Poison. Titus poisoned them.
Adria jumps behind the throne to avoid Ronan’s light, wildly flinging fire in his direction.
She misses, but it ignites the fuming liquid behind him, causing it to explode. The explosion sends Quinn flying forward, her head smacking on stone.
I grab my sword with my shadows and free my hands, trying to avoid the terrible burn on my left arm. It screams in agony, but I have to ignore it if I want to live.
Then I run to them, run to Ronan and the others. I race down from the dais, my heart screaming so hard in my chest that I feel like I might collapse.
I come upon Quinn first. She’s unmoving, a trickle of blood trailing down her forehead from the impact.
And behind her, just a few feet back.
Ronan.
He’s there on the ground, unmoving.
I can’t feel him. I can’t feel anything. I’m going to vomit—
I bend down to him. I can’t feel him, but his body is still warm. And it’s moving, just a little.
He’s still breathing.
“Get out of my way, Sylvie,” says Adria. She’s standing on the dais, standing in front of the throne that can never be hers. Will never be hers.
She points her sword at Ronan, and I stand in front of him, holding my sword out in front of me.
“You will not hurt him.”
“Hurt him?” laughs Adria. “He’s already dead. I’m going to put him out of his misery, something you never learned to do. I’ve always had to clean up after you. Always had to clean up your messes. You’re useless. You’ve never been anything but useless.”
“And you’ve never been anything but cruel,” I say, holding my ground as she approaches. “You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself. I thought it was my fault. I spent my whole life thinking I’d done something wrong to make you hate me. But that’s who you are. You’re poison. Larus knew it. He believed me the second I told him.”
She laughs again, but this time, she’s delighted. “Is that what you think? That Larus helped you? Oh you poor, stupid little girl. Larus betrayed you, Sylvie. How do you think this happened?” She gestures around her to the chaos outside.
No. Larus couldn’t have betrayed me. He’s on my side. He’s always been on my side.
“Larus came to me with some bullshit story about storms. I knew you’d gotten to him. I knew you’d fed him some of your lies—”
“They weren’t lies—”
“—your pathetic little stories to make him hate me. Just like you’ve always done. He’s sworn to me, Sylvie. Not you. To me, the Lady of House Verran. It took a bit of reminding, but he remembered his oath in the end.”
“What did you do to him, Adria?” If she’d hurt him…
“I did what I always do. I did what needed to be done. He lied to you. We cut you out of the plans. I wanted to kill you, but he wouldn’t let me. I needed those ships. I still need them. And so here we are. If I could prove to him that you were lost, he swore he’d let you go.”
My heart sinks. I had just proven it with my actions to save Ronan. He’s still not moving on the ground.
“Larus? Are you awake yet? Come out, Larus.”
No.
From behind one of the great columns, Larus crawls out. He’s nursing a wound to his head.
“What did you do, Adria?” he says, his voice small.
“I knew you wouldn’t like some of what had to happen tonight, so I knocked you out. See, Sylvie? I do what I have to.”
