“None of us did, Evelyn. Ritter was a prick, but no one expected this.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You aren’t in trouble,” Damien soothed.
“Camille and Simon died because of me!”
“They died because Ritter killed them. You saved everyone else in that room. Hannah is alive because of your magic, whatever that was. You saved your family and Leo.”
“Leo is going to hate me.”
Damien hesitated. “Have you talked to him yet?”
“No. Have you?”
“No. I’m not entirely sure where he is.”
“I just wanted to be with him. I ruined everything.”
“Ritter manipulated you. He used you. That’s what I need to talk to you about. The deals you made are over now, right?”
“Yes. My last tattoo disappeared when he died. When I…” Evelyn trailed off.
“That’s my first question. How did you kill Ritter? I thought your Fire magic couldn’t touch him.”
“Do you remember when Haydn had lunch with us before he left the first time? We were talking about magic and how elements could affect him. Leo was grumpy and asked if he could drown. Haydn said yes,ifsomeone could get water in his lungs.”
Damien’s eyebrows shot up. “You drowned him with Fire.”
Evelyn winced. “I wasn’t sure it would work, but I didn’t know what else to try.”
“That’s…”
“Horrifying.”
“Brilliant, Evelyn. You are brilliant!”
“Haydn was here forme. I got us into this mess!”
“He killed several royals before he even met you. You stopped him.”
“I burned a man from the inside out. Don’t try to convince me I’m the hero.”
Damien waved a hand dismissively. “We’ll come back to that. Tell me about his Traveling magic.”
“I didn’t know he was using it like that. I didn’t know he had anything to do with King Gerard or?—”
“It’sokay. Tell me what you do know.”
Evelyn described the night on the beach, seeing the dragons, and making the Bargain that prevented her from talking about it.
“I knew you were lying to me that day,” Damien teased. “I feel better knowing it wasn’t your choice. What else?”
Evelyn told him about the last Bargain she had made with Haydn and how much impact his first wish had.
“So even if you figured out what Ritter was up to, you wouldn’t have been able to warn us.”
“I didn’t realize it was thatdark, but yes.”
