“I am,” he continues. “I told you you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Why?” I drop into a crouch, my voice furious. “Why would she do that? She loved you.” Maeve was always a good, kind demon. She’d never hurt a fly, let alone eat someone’s soul. Especially not his.
Sadness dips in his tone. “I made her do it. It was the only way to save Tamryn, our sweet girl. She was so young…”
“What happened?” I growl after checking with the human lie detector. “Was she sick?”
“Yes.” His voice wobbles. “She was young. Maybe ten? It was some kind of flu. The healers, no matter how many we brought in, said there was nothing that could be done. They said she was a sickly child anyway, and since she never learned to speak, that this was only a matter of time,” he spits out the words. I can’t help but feel angry with him.
So what if the child cannot speak? She seems to be communicating well enough with Claren and I, and her paintings are worth more words than we could ever speak.
“So you made Maeve take your soul to give her the power to heal her?” I force out.
“I said she should just eat one of my prisoners’ souls, or the soul of someone old and about to pass anyway, but she refused,” he rasps. “Said she’d never eat anyone’s soul without their consent.”
That sounds like Maeve… “So you offered yours?”
“She didn’t want to do it, but then one night sweet Tamryn was so close to death and the healers told us to say our goodbyes. So I told Maeve that if she didn’t take my soul to save Tamryn’s, I’d slit my throat to die with her anyway.”
Standing up, I drag a hand through my hair. I don’t need to hear the rest of this story. Tamryn is alive and his soul is gone. What more is there to say? “Where is Maeve now,” I try again.“Soul or no soul, Elheart, where is my sister?” My nails dig into my palms.
A tear rolls down his cheek. “Her ashes are in the palace grounds.”
My blood freezes. Someone behind me gasps. I think I hear a yell coming from someone who sounds like Claren, but it can’t be, because I misheard Elheart.
I must have.
“What did you just say?” My voice comes out all raspy.
“I watched her die, Tauren,” he whimpers. “And after she died, I scattered her ashes by her favourite bench in the palace grounds. She’s gone. I’m sorry.” A sob tears up his throat. He has no soul, but his cry still sounds real. He must’ve truly loved her for it to still show like this.
He loved her, and now my sister is dead.
“He’s telling the truth,” Amaryllis whispers.
“How did she die?” My voice sounds so far away. Someone stands beside me and takes my hand, but I barely feel my wife’s warm touch.
“We…” Somehow I already know what’s about to come out of his mouth before he says it. It’s something I’ve always feared, something no brother would ever want to happen to their little sister. “We were fighting… and I-I lost control. It was an accident?—”
His face slams into the floor, teeth scattering across the wood like dropped marbles. “You fucking scum!” I slam him into the floor again and again. “I’ll fucking kill you. I swear, Elheart. You’re fucking dead?—”
“Tauren, please, stop!” Dahlia reaches for my hands, but I only see red. His red blood. His red wounds. My sister’s bloodied body after he beat her— “Tauren! Stop! Tamryn is here. You can’t let her see this.”
I pause. Elheart coughs enough blood to make a puddle by my boots.
“Get her out of here,” I snarl to Dahlia. “I don’t want her to watch me kill him.”
“He’s her father,” she yells. “And he might be a piece of shit, but he’s the only father she has. Let her decide his fate.Please.”
My chest feels so tight all I want to do is beat him until I can breathe again. But then I watch as Tamryn scurries up to his side, taking his hand in hers. She kisses it gently and strokes his shoulder.
Pain slashes through my heart. She’s so much like Maeve – in her mannerisms, in her looks. Maeve wouldn’t want me to kill him. Punish him, yes. But not kill him.
Sucking in a breath, I lower myself to Elheart’s eye level again. I know he’s still awake. One soulless eye can just about open through the swelling to watch me as I speak.
“This palace is now owned by the demon court, and you are going to spend the rest of your days in my castle’s dungeon, where you will be kept alive only for Tamryn’s sake.” He lets out a grateful groan, as I continue, “Once Tamryn is of age, this palace will belong to her. If there ever comes a day when she does not wish for you to be alive, then my dagger through your chest will be the first you know of it. Understood?”
He grunts quietly.
