that sentence.I grit my teeth.You sit here, in part, thanks to him.
I sit here thanks to you.
I snort.If I’d known who I was bringing back—
“Why does Fallon look as red as the meatballs?” Mattia asks Syb under his breath.
“Because her malefic grandmother is on the lam,” Syb whispers back.
Lore strokes a taloned fingernail down the embroidered tablecloth, shearing the expensive linen like he’s sheared the last scrap of my affection and appreciation.
The second Meriam finds me, I will have her paint me in her blood so you can never again enter my mind.My chair legs squeal as I push away from the table and storm out of the living area.
