The words cut through me like arrows. No, no, no. I thought Kairyn had a chance of stopping Wrenley from hurting Dayton, not taking both him and Ezryn down! I thrash against the steel.
“You can’t go to the Ribs,” Wrenley breathes. “I need you here.”
“Apparently not.”
“I want you here.”
“You don’t know what you want,” he growls.
I jerk forward, thrashing against the chains, but only manage to fall hard to the floor. “Leave Ezryn alone! You’ve taken enough from him!”
Kairyn tilts his head to me as if he’s only just now remembered that I exist. For a moment, I think he’s going to say something, but then he just opens the door and leaves, closing it softly behind him.
Silence echoes in his wake.
Wrenley stands in the middle of the room, shoulders shaking. She clenches her jaw so tight, it seems like her teeth may crack. Then with a scream, she grabs the hairbrush off her vanity and throws it against the mirror. Spiderwebs erupt across the surface, causing her reflection to turn into a hideous visage.
She runs to her bed, throws her head in the pillows andscreams, a sorrowful keen. Tears spring to my own eyes at the sound. When she lifts her head, the kohl around her eyes is smudged, but the intensity in her gaze is back.
My heart thuds. This is my last chance to stop her. To have her stop Kairyn. As she walks past me, I reach out and grab her wrist. “I can see it on your face. You love him.” It wasn’t Dayton she had loved when we drank the truth wine. It was Kairyn. “Why risk that by doing this?”
She looks down at me. “Because I hate you more.”
For a woman adept at disguises, this is the least convincing thing she’s ever said.
CHAPTER 78
Dayton
Iwant a drink.
I really fucking want a drink. But to do this drunk wouldn’t be fair to Wrenley or to me. I’m doing this to be better. To do right by my realm. To become the High Prince needed to save Summer.
Here stands the fool, who escapes within the flesh for fear of his fate. Who languishes his time and talent. Here stands a beast who will let his realm go to rot as long as his mind is muddled enough not to comprehend.
“Is this what you fucking wanted from me?” I snarl, thinking of the Enchantress. The Queen. “Did you want me to break your daughter’s heart? Did you want to breakme?”
Perhaps that is what she wanted. To reduce me to ash, to be remade.
Because by the damned gods, I know there won’t be anything left of me after this.
I pace back and forth in my room before placing my hand on the wall that Rosie is behind.
Except she’s not there. She’s returned to Castletree.
Gritting my teeth, I slam my fist against the wall, causing a spiderweb of cracks. Rosalina didn’t tell me not to go through with this. She didn’t tell me no.
A soft knock sounds on my door. Nausea roils through me. “Come in.”
Wrenley enters, wearing her white acolyte robes. Her gaze flits wildly back and forth. Her hair and clothes look rumpled, and her breathing is quick.
“Was there trouble getting away from Kairyn?” I ask.
Her gaze darts to me, wild and untethered. “Kairyn. What about him?”
“Is he going to notice you’re missing?”
She stalks past me and grabs the wine I’ve been ignoring. “What do I care about that arrogant asshole? He thinks he can control my entire life, like heknowsmy entire life. He doesn’t know a thing about me. Not really.”
