His eyes were locked on mine. We were the only two people in the presence chamber, even with dozens of fae courtiers looking on, even with a woman’s life hanging in the balance between us. Unspoken words and dangerous feelings flew across the space, just from the force of our eyes meeting.
It was a habit that was too easy to fall back into; a closeness I was not ready for. Not yet. If I let him in again… he could hurt me again.
“I have had enough.”
Garrick dropped his sword and the woman. By the time her knees hit the ground, he was already back at my side. He caught my arm and sheathed his sword in one motion, turning me toward the exit. There was nothing left for us here.
“My mistake. I thought the Duke of Sein Talam’s taste would have improved with age,” the woman called from behind us, all the sweetness gone from her voice. “Clearly, I was wrong.”
Another person who hated me. It shouldn’t have mattered. I hated the fae. They hated the witches. We all hated each other.
Except I did not hate Garrick. Not anymore. Damn, damn, damn. How had I let that happen? How could I hate someone who saw the struggle within me, the darkness that tried to subsume the light, and instead of being repulsed by it, held me through it?
We made it out of the presence chamber, rounded the first turn of the spiral, and we were finally alone. I yanked my arm free, increasing my pace, hurrying ahead. Garrick caught up in two easy steps. I started to jog.
“Koryn,” Garrick tried to touch my arm, but I lunged away.
“Why are you angry with me?”
I wasn’t. I was angry at myself. And him. And this whole fucking world. I should have stayed dead the night in the forest. I should never have been resurrected.
“I just… I do not need you, Garrick. I need to think.” The feelings were too intense. Where was my power now, when I wanted it? There was no ice forming in my veins, no pointed daggers extending from my sharpened nails.
He tried for my arm again. This time, he caught me. He dragged me up against him, his eyes bearing down on mine. “Then let me stay at your side while you do.”
I wanted to throw myself into his arms.
Instead, I threw myself backward, wrenching out of his grip. I collided hard with the red brick wall behind me.
We had only a moment of warning. A long, yawing groan as the ancient mortar between the bricks tried to hold back the force of time and a centuries-old curse. But nothing lasted forever. The corridor crumbled around us.
Garrick covered my body with his own. But I got a hand out in time to blast back the bricks with a wall of ice. I was past praying. I was not even sure what I would pray for. But when the bricks stopped falling, we were both still standing.
We were trapped.
CHAPTER 31
GARRICK
Before
I heardthe door open behind me, but I did not turn. I did not need to look to know who those soft footsteps belonged to. I’d measured my life in those footsteps, their heavy tread after a long day of labor cleaning up after others, their lightness when the spring came after a long and hungry winter. On that day, they were careful, a wary animal approaching a cornered predator.
The sleeve of my good wool tunic snagged on the buckle of the pack as I hastily tried to shove it inside. Her smaller hand closed around mine before I could rip a hole in the weave that I’d never be able to mend.
She nimbly untangled the tunic from the brass buckle, but she did not tuck it inside the pack. It remained hanging, half in, half out.
I avoided touching her hand as I shoved the tunic the rest of the way in.
She stepped back, the space between us larger than the distance of her tread.
“Do not make this decision in anger,” my mother said.
It went against every instinct to ignore her. For my entire life, she’d been an unwavering pillar of strength. Even when she was hurting, she’d stood firm. I’d always been completely honest with my mother, letting her see my pain and struggle, letting her comfort me. She’d tried to shield me from hers. I’d seen it, anyway. But I could not stay and watch any longer.
I heard her swallow. My hearing was not as sharp as my half-siblings', but it was superior to that of any human.
“There is nothing for you out there,” she said.
