“Of course!” Lydia laughed. “He’s the one who brought us here.”
Chapter 39
Our Story
Istared at the ceiling of Rhazien’s chambers, wondering where the time leading up to Solstice night had gone. Tonight was the night, in front of every noble and notable resident of the Hive, I would need to make an impossible choice.
I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes, the familiar drumming of a blood hangover kept time with my pulse. Despite the chaotic events of the last week and the cumberous decisions ahead of me, I could find peace in knowing I was entirely myself again.
As I rolled onto my side, Rhazien came into view. He’d made himself as comfortable as he could be on the chair next to the bed, head tilted in a way that made my own neck feel sore, and snored ever so softly. A book with a spine so tattered it looked like the first text ever written rested on his chest.
He looked peaceful. The complete opposite of the night before. We’d fought late into the morning. I didn’t hold back my curses and venom while he was full of apologies and new promises, none of which held any weight to me. What we had—what we could have had—was not just broken. No. It was violently torn to pieces and set ablaze in the depths of my rage. And all the while, those feelings were overshadowed by the betrayal I felt from Dommik.
Seeing my family here, especially Lydia, made my stomach coil and lurch simultaneously. Hearing her say she knew Dommik, that he’dretrieved them and knowingly brought them here as a means of persuasion, made me wish I could sprout claws and slaughter anyone in my path.
And while I could self-destruct and take the entire Hive with me, it wouldn’t matter. It wouldn’t change this predicament. It wouldn’t see her safe.
I wanted Lydia to have a better future than me. Or a future at all at this point. And she couldn’t have that if she was stuck here to take my place beside the regent as future queen.
A sting of bitterness sliced through me as I considered how Rhazien had wooed me, charmed me, made me feel so seen and adored. I might not have been a rosy-eyed maid, but Lydia would be. She would be instantly smitten and trapped here.
Or worse, if Eryx ascended, how different the world would look. Atoris conquered from the Northern Hive to the southern shores of Bromport. Humans captured and condemned to be bred for slavery or sustenance.
That future horrified me. That couldn’t be her fate. I wouldn’t let it.
I lifted myself from the bed, hoping I could sneak away and avoid another energy-depleting argument with Rhazien.
But the immortal stirred and opened his eyes as I was trying to tiptoe away.
“What time is it?” He yawned.
I responded, my tone flat, “I can’t be sure. The bells haven’t chimed yet, so still early.”
He rubbed an eye and sat up straighter. “How are you feeling today?”
“I’m not the kind of woman whose anger subsides with sleep,” I responded, sending ripples across the calm I was failing to maintain.
Rhazien nodded, eyes finding the floor. I shifted there in the silence, wondering if there was more or if I could step away to relieve myself and wash.
“Reyva,” he said to the stones beneath my feet.
“Hm?” I hugged myself.
“I’m sorry.” His green eyes flicked up to mine. “There’s just so much I wish were different.”
It was my turn to gaze at the floor. “Me too.”
We couldn’t deny the gap between us anymore. Like a steady drip of my doubt had formed into a determined river, carving its way through our footing until the distance was large, deep, and unignorable.
And here we stood, at the edge of a cliff on our respective sides,tethered and desperately trying to pull the other to join us. Neither would yield. Neither would submit.
But the energy we shared had shifted from the night before. Like we’d both set down the rope and just looked to the person at the other side, rather than trying to pull or force an outcome. Neither of us had the tools to bring ourselves together again or find common ground. It was a moment of understanding. A somber surrender.
We would have to walk, watching each other along the vastness, heading the same direction separately. Maybe the fissure between us would join at some point beyond the horizon, but we would have to travel together to find that place. And it would take time.
Maybe for now, we could just keep each other company.
I couldn’t be sure what it was that compelled me to walk to him, his lingering blood or my heart, but I found myself taking his hand into mine.
