‘Istopped Ingra.’
‘But … How?’ Hal frowns, trying to make sense of this. ‘What about Cole?’
Irritation claws at my insides. ‘You really think that arrogant brute was sober enough to notice an assassin all the way up in the gallery, or powerful enough to extinguish every flame in the room? He’s not the reason that ballroom went dark, Hal. It … it was me.’
‘What do you mean,it was you?’
I look away. Panic descends, hot and sharp, and I’m overcome with the desire to backtrack, to make an excuse, to turn and run and hide.
I hear my mother’s voice in my head.
Don’t shut fear out, Elva. Invite it in.
I feel my shadows begin to coil beneath the surface, ready to spring.
Ingra said that Hal would kill me if he discovered the truth about my magic. There’s only one way to test that theory. Because how can I continue to give my heart to somebody who might ever wish it to stop beating? How can I expect Hal to love me –trulylove me – when he cannot fully know me?
The shadow emerges slowly, a ribbon of ink-black smoke twining lovingly round my wrist. Hal staggers backwards, his mouth dropping open just as another shadow materializes and hovers protectively in front of me, curling itself into different shapes.
‘I … I don’t understand,’ he breathes.
A third shadow is unleashed, spiralling upward to dance among the glowing golden orbs above our heads.
I meet Hal’s gaze, take a deep, trembling breath – and tell him the truth.
49
Elva
Hal is staring at me like he’s never seen me before. His eyes are wide, jaw slack, knuckles white, voice a raw, scratching stutter as he says, ‘W-what? Why? I mean,how?’
I drag in a breath. ‘The magic of my ancestors was returned to me.’
Hal gives several small, jerking shakes of his head. ‘That’s impossible.’
As if in retort, one of my shadows darts forward and curls itself round his ankle. He gasps, shakes it off and backs up until he collides with his bedpost.
I resist the urge to reach for him and force my tone to remain steady. ‘That night you found me unconscious in Blaze’s chambers … I know your memory is hazy because of the sedative, but do you remember the darkness? Do you remember … my eyes?’
Hal’s chest rises and falls rapidly, and the orbs of light hovering above his head blink frantically in warning. Hisbrows knit together in concentration as he sifts through his recollections, all of them clouded by whatever substance Fox had administered.
Then something shifts and his mouth falls open. ‘Your eyes,’ he says slowly. ‘I had a dream that they glowed in the dark. At least, Ithoughtit was a dream.’
I glance down at the floor as I let a strange but familiar tingling take root, similar to the hot prickling of tears. When I look up again, Hal blanches, and I know that my eyes must be glowing as bright and luminous as amber stone.
Then I squeeze them shut, and the feeling fades away.
Hal’s horror is almost palpable. For one terrifying moment I wonder if Ingra was right. A beam of light to the chest, a letter opener to the throat – that’s all it would take for him to dispose of me. My shadows would try to defend me, but I couldn’t fight back. And what’s more, would I even try to? Would I let him hurt me just so I wouldn’t have to hurt him? As twisted as it sounds, I don’t know the answer.
Hal takes a long, shuddering breath, then says, ‘Explain.’
I swallow hard. ‘When I woke up, your half-brother –’
But Hal cuts me off, his voice burning with rage. ‘Fox is a liar. Amurderer.Whatever he told you –’
I interrupt him back. ‘He said it was my body’s response to the power … awakening. Decades’ worth of raw magic entering my system.’
‘Buthowcan this be?’
