Feylin’s eyes don’t leave mine as he opens the lid. Ever so slowly he drops his gaze to peer inside.
The smile I expect doesn’t come. Instead his face goes deathly white as his hands slip out from underneath the box. Because the book’s so heavy the box tips as it plummets to the floor, one edge crumpling as it connects with the polished marble. The book tumbles out, sliding across the ballroom and coming to an abrupt halt two feet away from the ring of fae surrounding us.
Gasps of shock ring out across the room. Murmurs of disgust follow.
What’s happening? What’s going on?
The fae look at me like I’m some sort of traitor as they whisper to one another. A wave of murmurs carrying the title of the book spreads throughout the throng. Next thing I know, fae are vanishing in spirals of smoke, exiting the ballroom faster than I can keep up.
I whirl toward him. “Feylin.”
He backs away, his face twisted in fury. With one wave ofhis hand, everyone who remains in the ballroom vanishes—even my family.
What have I done?
“I’ve sent them home,” he grinds out.
“Why? What’s going on?”
When he tosses his head back and laughs, it’s the coldest, most chilling sound I’ve ever heard. “You. Know. Why.”
“No, I don’t. Look, if there’s something wrong with that book?—”
“Something wrong with it?” he spits. Fury rages in his eyes. I’ve never seen him so mad, not even when I puked on his shoes. “Somethingwrongwith it? Tell me, dear Addison, did you know from the beginning of this farce that you’d betray me with that book, or was it only recently that you decided to destroy me with it?”
My jaw drops. “I don’t…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Every muscle in his face tightens as he takes an intimidating step toward me. Mist flares out around him, crawling over the floor. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. I swear, Feylin. I’m not. I don’t?—”
“Understand?” he yells.
The floating candles flicker as his magic slithers over them. His power’s snuffing out the light in the room, darkening it. A fire roars in the man-sized fireplace, but even that light’s dimming.
“You understood exactly what you were doing.”
He laughs, this time bitterly, looking up at the heavens as if for answers. Well, if he’s going to get them, I’d like some, too, because I’m confused as hell.
“You knew who I was from the first moment we met, didn’t you?” His gaze lands on me, and it’s as sharp as a spear as it rips a gash in my heart. “But you being such a good actress, you had me fooled. And a fool is what I’ve been. Thiswhole time, while I was helping you find your magic, while I was fall”—his voice breaks and he shuts his eyes before grinding out—“you were plotting, waiting. I was ready to give you the world, but that’s not good enough for a Thornrose, is it? You had to destroy me like I wanted to destroy your family.”
He takes a step back, giving me room to breathe. Those eyes, which had stared at me with such warmth only minutes ago, are now as biting as ice.
“I really don’t know?—”
He slams his hand down on a table. “Stop lying!”
I flinch from the violence in his voice, and because of it, my voice shrivels to nothing.
“Your family’s known that ever since Tess crawled into that book anddied, I’d seek revenge. So they decided to use you to get it, didn’t they? You were their tool to destroy me before I could ever destroy them.”
“Destroy them?” I repeat.
My mind’s working in overdrive. Tess died in a book.
Oh my gods! My hands fly to my mouth. Elmore—when I first arrived back in town, he’d started to tell me about a horrible accident that had happened, but he never got to finish.Tessdied. Feylin’s Tess died in a book, and no one ever told me. Not my mother. Not my father. Not even Blair. No one ever said one word.
As Feylin stares at me, fury still splashed across his face, more pieces of the puzzle snap in place. Feylin knew who I was all along. When he abruptly walked away from me at the ball, after I introduced myself, it was because I’m a Thornrose.
