I let him haul me along, my mind churning. Something isn’t making sense. Scratch that, too many things aren’t making sense, but one in particular bothers me.
My steps slow down. His magic is all wrong. His magic isn’t failing him, it’s just… different. Powerful but not the sort a warrior librarian should have.
He stops, his hand around mine tightening. “What is it?”
But before I can speak, Ardruna appears at the foot of the staircase. “There you are, liar. You betrayed our trust.”
“Druna…” Roane stops. “Where is Talton?”
“Right here.” The raven flies down to land on the lioness’s back. “You were saying?”
“I wasn’t saying anything.” Roane pushes past them, tugging me along. “It’s dinner time.”
“Oh, no. You don’t get to brush this off,” Ardruna says. “We need to talk, Ro.”
He whirls about, releasing my hand. “What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? I’m not.”
“How can you say that?” she demands.
His shoulders bow over. “Is your life here with me so bad?”
“That’s all you have to say?” Ardruna growls. “We want to know why you did it. Why you didn’t tell us. Decades, Ro! Whole decades and you never said a word. We wouldn’t have known if Aline hadn’t figured it out.”
He shoots me a loathing glance. “Yeah. Everything would have been fine if she hadn’t poked her nose into this.”
I flinch.
“I thought we were friends, Roane,” Ardruna says.
“We are,” he says tightly.
“That means no secrets and no gaslighting. You should have told us the truth. Look at me, Ro. You should have trusted us. What reason have we given you not to trust us?”
With a last withering look at me, he turns back toward them. “Has it occurred to you that you’re not the reason I can’t trust people? That I was betrayed in the past?”
“Is that true?” Ardruna tsks. “I don’t know if to believe you, and you know why? Because youkeep lying.”
His head bows, hands curling into fists. “If you don’t wish to be here, you’re free to go and always were.”
“That’s it? No apologies? No promises to do better from now on? I see.” Ardruna turns around, Talton still on her back. “Stay here, then, and live with your lies.”
I let out a hissing breath.
Roane watches them walk away, his hands still fisted at his sides, his chest rising and falling unevenly. “You are my family,” he whispers. “Don’t go.”
But their forms quickly disappear among the giant columns.
“No.” Roane slides down to his knees. “No…”
And the library shakes.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
MEDDLING
ADELINE
What’s happening? Another shake throws me to the floor. A crack appears in it, mere feet from me, and with a rumble, it widens, destroying the geometric pattern of the mosaics. Chunks break off the columns, crashing around us.
