“It was an accident,” Drayven said—the same words everyone had repeated to me over and over in the hope that I’d believe them, and even though I knew it to be true, it didn’t change the horror of the consequences.
I wiped my face. Crying wouldn’t solve anything. “My father claimed the same thing when the Inquisitors came for me. They saw I was a minor and set a date for a blood trial, but two nights before the trial, hooded men came to our home. They came for me. Damascus’s men. But my father begged them to take him instead.Hisblood instead of mine.” I didn’t want to relive this. Didn’t want to see it in my mind, so I spoke fast, spilling words just to get it over with. “They dragged him into the street where a carriage waited. A man climbed out. Hooded and masked. He demanded to know where I was, and my father replied with, ‘Her blood is mine, and mine is hers.’The hooded figure drew his sword and said, ‘Then I, Sterling Damascus, claim the debt,’and cut off my father’s head.”
Silence stretched for several beats before Drayven spoke. “They bypassed a trial. A trial where the incident would have either been ruled an accident or a debt suitable for a minor would have been applied.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “I will never forgive myself for what happened to Annabeth. But I swear, it wasn’t deliberate. I didn’t want her dead. I just… I needed to get away from her. From her words and the pain that they caused. But because of that, because I’d been too weak to withstand them, she died in unimaginable agony, and my father was forced to give his life to protect me. But Sterling had no right to take it.” Rage simmered in my chest. “He broke the law and sufferednoconsequences.”
“It was your head he wanted,” Drayven said. “But your father invoked the right of proxy. He had no choice but to accept because you were a minor.”
“Are you defending him?”
“Of course not.” He looked genuinely offended. “The fact he was there in the first place broke all the rules. He should have realized your family would protect you. In fact…” He trailed off, realization coloring his features.
“He knew what would happen. He didn’t care—as long as he got blood vengeance, something he knew wouldn’t happen if the case went to trial.” He’d come to the same conclusion that I had over the years.
“And now you’re here. No longer a child. Ana…you must stay away from him.”
“He can’t kill me, and as much as I want to kill him for what he did, I can’t.” An emotion I couldn’t quite read sparked in his eyes. “My mother signed a blood contract. No retribution on either side. When he had me by the throat, I genuinely questioned whether he would break that oath, but…I think he simply wanted to frighten me.” I drew a shuddering breath. “I have all these emotions and all this rage… Trust me, the only time I’ll be spending around him will be mandated. Anna’s death was an accident, something I will never forgive myself for. But what Sterling did to my father was straight-up murder, and for that… For that, he will one day pay.”
* * *
We sat in companionable silence,something I hadn’t done with anyone since…well, ever. Yet, I’d done it with the Unwoven and was now doing it with Drayven.
There was something undeniably and inexplicably soothing about sharing space this way.
But all good things had an end.
“Let me walk you back to Bramble Tower,” he said.
“I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit me.”
“I have things to do. Yes. Butbetterthings?” He leaned forward slightly, forearms braced on his thighs as his thoughtful gaze met mine. “No.”
I chuckled. “I appreciate your help and…just you being here.” Telling the story out loud had been cathartic. “So do you always take an interest in new arrivals, or do you have a thing for pariahs?”
His expression grew serious. “I don’t think you’re a pariah, Ana. In fact, I find you fascinating. You’re here because you want to be. You’re here because you survived out there.” His gaze drifted over my head. “Nightsbridge is filled with Horrors for us, but you’ve been surrounded by horrors all your life. Horrors that wear human faces. I admire you, and I don’t admire many people.”
Heat bloomed in my cheeks and I ducked my head, not wanting him to see how his words affected me. Kind words were something only my mother had ever offered me, and with her gone, I’d given up hope of ever being on the receiving end of them again.
“Thank you.” I took a beat to compose myself before lifting my gaze to his once more.
A soft breeze blew my hair forward, stray tendrils sweeping across my face. He gently brushed them aside, tucking them behind my ear. The contact sent a shiver down my neck, and his fingers lingered, warm and reassuring. I couldn’t help but lean into his touch.
“Being the last of your bloodline doesn’t mean you have to be alone,” he said.
If only that were true. “Being alone is safe.”
“Being alone is…lonely.”
Was he counseling me or himself? “I like my own company.”
He cracked a smile that made my insides gooey. “I like your company, too.”
What was he doing to me? “Stop it.”
A teasing smile lifted his lips. “What?”
“Saying all the nice things.”
