“Roane, get up,” I say, “we need to get out of here. Roane!”
He shakes his head where he’s kneeling, shoulders hunched. “No…” He seems lost inside his own head.
“It’s a quake, Roane! The ceiling could fall in.” Getting up, I place a hand on his shoulder. “Come.”
He jerks away, his gaze finally finding me, his voice a low hiss. “Druna and Tal left. You’re destroying my world.”
“Speaking the truth isn’t destruction. You can’t live inside a lie.”
“I was fine until you came!” Slowly, he regains his feet. “I was fucking fine.”
A lump is lodged in my throat. He’s right. I meddled. I needed to know more, but that doesn’t mean everyone does. Yet, weren’t Ardruna and Talton entitled to the truth?
“They love you,” I whisper. “They will come back.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know…” He pulls on his long, black hair. “I need them.”
I dare place my hand on his arm. “Roane?—”
He grabs my wrist and twists until I’m off balance. His eyes flash. “What are you? You have more power over this world than anyone else. You’re not human.”
I yank my hand away but he doesn’t release it. “Let me go.”
He’s gazing at me, his eyes wild, a storm of emotions raging at their cores. “Aline?—”
A flash of light and a golden form rises from the floor to stand chest to chest with Roane. “Don’t touch her!”
“Olm!” I whisper.
Roane still doesn’t release my wrist. “The book boy, are you? The one who keeps manipulating her?”
“Says the man who keeps lying to her,” Olm flings his accusation with such venom it takes me aback.
“Now she knows everything,” Roane says. “So fuck off, why don’t you, and leave us alone.”
“You wish,” Olm retorts. “Like it or not, I’m with her. You don’t get to make the rules and order us about?—”
“I’m in charge of this godsdamn world!” Roane’s voice is uneven, his brow shiny with sweat, his cheeks red, his mouth tight. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”
With a sudden move, Olm shoves at him and Roane stumbles back a step. “But you’re not in charge of her!”
Roane blinks, abruptly releasing me. He presses a hand to his chest where Olm pushed him and sways on his feet.
A distant crash comes from the depths of the temple.
“Roane.” I grab his hand. “You need to rest.”
“Oh, great. Now you’re worried about him?” Olm demands, glowering.
“Something’s wrong.” But of course. Expending a lot of magic can kill you, everyone knows that. It’s not an infinite power. And Roane just brought two creatures back from the dead.
“Will you just blatantly ignore the way he’s treated his friends?” Olm shouts. “And you? And also me, by the way, dismissing me like?—?”
I turn away from him. “Roane, you need to lie down. I’m going to find Ardruna and Talton.”
Roane grabs my forearm, grimacing. “No.”
“It’s not up to you.”
