“El, stop!” Farren yelled after her, trying to catch up. The rest of his words were drowned out by the distance between them. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to remain calm. Anger was a powerful tool in a fight if wielded correctly, and Elyssa had perfected it. Life had given her plenty to be furious about.
The group of humans, her so-called family, was standing in a circle around Jaspen, who was surely preaching some bullshit. Only when she pushed through the anguished crowd did she catch his words. “…and we won’t let this deter us from our mission! We may have lost this round, but we will prevail. We gave our all—”
“Bullshit,” Elyssa hissed, walking into the circle. “Gave your all? Is that why you left without Farren, your cherishedasset,and me—your best chance in a fight?”
The crowd got louder, and Jaspen raised his hand to calm the noise. Elyssa moved closer, knowing she would have a hard time hearing him otherwise. It would be hard to keep herself from punching him if he was within reach, but this conversation needed to happen.
Jaspen met her challenging gaze. His brown hair had come out of his ponytail and hung around his face like a streak of dirt. “It’s not my fault you weren’t here. Perhaps you were out looking for more abandoned swords with our sworn enemy?”
Elyssa crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat, getting right in his face. Teeth clenched, she forced herself to keep her dagger at her side. Jaspen’s eyes were wide but daring, taunting her to make a move in front of the whole camp.
Elyssa broke eye contact, searching for Farren instead. He was standing close by, silently pleading with her,Don’t give him a reason to kick you out. Don’t give him that satisfaction.
“Perhaps,” Elyssa forced out sarcastically as she stared Jaspen down. “And perhaps no one would’ve died if you hadn’t chosen to go sooner than I was told.”
“It was a time-sensitive matter,” Jaspen replied. “We would’ve been fine without you if Rahmur Piers hadn’t shown up. We were lucky to get away.”
Rahmur Piers,the fortae dealer, the top of the food chain. She would’ve cherished the chance to take him out. “I could’ve taken him. You were fucking stupid to go without me,” she yelled.
Jaspen snorted, his lips set in a straight line. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against him. As much as you like to think of yourself as invincible, you’renot.You’re a traitor who will drag us all down with you once your fae friends turn on us. Get out of my way. We have a send-off ceremony to plan.”
Elyssa clenched her fist so hard that a tremor went up her arm. She looked around them. Where was Iris? They might not believe in Caelo, but somehow, they had taken over the fae tradition of burning the dead. They had made it their own.
“Where is Iris?” she snapped.
The crowd of humans looked distraught, unsure. Even Ian, who was always kissing Jaspen’s ass, seemed uneasy as he watched Jaspen from close by.
“We didn’t have time to take the body with us,” Jaspen said evenly.
“Youlefther there? They’ll use all the blood that’s left in her!” Elyssa yelled. Blood traffickers liked to keep humans alive for as long as possible, but they weren’t above taking advantage of the dead either.
“Better that than to get us all killed.” He raised his voice, not looking at her anymore. “Now as I said, let us honour the dead.”
Pulse speeding up, Elyssa saw red. Her fingers clenched around her dagger, and she lost control. She threw her weight at Japsen, knocking him to the ground. His head hit the grass as he grunted, dirt staining his shirt.
“This isyourgoddamn fault,” Elyssa yelled. A warm hand on her shoulder made her lower her arm. Farren’s presence was reassuring, but it did nothing to calm her.
“I think it’s time for you to go,” Jaspen spat out, brushing grass off of himself as he stood up. The crowd around them, visibly shaken, didn’t seem to know how to react.
Elyssa wanted to argue, defend herself, but Farren guided her back. Against her every instinct, Elyssa let herself be led away. Away from Jaspen and the crowd. He never listened. Every time, the majority of the camp let themselves be ruled by fear.
Fear of fae, fear of trusting any of them. It was so easy for Jaspen to argue against her when the faes’ hands had painted the camp’s history in blood.
But this time Jaspen had gone too far, excluding her when he knew she could’ve helped. To prove a damn point—prove they didn’t need her—Iris had lost her life.
The clock in her head ticked furiously, announcing the end. Elyssa couldn’t stay here any longer.
Chapter10
Lora
The change of scenery was more than welcome to Lora. When a guard had come to her room this morning, she had believed it was Karwyn, furious about her attending Rhay’s party and making good on his promise to stick her back in that godforsaken almandine cell. But Karwyn either didn’t know or didn’t care.
The guard led her to a training area where Rhay was already waiting for her. He was taking a sip out of a pink flask decorated with so much glitter that it was almost blinding. When Rhay looked up at them approaching, he stored the flask back in his cobalt blue satin jacket.
“Finally, she arrives. I was starting to believe you were too hungover to join me today,” Rhay said. He nodded at the guard, and the fae left quickly.
Lora almost replied that she didn’t make her own schedule, but it might give too much away.
