“Does she know?” he asks.
“What are you talking about?”
“Does she know you never went to the temple? That you walked there, and waited, pretending that the magic you already had flowing in your veins was new?” He narrows his eyes. “No, she doesn’t. You never told her. Have you told her anything? She thinks she’s in love with you.”
My heart thunders against my ribs. “Did she tell you that?”
“You’re pathetic, you know that?” he sneers.
I stand. “Fuck you. You don’t even know what love is. You’ve thrown everyone who ever cared about you away.”
“I learned that from you,” he says. “You know, you should be thanking me. I got to be the one who broke her heart instead of her having to find out from you. You think she’d give a shit about you if she knew half of what I know?”
“You don’t know anything about her.” My heads feel hot and something sizzles and writhes in my chest. My magic is clawing at my insides, eager to join the argument. My nostrils flair and I tamp it down. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing melose control. There’s parts of myself I’ve managed to keep hidden all these years, even from him. I intend to keep it that way.
“Do not make the mistake of thinking you’re the only one who cares about her,” he snarls.
“You’re not capable of caring about anyone.” I snarl. “You are your mother’s son, after all.”
He stands. “I haven’t said a word to Taylan about you, but I can.”
I flinch at the sound of her real name on his lips. It’s too intimate and for a moment, I wonder if he will win her over. If he’ll succeed in manipulating her the way he does to everyone around him.
“You made her watch me at the village. And maybe that would have mattered if you hadn’t been fucking some other woman later that night. So, maybe I should be thanking you for that.” I walk toward the door.
“Brevan?” His tone is urgent, measured.
I stop.
“Roselyn is getting worse.”
“What do you mean?” I turn to look at him.
“We lost seven legionaries in the last month. I sent more, but they’re struggling to keep up. She’s lost control.”
I storm toward him and he throws his hands out, sending an arc of fire in front of him. “Don’t take that out on me. I am not responsible for her deterioration. We both knew this was inevitable.”
The heat from his flames is already making me sweat. “We don’t know that. If your father hadn’t abused her power…”
“Tell me it wasn’t happening before we found you both?” He demands. “Tell me she didn’t call on the magic herself. That she kept that channel closed at all times. She’d be dead already if we hadn’t hidden her.”
“She could have learned to control it,” I say. “She could have stopped using it and cut it off eventually.”
“Just like the others? Tell me again how successful they were at controlling it? How many with her gift lived past fifteen years? She’s already an anomaly.” He lowers his hands and the fire burns out.
It’s instantly cooler. “I want to see her.”
“Stay away from Sabina,” he demands.
I scoff. “Are you serious? You’re the one asking me to guard her.”
“You know what I mean. End it with her. Make sure she knows there’s nothing between you. That she has no chance with you,” he says.
My mouth goes dry. It’s possible she’d hate me anyway once she knows the truth, but there was a part of me holding out hope. It’s insane. She’s married to Caiden. I know there’s no chance we could ever be safe or free to be together, but I didn’t want to let her go. To admit it.
“You and I both know your sister should already be dead. For the safety of everyone in Pendralia. She’s only alive because I need you by my side. And I still think there’s a way to cure her. To allow her to use her magic like we always talked about. She could do great things,” he says.
He takes a step closer to me. “But so could Sabina.”
