SAPPHIRE
I startleat Matt’s words.
“Why did the Night King want to kill you?” I ask him.
“No idea.” He shrugs. “He didn’t exactly sit down to have a chat with me before he slit my throat. My best guess is he was jealous that the queen was spending so much time with me, even though he was so consumed with his pets that it’s surprising he cared.”
I glance at Matt’s throat, which is—thankfully—smooth.
“They really called you that?” I ask when I meet his eyes again.“Pets?”
The word tastes vile when I say it.
“They did. They thought they owned us,” he says. “And eventually, they made uslikeit. They made us feel like we’re special—like what the queen did to me, and like what Aerix is doing to Zoey.”
“We have to get there.” I clench my fists, looking over at Riven. “We have to save her.”
“We will,” he says, his eyes hard, surprising me with the intensity in his voice. “And when we do, we’re going to destroy them. All of them.”
I nod, more on board with our plan now than ever. These people—no, thesemonsters—killed my ex-boyfriend and are turning my best friend into a lovesick zombie.
And they’re going to pay for it.
“We will,” I agree with Riven, turning my attention to Circe as well. “But can the two of you give me and Matt some privacy? Just for a few minutes.”
Circe throws her head back and laughs. “Where, exactly, would you care for us to go?” she asks, motioning around at the empty vortex of the in-between, which is no more than twenty feet in diameter.
“Can you just step to the side?” I ask. “And try not to listen?”
“Fine.” She huffs. “But be quick about it. We don’t have all night.”
I nearly ask what else she has on her schedule, but I press my lips together, stopping myself.
Riven gives me a single nod and turns around, just like he did while giving me privacy when I fed from the night fae in the cave.
It’s not much, but I don’t know how much time we have, so I focus back on Matt.
His ghostly form flickers at the edges, and a sick feeling settles in my stomach. Whatever’s keeping him here won’t last much longer.
I swallow hard. “Matt…” I start, a million thoughts running through my mind, unable to fully focus on any of them.
He exhales, rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was struggling to find the right words. “Listen, Saph,” he says. “Before I go, I need to say something.”
I nod, bracing myself.
“I was a jerk to you,” he admits. “I blamed you for everything that went wrong in my life. For not getting that scholarship, for being stuck in Presque Isle...” His voice cracks. “I unleashed my failures on you, and it wasn’t fair.”
“You were hurting,” I say softly.
“That’s not an excuse.” He shakes his head, and I don’t argue, since it’s true. “I loved you, but I loved you in a way that was bad for you. I tried to control you—like what the night fae did to us in their court. I tried to keep you small so I wouldn’t feel so small myself. I know what it feels like to be on the other side of that now, and I’m sorry. More than you’ll ever know.”
The sincerity in his voice makes my chest tight. Because this is the Matt I remember from before everything went wrong—the one who could be vulnerable, and who could admit when he messed up.
“I understand why you did it,” I tell him. “But you’re right—it wasn’t okay.”
“I know.” He gives me a sad smile. “And I need to apologize for something else, too. For hanging on when you were clearly done. For that proposal...” He trails off, wincing at the memory.
“That’s partly my fault,” I admit, since if he’s able to accept blame where he deserves it, I need to do the same. “I should have ended it sooner. I knew for months that we weren’t right for each other anymore, but I was scared.”
