Around us, everyone was silent. It had also become strangely silent in my head, as if my thoughts were far away.
“That was a good throw,” Lorian said. As if we were in training and he was giving me advice on my form.
I ignored the compliment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His expression tightened. “I wanted to. But I couldn’t. It was too important.”
He gestured at Rythos and the others, who were now radiating power. Power I’d given them with that amulet.
“I have a gift for you, Prisca.” Even Lorian’s voice sounded different. Colder than ever.
Something in me recoiled. “I don’t want anything from you.”
A faint smile appeared on his face, and for a second, he looked so much like my Lorian that my chest ached.
“Oh, I think you want this.”
He leaned over to the closest prisoner, a young man who went still in the way of a terrified animal. Lorian put one finger to the man’s temple and burned a blue mark into it.
One identical to the priestess’s mark.
I stared at Lorian. Turned out I wasn’t too proud to take that gift.
“Everyone, line up,” I called to the prisoners, my gaze still on the fae prince.
In the end, Rythos, Marth, Galon, and Cavis helped too. With the jewels we’d stolen, and the blue marks on their temples, the hybrids could start a new life.
Tibris appeared next to me, his face white. “Did you know?”
“Of course not.”
His gaze searched my face, and he gave a sharp nod. “There’s something else you need to know. Something Demos hasn’t yet told you.”
Another man in my life lying to me. But I couldn’t take much more. I’d reached my limit. “Do I need to know this information right now?”
Tibris’s gaze flicked to Lorian, and he nodded.
“Tell me.”
“You’re the heir to the hybrid kingdom.”
What was he talking about? Impatience clawed at me. We didn’t have time for this. “There is no hybrid kingdom. Not anymore.”
Lorian was still watching me with those wild green eyes. “But it still existed. Your parents were the rulers.”
The hybrid kingdom was located on what was now a barren continent. Only…
“That continent was never barren. No, the hybrid kingdom was beautiful. When your kingdom was invaded, many fled north, to the mountains. Some fled across the Sleeping Sea on merchant ships and winged creatures, landing on this continent where they crossed the Asric Pass. Thousands died. Those who lived made it to cities and villages on this continent. And they’ve remained hidden ever since.”
I fixed my gaze on Tibris in an attempt to block out Lorian’s presence.
“If…if my parents were truly the rulers of the hybrid kingdom, I wouldn’t be the heir. Demos is older than me.”
Tibris swallowed, his expression almost apologetic. “Their rules of succession specify that only those with time magic can rule.”
I’d never asked Demos about his power. I’d just assumed it was the same as mine.
My lips went numb. I turned and stared at Demos.
But he was already moving, shoving Tibris into me.
Tibris let loose a vicious curse as both of us fell to the ground. Demos made a choked sound.
I pushed Tibris off me. Demos lay on the cold stone. An arrow jutted from his chest.
A high, keening sound left my throat, and I crawled toward Demos. Sobbing, begging.
“No, no, no.” I pressed my hands against his chest, attempting to keep his blood inside his body.
I couldn’t lose him. Refused to consider the possibility. He’d spent so much time shut away from the world, freezing and hungry and in pain.
Tibris was already dropping to his knees at my side. He held his hand to Demos’s chest, his face turning gray from the strain. “I’m out. Oh gods, I’m out.”
Tibris had been healing the prisoners. I should have prepared better. Should have made sure he wasn’t drained.
“Healer!” I screamed. “Someone get a healer!”
Demos attempted a smile, but it was fractured with his pain. “It’s okay,” he mouthed.
“Don’t try to talk.”
Tibris was watching Demos, his face stark-white. “Why would you do that?”
“She loves you. She needs you. Protect her. For me.”
“You know I will.”
“No deathbed confessions,” I hissed. “No deals. You’re going to be okay.”
Demos looked at me as if he was memorizing my face. “Already so fucking proud.”
I buried my head in his neck, my tears dripping onto his skin. “Please.”
He was supposed to see the clouds. To smell the grass. To watch the sunset. He was supposed to live.
“Please,” I begged again.
A hand came down on my shoulder, and I stared up at the Bloodthirsty Prince. Lorian casually lifted his hand, aiming his lightning at the guard who’d appeared out of nowhere, crouched in the shadows behind one of the carriages.
The guard screamed as he died.
Lorian’s expression was blank, but I’d seen that look before, and it had never boded well for me.
“I have a healer,” he said.
Hope exploded throughout my chest.
“Where?”
He gestured, and a man stepped forward. I recognized him. The healer who’d saved me from the poison.
“Heal him,” I begged as more blood spilled from the wound in Demos’s chest. My brother’s eyes were fluttering now, as if it was too difficult to keep them open.
“Not quite yet,” the fae prince said. I knew that tone. He wanted to negotiate.
Demos let out a strange gurgling sound, and I choked on a sob. “What do you want?”
Anything. I would give him anything.
From the way Lorian’s eyes glittered, it was clear he knew exactly that.
“I will heal your brother. In return, you will come with me to my kingdom.”
Instant denial flashed through me. Oh, how I loathed this man.
“No.” Two voices said at once. My brothers. So different, but alike in so many ways. But Demos’s voice was a mere gurgle, and blood was slipping from his lips.
“Yes,” I said, ignoring them both. “Heal him.”
Lorian’s eyes widened slightly. Had he really expected me to negotiate with him while my brother choked on his own blood?
Lorian pulled me away so the healer could get to work. I wrenched my arm free of his hand. There could be no sound worse than Demos’s screams as the arrow was pulled from his chest. But then he went silent. And that was worse.
The wound was slowly closing. The blood was no longer pooling beneath him. My knees turned weak, and I stumbled. Lorian caught my arm once more.
“Remember what you said when we parted at the city walls?”
It took me a moment to understand what he was speaking of. “In another life.”
It was as if he’d reached into my chest, clamped down on my heart, and squeezed. “This isn’t another life! This is the same life.”
“Truly? Because you’re not the same woman I met that day at the river.”
“You didn’t meet me. Galon did.”
“Are you going to throw that in my face for the rest of my life?”
It hurt, sniping with him like this. Because it felt like nothing had changed. In reality, everything had.
“Yes. Every day. So, you should let me go.”