Swallowing her emotions, she tamed the flames and calmed the waves of anxiety. “My phone broke. I’m waiting for a new one. Should be any day now.” Any day—once Karwyn decided to give it back. Her heart squeezed thinking of Marcel showing Eyden’s letter to her family. Her brother must be thinking the worst of her. Maja must be so confused by Lora’s sudden silence.
“Why are you lying? Aren’t we past it?” Eyden asked. His voice was so familiar to her, she had to fight against herself not to react.
“I’m not lying. You just don’t want to hear it.”
“I can sneak you out,” he said, ignoring her. Walking forward, he took her hand. She looked down, perplexed. His touch sent unwanted waves of electricity through her body. “You don’t have to stay here, special one. Fuck the king. He can’t stop distributing the cure now. It would fuck up their peace with Earth. And it sounded like they have enough now anyway.”
For a moment, Lora got lost in his eyes, in the emotion there. Therealnessshe hadn’t expected to ever see again. “I can’t,” she replied earnestly. She tried to pull her hand away, but Eyden’s grip was firm.
“You can’t possibly stay here,” Eyden reasoned, his voice rising. “You can’t stay with that monster. IpromisedI’d get you home.”
It clicked in her mind then. Eyden wouldn’t leave. Lora didn’t want to go there, but she realised he wouldn’t stop. She needed to set him free from his promise.
If Rhay found him here, if Karwyn found out their connection, Eyden would be the one ending up on that list of all the fae who were gone, taken. He didn’t deserve that, especially not for her. Her death was almost set in stone.
Lora let a wall of ice build around the fire in her veins, around her flaming heart, shutting out her impending regret. When she stared into Eyden’s eyes, she hoped her own were empty, void of any hazardous feelings. “I came here for the cure, Eyden. Karwyn might be a psychopath, buthe gave me that. There’s no deal between us anymore, nopromises.I won’t leave now. But you should.”
Eyden’s gaze hardened, stunned. “I came here foryou.You know that, right?”
She removed his hand from hers, ice washing over her skin as if her body mourned the lost contact. “I didn’t ask you to. I don’t need you anymore.” This time Lora was sure of the pain reflecting in his eyes.Good,she thought. It needed to be done. No more false promises. She wouldn’t damn him to a fate like hers. She wouldn’t doom Elyssa and Ilario with another loss.
Lora went for the kill. “I never have.”
Eyden’s eyes glossed over with a mix of ice and fire. His shoulders dragged low. She couldn’t bear it any longer. She knew she’d gone too far, but any less wouldn’t have been enough. Without another word, Lora turned her back and disappeared through the shimmering curtains.
You’re the one who’s going to disappear in the end.Eyden’s voice from the past echoed through her head, haunting her, weighing her down with guilt, with crushing regret. Tears burned her cheeks. She was choosing to disappear, but in a different way than he’d expected back then.
What other choice did she have? She was trapped in the king’s twisted game and she wouldn’t add any casualties to it.
Letting her tears slide down her cheeks, Lora hurried along, hoping each step would make it easier for Eyden to forget her as she drowned in her own words.
Chapter8
Amira
The pill wasn’t fully working yet. Amira kept drinking as she waited for it to kick in. At least the alcohol stopped her from feeling the scornful looks of the other fae at Rhay’s party.
Amira downed her glass of iridos, Rhay’s face appearing in her mind. Would he end up treating Karwyn’s cousin as he had treated her, promising friendship and fun only to end up turning his back on her?
She scanned the crowd, looking for the new fortae dealer. He must have been new to the trade; his clumsiness and guilty expression betrayed his lack of experience. Digging her nails into her skin, she wished nothingness would finally envelop her heart.
A waiter with a tray full of iridos glasses passed by her. Amira immediately grabbed two. Without paying any attention to where she was walking, she started drinking. Her head spun as she tilted her chin up to the flickering lights on the ceiling. Shadows danced in front of her eyes, and a smile appeared on her face as she recognised the beginning of her anticipated high.
With her eyes half-closed, Amira took another step, but she stumbled and fell forward, splashing one of her drinks on a fae’s dress.
The fae’s shocked expression made Amira laugh. With her blurry vision, the fae’s stained dress looked ridiculous.
“You think this is funny?” the fae asked, rainbow-coloured iridos slowly dripping from her clothes.
“A bit, yes,” she bit out.
The fae scoffed. “I’m half tempted to leave you with bad luck for a month. We’ll see who’s laughing then.”
The laughter died in Amira’s throat. Her blood boiled in her veins as she remembered what Nalani had told her about the Turosian superstition. The fae had to spill her own drink on herself to ensure Amira wouldn’t be left with bad luck.
Darkness rose in her heart, only held back by her high. Showing her powers to the fae would be a sure way to wipe the satisfied grin off her face. Amira was tired of everyone looking down on her.
“What? You’re out of laughs now? How about you apologise? Then I might feel pity and save you from your bad luck,” the fae continued smugly.
