Drink in hand, she walked across the room, paying no attention to the other guests. Her eyes were trained on Rhay dancing with a ravishing dark-haired fae.
“Rhay has promised me the next dance,” Amira said to the brunette, challenging Rhay to object. The fae let go of Rhay’s hands and bowed her head. Rhay’s gaze tracked her as if he intended to follow her.
Not letting him get away, Amira grabbed Rhay’s hand. “Let’s dance.”
They started moving to the slow rhythm of the song. Fortae made Amira’s feet feel lighter. She moved with more confidence than usual, enjoying Rhay’s troubled expression as he tried hard to avoid her. His eyes darted around the room as if he was trying to make sure no one paid them close attention. Luckily for him, Karwyn was nowhere to be seen.
“I’ve heard you’re trying to pawn me off to Tarnan,” Amira said, willing him to look at her.
Rhay scoffed. “You’re far too difficult to pawn off. We shouldn’t be discussing this here.”
With no care for court rumours, Amira forged ahead. “What’s your plan? Removing me from court in hopes of my…differencebeing discovered by someone else? Making sure you can stay guilt free?”
Rhay made her twirl a few times before bringing her closer. Guilt flashed in his ocean eyes. “My plan is to get you out before you become a threat to others and yourself. Think about it. Think about what triggered yourdifference.Karwyn,me.”
Now Amira was the one scoffing. “A change of location won’t change me. You can’t send me away to avoid me.”
“If you go with Tarnan, you can get away from any triggers. I’ll get you more pills, but you need to try and space them out more. Maybe this time-out will help you get permanent control over yourself.”
Rhay’s arguments were weak at best, but there was something about Tarnan’s palace that tugged at her memory. Amira hadn’t been to Pyria, the capital of the Carnylen kingdom, since she was a child, but she remembered their library. Following the guidance of the God of Wisdom, Hamadrae, the Pyrian court had built the largest library in all of Liraen. It was rumoured that books dating from the beginning of fae life could be found there.
Maybe instead of controlling herpowers, she could find something to remove them altogether. Something that would save her from herself.
Rhay made her twirl another time, clearly eager to hear her response. She took pleasure in pretending to think it over. For a split second, he looked at her as he had before. Before everything was ruined. Amira didn’t let herself fall for it.
She moved to whisper in his ear. “I’ll go if Karwyn and my brother agree. And if you can get me enough pills to hold me over. I’m better off without you.”
Rhay dropped her hands even though the song hadn’t ended yet. His eyes were too cold for his colorful outfit. “It’s settled, then. We’ll both be better off. You should pack your bags. I can be convincing when I want to be, and Wryen won’t go against Karwyn’s wishes.”
If anyone could get Karwyn to agree, it was Rhay. It was strange to think that at this point, Amira was almost as glad to be away from Rhay as she was to be rid of Karwyn’s presence, if only for a little while.
She would rather avoid seeing Rhay’s face and having to beg him to help her. Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of his choices. The choice to ignore Nalani’s death. The choice to follow Karwyn blindly. The choice to threaten to reveal Amira’s secret if she made one wrong move.
But most of all, she would leave for herself. If she could remove the darkness in her,fixherself, she had to try.
Chapter12
Eyden
The streets of Chrysa felt more depressing than usual as Eyden strolled through the town at dusk to meet Ilario. Although his mind was stuck on the image of Lora walking away from him, Eyden still paid close attention to his surroundings. With the dangerous games he was playing, he had to be more vigilant than ever.
Eyden knew Elyssa was right: Lora would make the perfect spy. She was a fucking princess—a royal, Karwyn’sfamily.The thought made him sick to his stomach. How the two could be related when they were such opposites was beyond him. How Lora couldchooseto stay was even more unfathomable.
A sharp pain struck his heart every time Lora’s voice echoed through his head.I never have.Did she really feel that way?
He wished he could save her, but wasn’t it Eyden who had doomed her in the first place? All he had given her was trauma. He hadn’t been able to give her a cure unlike Karwyn.
A voice tore Eyden from his punishing thoughts. “Buy in for a mere fifty silver! Next game starts now. May Falea be on your side,” a fae shouted in front of an open door.
Eyden knew this place. He knew the darkly lit backroom at the club Caligo where fae put everything on the line, playing in hopes that fortune was on their side.
“I know you,” the fae said. He pushed his brown hair from his face as he looked Eyden up and down. Eyden hadn’t even realised he had stopped by the door, his fingers flexing as if to grab a hold of imaginary cards. “Haven’t seen you around lately.”
It had been a long time since Eyden had succumbed to the back room of Caligo. The risks were high, the games not for fun. He should walk away. But ever since he’d played that poker game in the diner when Lora had been threatened, the familiar itch had been back under his skin. It was hard to give something up you were so damn good at. But the times Eyden had failed, consequences had followed. One in particular had been the catalyst for a deep-rooted guilt and shame Eyden carried with him always.
“Are you joining or not?” the fae asked again, growing impatient.
Eyden shifted his feet on the hard ground, his gaze flickering into the dark corridor. He couldn’t see anything, but he knew the gambling table was waiting around the corner.
