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“Can you walk?” Vaughn asked in his smooth voice.

“Yeah.” A frown of my own began to crinkle my forehead, my chest heavy with anxiety.

And rage. So much rage. Man, it wouldn’t stop heating, a saucepan of soup on too high a heat. It summoned questions, like how could they give us up and then have another baby?

How old was Elio? When did he come along?

Medusa patted my shoulder. “We’re here for you.”

My toes curled in my boots. I glanced behind me, wondering how far I’d get if I took my chances in the city rather than face this. Make a run for it, don’t address this, don’t even meet my parents. Because, honestly, I didn’t want to hear what they had to say. They didn’t want me and Pearl, but loved Elio enough to keep him. Fine. Whatever. Fuck them. Fuck this mission to get into the Carving Glade.

And then screw Silvanus over? He needs help!

Oof, a kickback of anguish almost knocked me back onto my arse.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you,” he’d said.

And I’d rejected him because he shouldn’t love me, and I shouldn’t feel anything other than hate for him. But I didn’t hate him, that part of me staked and bone dust now. What was left behind in its place, I wasn’t sure. Lust? Familiarity?

Love?

No. No. No. No. No. It couldn’t be love, because love meant the end of him, his vamps, and me. Whatever warm, almost beautiful thing bloomed inside me, it had to stay down there in the dark. Buried, hidden, never to see the light of day.

Admitting things wasn’t on the menu.

Admitting?

I flinched at my inner chaos, grounding myself in the situation at hand.

Man, I wanted to puke.

Elio closed the door behind us, the scream of the alarms fading. He stood so close to me I felt his breath tickle my face.

“What’s going on?” He folded his arms, his complexion paling.

He spoke in the melodic elvish lilt. Unlike my flatter and clipped Human Domain tone.

My brother…

He saw me as a rival for Silvanus’s affections. Kind of broken and defeated from the king wanting me. I felt a little bad for him, although the attempted shooting of me and Medusa kept my sympathy light.

We lingered in the small hallway, everyone too closely packed together.

“I don’t like this,” Elio whispered.

“Neither do I,” Vaughn added. “Spill the secret. Now.”

Medusa nodded her agreement.

The cat was still firmly in the bag.

“Paris wouldn’t collapse for no good reason,” Medusa added.

The two elves glanced at each other, their silence generating more awkwardness, their sadness palpable.

Fuck their sadness.

I balled my hands into fists. This wasn’t fair for Pearl. She should be here to confront our parents, she was deserving of answers as much as me.