84b% /b

bChapter /bb149 /b

Soon, I tell myself. I close my eyes, inhale her wild scent, and caress her cheeks before opening them again.

“We must return,” I say, feeling the unrest of the others.

“Do you remember our meetings when we were physically apart?”

“In the dreams?”

“That’s right.” My lips brush hers fleetingly. “Find me.”

Without another word, I grab her hand and bring her back to the path, where her bodyguard awaits with a sullen stance. He stili hides his face under the shadows of his hood.

“Here she is, in one piece.”

Abraxas grumbles and pulls ra along with him. I observe every small movement closely. Her hands have stopped trembling; she grips the folds of her dress and climbs into the carriage. The door thuds shut. Her eyes seek mine, and though I remain stillb, /bI try to convey all bthe /bpromises I intend to keepter. She tries to keep her lips from trembling in a smile, but nothing escapes my thorough scrutiny.

“Let’s go,” I say to my men as soon as I see ra’s carriage resume its journey.

We’re nearly at the mansion’s doors, so the rest of the ride is trivial. I jump from the carriage, expecting no grand wee. Adjusting bmy /bsuit jacket, I walk into the mansion with purposeful strides.

Aeron’s feeder, Walter, watches me with barely concealed interest.

“Can I help iyou /iwith something?” he asks, tinged with sarcasm.

“Highly unlikely,” I respond, matching his tone.

I take a step toward him. Though I try not to be overtly threatening, I must fail, judging by how his shoulders shrink a bit. I’m not foolish enough to think I can harm him without inviting his master’s wrath–especially considering his attachment to him. Still, Walter doesn’t seem

to realize that.

“You seem offended,” I say mordantly. “Let’s skip the pretense and just tell me what you have to say, human. I don’t have time for trifles.”

“ra is a trifle?” he raises a brow, defiant. “If she means anything to you, let her go. Let her be happy–even if it’s not with you. You don’t

make her bloom; you wither her. You block out the sun she needs to grow.”

Tsummon calm not to sumb to disproportionate fury.

“Mind your own business,” I reply, tilting my head like assessing potential prey. “After all, I don’t meddle in your tragic l really think Aeron would stand up for you to hush the ugly rumors? Oh, mortal, he will never defend you.”

“You’re only saying what you’d do.” olliry. Do you /li/ol

“You’re quite wrong if you think they’re that different. Watch closely–we’re all hungry for something. Ciro is hungry for love, and byour /bprecious Aeron? For power. If you be a pebble in his shoe, he’ll crush you in an instant. That’s the appeal of mortal life for us–bhow /beasily

bit /bcan be snuffed out.”

The chill triggered by my words shakes him head to toe. Perhaps I exaggerated a bit to scare him. I can’t say for certain whether Aeron bwould /bchoose him, but I do know the man feels a strong pull toward the human.

b1/3 /b

bA /bthroat clears behind me, interrupting the satisfaction bof /bunsettling the loudmouth. I sh ba /bcutting smile and bwalk /bpast bhim /bbto /bbface /bbhis /bmaster, who’s watching us both with displeasure. He casts a fleeting nce at his feeder and lover, then motions bwith /bhis chin for bme /bbto /bfollow.

We reach his study. I sit across from the desk and wait for him to take his seat.

“Why did you want to see me?” I cross one leg over the other. “I have better things to do than talk ito /ia traitor.”

Aeron scoffs.

“We’ve already talked about this. It’s in the Treaties. It’sw.”

“And your loyalty? I’m your proimed leader, and you stabbed me in the back.”

“We’re not discussing this again.”

“I could kill you if I wanted,” I dere.

“You won’t, because you’re smart, Cassian. You know chaos rarely brings good, and killing every Pure who defies your wishes would only

bring more trouble than we already have.”

“You say that like I care whether we live or die.”

“Maybe you don’t care about yourself, or us–but I know someone whose survival does matter to you. Or am I wrong?”

I narrow my eyes in a feral stare.

“Spit it out already.”

Instead of speaking, he hands me what appears to be a letter. I take it with my gloved hands and examine the writing closely.

“When were you nning to tell us the shapeshifters are stronger than we thought?”

My eyes trace every curve of the letters as I bite my tongue to stop the growl rising in my throat. This was clearly written by shapeshifters- possibly Ragna herself–which only fuels my rage.

“When I deemed it necessary.”

Aeron exhales, exasperated.

“It says here, quite clearly, that they want her.” He rubs the base of his beard. His shoulder–length silvery hair glows in the light from the window. “You asked about my loyalty. Well, here it is. I won’t tell anyone about this letter–or more specifically, about the demands written here. As you understand, we must warn our people of the impending threat. However, I won’t mention her.”

“Why?”

“Because, much to my surprise, I’m starting to believe she may actually matter to you.”

I want tough in his face.

That she means something to me? She means everything right now.

“Don’t take me for a fool,” I say. “What do you want, Aeron?”

“I won’t deny I’d love to know the secrets you’re hiding, and why she seems so important to the shapeshifters. But I bknow /bbyou /bbwon’t /bbsay /bba /bword about her, so how about you let me keep working on our survival?”

b11:38 /bFri, 8 Aug.

“You want to continue your experiments.”

“That’s right.” He nods. “After your actions, our forces have dwindled. With the Diluted rebels rising, the chances of war are high. Add this new threat… I hope you see the necessity.”

The desperation in his voice confirms once again that I cannot let ra’s secretse to light. I swallow and ponder for a moment whether there’s another way out of this mess–but I quickly realize there isn’t. I sigh with restrained resignation.

“Fine.” I rise, adjusting my jacket and leaning toward him. “But let me be clear: if your mouth utters her name–even to say how beautiful she looks that day–I swear I’ll do the cruelest, most unimaginable things to your weak little lover. You’ll wish you’d never known his name.”

I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows my explicit threat. He nods. And with a cruel smile, I leave. I walk away with the iron determination to learn more about ra, to help her understand herself and master her gifts–because I don’t know how much longer her secrets will remain hers alone.

bAD /b