Chapter 50
Iwake with a start, and my body jackknifes, the couch groaning under the sudden movement. The sheets tumble to the floor, and at the opposite end, no farther than five feet away, a shadow shifts.
My heart thrashes in my throat. “Who’s there?” I reach for my dagger, but my hand comes back empty, and my blood chills. It’s still in the dresser.
“Answer me,” I say, my voice wavering
I strain my eyes, but heavy curtains block the moonlight coming through the window. The embers crawling through the logs in the fireplace offer no help, but they glint off the fire poker leaning against the hearth.
The shadow takes a step closer.
Throwing myself from the couch, I reach for the poker, but a sudden blast of air tosses it into the fireplace and out of reach. My knees smack into the hearth as smoke billows into my face and down my lungs.
Scrambling back, I gasp for air, rubbing soot from my eyes.
A hand covers my mouth. “Briar, stop. It’s me.”
I freeze. “Isolde?”
She pulls her hand away from my mouth. My eyes adjust, and Isolde sinks down across from me—my back against the hearth, hers against the couch.
I lower my voice and glance at the bedroom doors at the opposite end of the room. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
A bruised purple ring circles her wrist, and my stomach clenches. It’s from Caelus, no doubt, but it doesn’t erase the anger brewing deep within my core—doesn’t negate her betrayal.
“How did you find me?” I say.
She pulls her knees to her chest and rests her arms across them. “I asked the staff.”
I was seen, then, roaming the corridors. Bumps roll over my skin. If they told Isolde where I am, someone might be willing enough to tell Caelus or the guards.
Narrowing my eyes on Isolde, I push away the thought. “What do you want from me?”
She sighs, and the light from the dying fire casts a glow across her face, emphasizing her cheekbones and the red rimming her eyes. “My forces are ready. I’m here to bring you with me, like we discussed.”
I scoff. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“What are you talking about?” A desperation fills her tone, her words coming out faster—rushed. “You promised.”
Flames coil in my stomach, anger begging to be set free. Uncaged. “You told Caelus about my thievery, knowing he would order my arrest.”
“I knew you’d get away.”
I push to my feet and shake my head. “I almost didn’t.
The guards were firing arrows at me, Isolde.
If it weren’t storming, or if I was inches to the right, it would have pierced my throat.
” My tone grows cold, eyes narrowed. “I heard what you said to Kressa. How you spoke of me, like I’m nothing to you but an object. How could you?”
“How could you?” She jerks to her feet, her nose inches away from my face. Cold radiates from her in waves, ice coating her eyelashes. “How do you expect me to act, after I find you kissing her every chance you get? She comes into your life, and suddenly there’s no room for me.”
“I was assigned to get close to her.”
“But you weren’t assigned to fall in love with her.”
I stiffen. “I am not in love with her.”
She scoffs, pressing her tongue into her cheek as she shakes her head. “I’ve known you for a decade, Briar, and never once have you looked at me the way you do her.”
“It means nothing.”
“Is that so?” Her breath fogs the air between us, and she crosses her arms. “I’ve sacrificed myself to protect you, so I know what it looks like to withhold knowledge to safeguard someone.
The information about Kressa that Caelus wants?
I know you already have it. If she means nothing to you like you claim, then tell me what she’s hiding. ”
The words sputter on my tongue. Kressa would have me hung if she knew who I really was, but despite everything, I can’t turn her in.
And if I were to tell Isolde what I’ve discovered, she’ll use that information against me.
She’d force me to go with her, or tell Caelus.
If I were to go with her now, I’d die the moment the third trial began.
I lose either way.
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
Buried beneath it all, there’s a truth I’m unwilling to face. The foreign power that’s made a home in my heart. One I can’t seem to shake loose.
She grits her teeth. “Can’t, or won’t?”
I’m unwilling to meet her eyes. Instead, I stare at the space over her shoulder, her curls filling my periphery as I swallow back the angry tears climbing my throat.
When this is all settled and The Gales have ended, Kressa will never agree to help me, but I need Isolde’s alliance if we want to take down Caelus.
I can’t do that if she won’t forgive me.
“I’m done waiting, Briar. Perhaps Caelus is right about you, and maybe all you’re good for is being a courtesan.” She scoffs, heading toward the door. “Perhaps that’s all I was to you, too. An object to pass the time.”
The tone in her voice is so unfamiliar, it jerks my attention to her. It’s laced with anger—not the kind that billows in my core, hot and fiery. No, this is an icy rage. And the look nestled in her eyes? Betrayal.
“Isolde, wait.”
She shakes her head, and the embers reflect off a single tear trailing down her cheek. “You’ve made your choice. I can only hope that you’ll be able to live with the consequences.”
“Please.” I can’t tell her who I really am, but I can tell her a similar truth. That I’m Harriet. Closing the space between us, I grab her hand and pull her to a stop just before the door, turning her to face me. My heart thrashes in my throat. “I’m—”
She flicks her hand. A blast of air throws me back and slams me into the ground. The air shoots from my lungs and I gasp, unable to pull a full breath. I writhe, grasping at my stomach, willing the words to leave my lips, but she’s choking me, pulling the oxygen from my lungs.
“You promised you’d always come.” She twists the knob and pulls it open. “I thought you were someone I could trust. Someone I could rely on. Unfortunately Briar, it seems you’re just like the rest.”
The door clicks shut behind her, and I swallow a mouthful of air.