“It’s what any true leader who cares about his people would do,” I said. Ryker protected me in public, I would protect him. It’s what we did.
It was also the godsdamned truth.
“Beren wouldn’t have done that,” she said.
“Nadya.” He exhaled noisily. “Beren has sent hundreds of his own people to die. They’re still lying underneath our ice. He has not come to retrieve them and he never will. Just because he beats his chest and shouts he’s the best warrior on this side of Malhaven doesn’t make it true.”
“He said you’d say that.”
“Because it’s reality.” He took a slow, centering inhale. “One you have witnessed yourself. When his soldiers attacked us. When I told Vylkor to save Edrin’s wife because he wanted to kill her for his mistress. The Northern Clan leaders don’t care about anyone other than themselves.”
“They certainly don’t care about you.” I shook my head sadly. “No matter what they promised, they will not protect you.”
“And none of youcanprotect me,” Nadya said, a hint of desperation finally burning in her voice. “No true warrior would ever follow a leader who caves.”
“That’s just Northern talk.” The words infuriated me now as much as they had the first time, as another horrid realization swooped down upon me. This one cracked my heart. “Save your breath, Commander. She’s beyond salvation.”
“See?” Her head moved eerily slow toward me, her grin growing more sharp edges. “She knows.”
Everything inside of me roared to attack her. Wipe the smugness off her face and make her feel a fraction of my pain. I only nodded instead. “You stole the dagger.”
She just kept grinning.
Ryker’s hands shook. His eyes sparked darker.
“Did you also injure the troll to force an attack between us and them?” I asked.
“That was only a happy coincidence,” she said, sickly sweet.
So yes.
“What else did you do?” I asked, horrified.
She licked her lips, but didn’t say anything.
“You can admit it now or when Dax makes a new truth serum vial,” I said. “It’s all the same to me.”
“Then get the serum, and we’ll talk.”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t have Ryker’s brotherly calm. This was the person who’d aided in my father’s death. The one who helped the Northern Clans attack us. Who tried to kill me and, worse, undermined me at every turn.
And I suspected much, much worse.
I hated the words slipping past my tongue. But I couldn’t stop them. “Did you convince Geryll to go to war?”
The grin finally fell from her face.
Ryker inhaled sharply. His energy burst out so fast, I had to blink through the sudden onslaught, his composure fractured.
He rose, staring down at her in disbelief.
“Did you?” he asked in a voice I didn’t recognize, unyielding and wounded. And enraged.
“It doesn’t matter,” Nadya said viciously. “He’s–he’s dead now. He died underyourwatch.”
“And yours,” I said, not letting up. “You were the only one who talked to him during the war. It’s easy to put the blame on someone else, isn’t it, Nadya?”
“Shut up,” she hissed, squirming like she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.
