I huffed. ‘Leave now, and I won’t have to kill you.’
My threat made him chuckle. It was enough to make me want to punch him.
Reaching into the abyss in my heart, I cringed at how long it was taking to recuperate my powers. Attacking him now would probably kill me. His cackle made it seem almost worth it.
‘Your murderous tendencies are starting to worry me,’ he admitted. ‘Are you sure you’re well in the head?’
Good point. Did my therapist survive the attack?
Most likely not. That’s okay, she was useless anyway.
Closing my eyes, I focused on silencing the world around me. Nothing else existed—only me and the storm within my body. A storm that was gone, yet I traced its vicinity, tracking faint smidgens that would eventually grow back into its full might.
Somebody talked to me, but I ignored them. There was too much to consider. My court had fallen. Ortensia was in trouble. Some of my trusted circle had perished, and the others had proven to be traitors. Was there anything to come back to? Or was the painfully annoying guy right?
Was I homeless? Kingdomless?
Relentless doubts gave way to a distressed slumber that did nothing to replenish my strength or ease the discomfort. Ididn’t know how much time had passed in a blur of strangers fussing over my broken body.
Hours, days, or weeks—it didn’t matter.
I lay useless and weak.
Pathetic.
The strange dawn lit up the room as I forced my limbs to drag myself out of bed. Enough was enough; I would not waste any more time.
My legs felt numb, as if I needed to shake off the debility. Forcing myself to take only the tiniest steps, I staggered toward the window, trying to figure out how to get back home.
Bracing myself on the windowsill, I rubbed my tired eyes. Whether it was a concussion or weird aftereffects from trauma, it appeared that the fields beyond the window were black.
Entire fields of black grass…
No one in Ortensia would have tolerated something that ugly.
Chapter Four
Avari
The uncomfortable silence stretched as we gathered around the giant conference table, bracing for the discussion ahead. The images from Ortensia clung to me. The greenish hue of the corpses’ cold skin carved itself into my memory until it was all I saw whenever my eyes closed.
Maddie fussed over us, reading the strain in our expressions, but there was nothing she could do. Not for the mental anguish of what we had witnessed in Ortensia. Even the mug of hot tea she offered couldn’t warm my freezing hands. They were already growing stiff.
River’s knee brushed against mine and lingered. I should have moved it away, but his presence eased some of the tension.
At least until my fire demanded I submit to the stifling need for connection.
The yearning burn at least offered a brief reprieve from the chill settling in my spine. It radiated upward toward mymind, where a storm raged, freezing every good thought into blocks of ice.
The smell.
That decay.
The silence of a court that should have been full of life.
It was exhausting.
‘I informed the Committee,’ River said, loud enough for everyone to hear. His eyes never left me. ‘An Elder is coming to gather our statements.’
