CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
VAYEN
His mother?! How many years had this damnable forest aged me?
The scowl that narrowed my eyes would have paled Alyssum, so I was grateful that the shadowed trees of the glade’s edge swallowed any trace of my presence; the girl was pale enough.
Honestly, his mother, I thought as Catrin and Alyssum began making their way back to the Ugly Tankard. Why not his older sister? She still would have been wrong, but at least it wouldn’t have aged me eight years.
Thirty-seven. Aunt Sabina would have been thirty-seven if she were still alive. I was older now than she had ever been, and one day I would be older than my own mother.
My teeth ground together as familiar, unwelcome energy began coursing through my veins. I stumbled deeper into the forest in response, gasping against the quickening of my heart.
“Fuck,” I mumbled. “Don’t do this.”
I dropped to the forest floor, slamming my palms into the dirt. My body wanted to cry. I could feel the tears gathering, salty and defiant, but I refused. I would not allow the torrential downpour of emotion that beckoned me with images of my mother’s face, of Aunt Sabina’s.
It was not safe to fall apart. Least of all today.
I dug my fingers into the ground, seeping through frosted moss and mud. I forced my eyes shut and leaned into the cold. With a steadied exhale, I felt myself calming.
If only I could phase.
The blood pit always fucked with my emotions, but I knew tonight’s would be worse. Because of her. Because of what happened in Lunamor.
It was naive to think that we could keep the blood pit a secret from Alyssum.
Winnie had relieved her of her duties for the evening.
We both hoped she would stay secluded in her room, as she always did when she wasn’t tending to the tavern.
But of course this would be the one time she chose to step out into the village.
That woman. She had no idea the trouble she caused, and it only seemed to be worsening.
But that couldn’t happen.
Not tonight.
Alyssum Lunamor was the last person who could be present at the blood pit. It was in that moment that I knew what I had to do, and absolutely no one was going to be happy about it.