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“Why are you pretending to be some heroic knight looking out for an old friend? That’s not what this is.”
“Man gets shot, maybe his priorities change.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I owe you my life, Aarin.”
“And I owe you mine!”
Lily paused. She’d been so focused on killing Gwyneth she forgot what she did for Aarin. She saved his life, and she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Wraith.
“Take when you need, but give when you can.”
Was it possible she could do both?
Aarin’s briny eyes scanned behind her. “Accept it, Lily. I went willingly, and I got what I wanted. I’m going to Zaitrerin thanks to you.”
Sterling’s stare burned into her back. She reluctantly lifted from the table to meet him in the now empty sitting room.
“Aarin reminds me of Zander,” Sterling said. “A little more bearish but—”
Lily breezed past him, heading for the front door. “When are we leaving?”
“Running off so soon? I’m not finished discussing your friend.” His footsteps followed after her. “You don’t want to talk about the measures you took to keep him alive?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sterling’s tone turned strict. “Don’t bother denying it, Lils. He already told me what you did.”
She stopped, glancing over her shoulder. “What are you going to do about it?” The question was a challenge. She didn’t care what came from it at this point. It was done.
“You know that’s not what you’re supposed to be doing,” Sterling said.
“There are many things I shouldn’t be doing. Destroying twenty acres worth of medicine being one of them.”
Sterling’s face was serious, arms flexing as they folded over his chest.
She turned to face him. “Are you really getting on my ass about using it to save a life?”
“You’re drifting from the importance of why you’re here.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Eizreth needs the Wraith to destroy, Lils.”
“And you’re completely ignoring that I let it. It led me to killing more than I ever wanted in a matter of minutes. I’ll destroy more than I’ll ever get the chance to save, and I will do it again! Is that what you want to hear?”
Sterling frowned, letting her outburst hang in the air before speaking again. “Did he teach you how to do that?”
Who was he talking about? Luka… or Jarek? How would he know in the first place? “I am not acting because a fucking Hazevale made me. I did it on my own.”
Sterling shook his head, disappointed. “If she finds out, Amalia will—”
“She’ll what? Torture me? Or Luka? With abilities she deems sacrilege?” She chuckled darkly. “Add it to the pile that is my damaged reputation. She can put me in chains and throw me to the bottom of the gorge, but I won’t apologize for it. Any of it.”
Sterling’s expression emulated what she imagined an elder sibling’s might look like. She could feel it on her own face when giving Luka a lesson. A face she never got the chance to make for her brother.
