I’m halfway to the door when a voice of warning screams in the back of my mind. Delivering an undead Taliesin to the Order is the only way to free Osian, and this might be my only chanceto wrap my hands around his throat and deliver my spell. But the chains have to go first. My magic won’t work otherwise.
I could steal back my dagger, sneak to another floor where he won’t hear, break the chain, and come back before he wakes…
It’s madness. Absolute madness. It will never work. I don’t know Taliesin well enough for the resurrection to last. He might survive a week, if that. Maybe long enough for me to get Osian away from the Order…and then what?
Tears prick the corners of my eyes as a furious fear pounds through me.
I don’t know what I’m doing. It all feelsimpossible. Two days ago—or has it been three?—I understood the world and my place in it. It wasn’t perfect, nothing ever is. But it made sense. Now it feels as if I’ve been dropped into a world that isn’t mine, where the rules are the opposite of all I know.
And a part of me—a part I try to smother as best I can—does not want to return to Caer Draen. A part that fears Taliesin might be right. That the moment I walk through the gates, the Order will surround me and drag me away. That I’ll never see Osian again, much less free him. No matter if I give them everything they want.
My grip tightens on the chains.No. I’ve let the exile get into my head, that’s all.
I force the thought away and take a slow step toward the tapestry. Taliesin would keep the weapons close, maybe even on the bed beside him.
I edge around the tapestry, and my eyes go straight to the bed. For a moment, I don’t understand what I’m seeing. The covers are undisturbed; there’s no tangle of silver hair on the pillows.
The realization slams into me a second later.
He’s gone.
14
Idon’t move. My chest burns, my fingers clutching the chain like it’s my tether to reality. For a single, impossible moment, I feel the crushing weight of disappointment. Taliesin is gone, which means I’m free, but…at what cost?
Then the air shifts, and a shadow lands on the bed from behind me. I spin, heart lurching, and there he is. Taliesin casually leans against the doorframe past the tapestry with a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. His pine marten weaves between his legs, barely making a sound.
“You thought I’d let you get away that easily?” he murmurs.
I drop the chain, my hands balling into fists. I should say something—anything—but nothing comes.
He arches a brow. “What were you hoping to do if you found me sleeping, Swynwraig? Choke me with your chain?”
“It’s notmyfucking chain, is it?” I snap back.
He lets out an amused sigh, shaking his head. “You really thought I wouldn’t be ready for you to try something? Or that I’d sleep while rogues are hunting us? Someone had to keep watch.”
“Fuck you.” I lift my chained wrist, shaking it at him. “Just let me go. I’ll go back to Caer Draen, and you can run off to theKingdom of Gelyn and be rid of me. Or jump into the poisonous sea for all I care.”
“I don’t trust you not to use your death magic on me if I let you go. Now get moving, or we’ll both be dead before breakfast.” When I don’t immediately answer, he sighs. “We’re leaving. Now.”
I narrow my eyes. “You can’t honestly expect me to go anywhere with you.”
“You know what? Stay if you like.” He folds his arms, still leaning against the doorframe like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “But you won’t find your way out of this tower without my help, and I don’t fancy your chances alone and unarmed against a pack of feral rogues.” He holds up my pack, from where he had it stashed outside the door. “And I imagine you’ll want this back. You can have it if you come with me.”
“You’re a bastard. Has anyone ever told you that?” I growl, fists tightening by my sides.
Taliesin blinks once, then smiles, like my fury is the entertainment he craves. “More times than I can count,” he says. “And I’ve learned to live with it.”
“Good,” I grit out. “I won’t let you forget it.”
He pushes off the doorframe, that infuriating smile stretching wider. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I glare at him, knowing there’s nothing left to do. Either I wither in this tower until the next wave of rogues arrives…or I follow the Order’s greatest enemy. And as furious as I am, I can’t deny the temptation staring me in the face. The longer I stay with him, the more I can learn. And the easier it will be to complete my mission.
Why haven’t I give up? I don’t know. I should. Anyone with even a shred of self-preservation would have by now.
But I only need to put up with him long enough to escape this place. Then I can run or fight. Or I can continue on, prying his secrets from his mind.
