Contempt echoing in every word, Frazer retorted, “You’ll have to ask Bert.”
Dimitri’s mouth curled into a gloating smile. Like a squat spider. “I suppose you’re referring to something for the fourth trial … but whatever you’re required to do, breaking into her rooms isn’t possible. She locks her door; only those with the pass phrase can open it. D’you really expect me to believe—”
That had my patience snapping. “We’re not asking you to believe anything. Adrianna discovered that the glass was enchanted. She was the one to find Cecile. So, unless you want to accuse the Princess of the Riverlands of murder …”
I let the threat hang, hoping I hadn’t played this wrong.
Wilder unleashed a breathy bark. “No, he won’t do that. Will you?”
Dimitri showed his teeth in a bitter twist of his lip, but it looked more churlish than threatening.
Wilder moved to close the door. “Leave. Or the next person accused of murder will be you.”
Dimitri snarled once and slithered away.
The door slammed shut and Wilder spun to face us. “Were you telling the truth about Adrianna?” he demanded.
“Yes,” Frazer and I said at the same time.
“She didn’t smell or see anything unusual in Cecile’s room?”
“No,” I answered from my seated position. “Frazer asked her about other scents, but she said there was too much blood.”
I pushed down the gruesome images that threatened. And Wilder paced over to the window. He looked restless, caged, like a winged lion unable to fly. “The warding means that either Cecile let her attacker in, or they knew about the windows and got in that way. I’d think this was Dimitri, but Cecile hasn’t been dead long. And he’s been oozing lies in Hilda’s ears for hours.”
“What about Hunter?” Frazer glanced down at me. “D’you think he would’ve done it? Maybe he had another one of those concealment charms.”
I lifted my weary gaze to his fierce one. “He made it sound like he only had one, but it’s not as if I can trust him.”
“Tysion then?” Frazer suggested.
“Why though?” Wilder muttered.
“D’you know that she used to be a spy?” I said to Wilder’s back.
He turned slowly. “Adrianna told you?”
That answered that question.
I nodded, and he gave a little sigh. “Cecile gave me the impression she’d quit,” he admitted. “I suppose living and breathing secrets is a hard habit to break.”
Silence fell. I went over and over all my interactions with Cecile. Had she been acting strange? When did I last see her? Like a blow to the head, inspiration struck. “You said Cecile might’ve been the one who knocked on the door that day we got back. D’you think she found something out?”
Wilder’s brow crinkled. “Why would she approach you and not me?”
I had no answer. No one said anything as we got lost in our thoughts. Minutes dragged by with Wilder treading the floorboards and Frazer stoking the fire.
I shivered and pulled my limbs in, conserving heat. For some reason, the warmth in the room wasn’t sticking. Then, a black frost spread, growing and biting deep into my bones. What was wrong with me?
Auntie’s voice came in a deathly whisper. Serena? The clock’s started ticking. I can’t shield you from the magic in your blood much longer.
An icy spear barreled down my spine. My pulse slowed, as did the ambient noise. I stared into the flames, watching amber and sapphire dance together. The magic in my blood—my fae inheritance—had begun its destructive course.
A hand grasped my shoulder. I looked up to see a face wild with fear. Frazer. “What is it?” he whispered, peering into my soul.
“I’m dying.”
Chapter 30
The Bond
Death was slow to claim me.
In the days that followed it waited on the periphery, lurking in my nightmares, haunting my waking moments.
Frazer became my constant companion, never leaving my side for long. He even slept next to me, but on the floor. I’d tried convincing him otherwise. He was kin; I saw nothing wrong with him sleeping on the mattress. But there were mutterings and vague references to fae customs. I didn’t have the energy to argue because my time was measured by severe mood swings. One second I’d be filled with sparks and lightning, ready to take on the world. The next, I’d crash and want to sleep for years.
Adrianna returned to us three days after Cecile’s murder, arriving in a wrathful storm. I’d never seen her so unhinged. After discarding her archery gear and hurling her bag in the corner, she spat out that the trip had been pointless. “She wouldn’t answer any of my questions! Then, she ordered me to leave it to Hilda. At least we’ll be spared her company at the final trial—she’s promised not to come, so that’s a bonus,” she said, bitterness poisoning her voice.
Wilder regarded her coolly from the kitchen doorway. “If you’d consulted me before you left, I could’ve told you that. Diana won’t interfere in internal camp politics. Especially when the kill could’ve been ordered by Morgan.”
Adrianna looked like she was swallowing a lemon as she bit back a retort. She changed tack, and asked, “Has anything happened in my absence?”
A pause. Frazer met my heavy, drifting gaze from our seated positions by the hearth. I was currently swaddled in blankets and had been freezing for hours, despite the blaze licking up the chimney. Unable to think past the ice that held me, or the headache pounding behind my eyes, I gave Frazer a nod. You tell her.
He obliged. Adrianna waited a whole second before erupting. “What the rutting courts are we still doing here then? We need to be headed for Ewa, now!”
Frazer spoke for me … How things had changed. “Hilda’s doubled the guard since Cecile’s death, and we still can’t leave without Cai and Liora. Without their ingredients, it won’t matter if we’re at Ewa. The spell won’t work.”
Adrianna stopped pacing and twisted to Wilder. “What d’you have to say about this?”
My chest hollowed out. It made me rasp, “He doesn’t say anything. He hardly speaks to us.”
Adrianna blinked, gaping. I dropped her gaze and didn’t bother to acknowledge the soft snarl coming from near the kitchen. Frazer sprang to guard me as Wilder closed the space between us. “You’re not touching her,” my kin said, blocking his path.
Wilder stopped a few feet away. “D’you honestly think I’d hurt her?” he asked quietly.
Frazer’s hackles rose. “A stupid question, given how you’ve been treating her.”
Adrianna grasped my shoulder and pressed me into the back of the armchair. A protective gesture, and the only sign that the aggression worried her.
Wilder called my name. I was determined not to respond. But my traitorous, useless body responded. Gaunt eyes greeted me. “I know I haven’t been here for you.”
Frazer snarled with such loathing, I was surprised he hadn’t moved to kill him. “You haven’t even acknowledged what’s happening to her. You’ve just been ignoring us and disappearing for hours at a time.”
Wilder moved into Frazer’s space; imminent violence coated the air. “Yes,” he said in a whisper. He felt more dangerous for it. “Forgive me, but I’m not capable of sitting here, watching her waste away. I’ve been keeping busy, tracking and spying on Dimitri instead.”
A stunned silence followed.
“Why didn’t you tell us that?” Frazer ground out.
“I thought you might feel like you needed to help and your place is here, with her.”
Insufferable. Just when I was set on hating him.