Lee dragged me into a building and up a flight of stairs, down long corridors, and into a quiet room. Faint light seeped through the bag’s dark cloth. My wrists ached from rubbing against the rope. My throat still burned from Lee’s spell.
I wanted to kill him.
I was forced into a chair, my ankles tied to the seat beneath me. Finally, the bag was pulled off my head once more.
I gasped for breath before growing still.
Thomas sat across from me, similarly bound. Fear flashed in his eyes. He pulled against his restraints, murmuring into his gag, but his efforts were weak.
My expression softened as I tried to show that I was alright, that we would get out of this, that everything would be fine.
My pulse raced, and fear whispered that this was the end of me, of my dreams.
Of us.
A movement to my left caught my attention. Lee was rifling through shelves full of jars, pitchers, and medical equipment.
I drew in a shaky breath.
Lee pulled down two glass vials of liquid that sloshed in his unsteady hands. “Here they are.”
He slammed one down on a table near us, startling us both. “Here is the cure. The oneIwas supposed to discover, Thomas.”
Thomas raised his brows.
Lee rolled his eyes. “Now that draught sales have slowed and the Council grows restless, the antidote was supposed to be released this spring for another wave of profits. For Blackwood glory.”
My blood ran cold.
Lee took the vial and chucked it at the wall. It shattered, the fluid leaving a blood red stain on the faded wood panels. Glass splintered onto the floor, shimmering in the window’s light.
At Thomas’s mumbles, he leaned over and yanked the gag out of the prince’s mouth. Thomas gasped for air.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Lee asked.
“You’re insane, Blackwood.” Despite the passion in his eyes, Thom’s words were slurred. Worry pooled in my stomach.
Blackwood.
Memories slammed into me: the pond’s eavesdropper, the library argument, the name scrawled on Stephen’s stolen letter.
That family… they’re dangerous. I wouldn’t want to get someone like you involved.
I’d become so irritated at what Thomas had meant by ‘someone like me’ that I hadn’t pursued more answers about the Blackwoods.
I scanned Lee, his mage robes covered in mud from tousling with me in the gardens, his hair askew from the way I’d put up a fight. Even with the disarray, I could sense the proud nobility in his posture, the spoiled care in his features.
“How did you find out I had the cure?” Thomas asked. “I told no one.”
He tilted his head, his eyes squinting as mischief glimmered within. “Oh, Thomas. You don’t even come close to understanding the depths with which my family hates yours.”
Thom winced.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a long time. And on persons of interest,” he said with a pointed look toward me, “once I realized you’d lowered yourself to love a commoner.”
I strained against my ties.
“And I had my suspicions you were close after the banquet, after the arrogant smugness on your face and my conversation with your mistress here. After that, we watched your lover more closely. After Lyranore’s little niece fell ill, I simply had to wait until you came riding in with the cure to save the day.”
