“Don’t, sister. You’re fast, but not fast enough to save Orion.”
“Why are you here?” Ace asked.
Paul kept his gaze locked on mine.
“You need to come with me,” he said. “Now.”
“You threatened to kill Ace and imprison me for an indefinite amount of time. You’re leading a group of rebel hunters who have actively attacked me and have tried to kill me on numerous occasions. I love you, even now, but I won’t be leaving with you.”
He shook his head. “You need to come with me. I’ll explain everything.”
“You had your chance to explain everything already and you phaaned that up pretty well.”
Paul squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ve never been perfect. I know that. I still thought I could contain the situation, and it’s my own arrogance that prevented me from explaining everything before. If you knew the full truth, everything, you’d see things my way.”
I scowled. That was a weak excuse. He had so many opportunities to tell me what was going on.
“I have my faults. Struggling to admit them is one of them, but I would also never knowingly do anything to place you in danger. You must believe that. You’re my twin, Em. I love you. Drop the bow and come with me now.” He adjusted his grip on Orion, exposing the edges of a design etched into his leather vambraces. The Broken Tongue. The symbols confirmed what we already suspected. Paul was a part of the Circle.
“Why would I go anywhere with you?” I asked.
“You’re in danger.”
“That’s not enough incentive. I’ve been in constant danger and it’s all because of you. I need more information before I go anywhere. Did you kill the old man?”
“Phaan yes, I did. He never should’ve sent the men after you.”
So Old Man Reilly had been behind the attacks. The confirmation didn’t feel good. Instead, it created a sour taste in my mouth. “I thought you were in charge, Paul. Start talking.”
He pressed the dagger into Orion’s neck, drawing blood. It pebbled along the blade and dripped down his skin. “I will start with?—”
Paul didn’t finish the sentence.
A sickening thud echoed in the room. Paul froze before slowly looking down. An arrowhead protruded from his chest.
My brother looked back up at me, gaze wild. “Em?”
Orion shoved Paul’s hand away and stepped out of his reach. My brother staggered to the side.
Behind him, Sley stood in the doorway, her bow now lowered to her side.
I lunged forward, catching Paul in my arms before he crashed to the ground. We fell to the floor together.
“Em?”
I hauled him onto my lap, his blood pooling around us. I wiped his hair from his face—a face I had etched into my brain and could trace from memory. I pulled the arrow free and blood sprayed everywhere. He’d taken a direct hit to the heart.
The wound didn’t close.
Why wasn’t he healing?
He was a pureblood phaanon, like me. He should heal with or without a familiar.
I held the arrow up to my nose and sniffed.
Poison.
No. No. This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be happening.
