“Vincent, we have to learn to trust her,” I said, glancing at Elianna. “Trust each other.”
“Yeah,” Elianna added. “It’s not like I’m going back to Nismera. She’d kill me on sight for leaving and taking the journal. Plus …” She swallowed, her words dying.
“Plus, what?”
Her fingers worried the worn cuff of her jacket. “Plus, Kaden is dead. I don’t want to be there without him.”
If I had any bread left, I would have choked. “Kaden?”
She glared at me. “Yes. Don’t act so high and mighty. You were screwing him before you decided you liked Vincent.”
She threw those words at me with so much venomous force my head nearly hit the wall. It was what we wanted everyone to believe, but it simply wasn’t true. I could feel the tension radiate off Vincent. I had told him nothing had happened, but he was still pissed about catching Kaden kissing me. It didn’t matter to Vincent that it was fake, and Kaden had never touched me in any other way.
“I’m sorry. You’re mad at me?” I stifled a laugh. “Because of Kaden?”
She pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, curling into herself.
Vincent sighed, folding his arms and placing a single dirty boot on the door frame behind him. “Elianna has been in love with Kaden since Nismera freed him and Isaiah from Yejedin.”
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. “You were with them back then?”
“All he sees is that stupid bitch Dianna,” Elianna snapped aggressively, pulling at her worn cloak sleeves and ignoring my question. “She’s not even that pretty.”
I scoffed and adjusted, trying to get comfortable against the crate poking into my side. “What are you, five?”
Elianna’s frown deepened. “He was supposed to kill her, you know? She was supposed to die the second we found her. But Drake just had to drag her back with some sob story about her sister. That’s the only reason he did it.”
Now, I was confused. “For Gabby?”
“No, you idiot.”
“Watch it,” Vincent damn near growled.
Elianna rolled her eyes. “He saved her because Gabby reminded him of Isaiah. Kaden’s only weak spot is his brother. Nismera knew it, too. Killing Gabby wasn’t just a way to break Dianna and drive a permanent wedge between her and Kaden. It was a way to test Kaden, too. Nismera wanted to see if he would be just another willing puppet whose strings she could pull like everyone else. She always tests them. She is a paranoid psychopath who trusts no one, no matter what she says.”
My mind reeled. I hadn’t made any of those connections, but it made sense if Kaden saw himself in Dianna, both desperate to keep their siblings safe. But something she’d said didn’t make sense. “What do you mean, test them? Why would she do that? I thought she loved them?”
It was Vincent’s turn to snort. “Nismera loves nothing and no one but herself. Herself and power. She will lie, manipulate, and use anyone and anything to have it and keep it.”
Elianna didn’t object but said, “I’m the only one out of the entire Order that gave a shit about him, you know? Not like he saw it, though. He couldn’t see anything except her.”
Vincent made a noise low in his throat as he pushed off the doorway. “Such bitterness, Elianna.”
“Weren’t you?” Elianna asked, her eyes flicking to me.
I held my hands up before either of them drew a blade to slice the other into silence. “You never explained how you took over the council on the remains of Rashearim.”
Elianna held her righteous nose a fraction higher. “My father was a part of The Order before it was dismantled. He trained and educated me, and I took over as he intended. So, yes, I worked with Nismera and alongside Kaden. I was even in Eoria when he found the bitch. When the realms closed, we needed a new council, so my men and I took over. The rest is history.”
“Wow,” I said, folding my arms as I leaned back. “You really are a conniving, smart bitch.”
She scoffed. “Takes one to know one, I suppose.”
I shook my head. “I have never supported Nismera.”
“But you betrayed Dianna just the same. You and Vincent and everyone else can hate me, but I did what I was born to do, what was best for my family, just like you two.” She glared at Vincent. “Except you betrayed yours, and now you’re leading us back to them, where we will probably be murdered.”
Vincent scoffed, the edge of his tongue worrying his bottom lip. My eyes followed him as he turned toward me. “I’m going topside to make sure none of her legion has found or is following us. You two try to get some rest.”
