Page 104 of The Stolen Throne
Instead, I run a thumb over the sand fox on the bracelet before I go to take it off.
But he stops me. “It’s yours. It was always going to be yours.”
I have no idea what to say. What to do. “Thank you,” I whisper.
His face hardens. “I told you once that I would always keep you safe, and I meant it. I’m not going to let him hurt you.”
“It won’t come to that.” I swallow. The others know, and so should he. “We’re shadow bonded, Cain. He healed me, saved my life, but doing so meant putting his shadows inside me.”
I watch as the last remnants of hope drain from my friend’s face, leaving him pale and shaky. I hate that I did that to him. Hurt him like that.
Jaw clenched, he stares at me. “That doesn’t mean you’re safe from him.”
“He knows that.” Believe me, he knows.
“Do you?”
I grimace.
“If he gets worse, if he loses control, promise me you won’t try to help him.”
“I can’t—”
He squeezes my hand again, bringing it up to place a kiss on my knuckles. “Please give me this at least.”
The thing is, Reven would want the same thing. But promises should be kept. “I can’t.”
45
The Past Collides
Leaving Cain to rest and heal—from his wounds and from me—I pause halfway down the hallway by a large window.
Here, like in all of Nova, glass is forbidden, so I’m grateful for the heavy velvet curtains that keep out the chill of the Devotion Mountains, where the Queen’s Tower is situated.
I draw one back, prop my elbows on the cool stone of the sill, and close my eyes, inhaling long and slow. Here, the air is crisp with snow and the underlying fresh scent of pine. It also feels thinner, like I can’t quite catch my breath. I’m starting to realize why Grandmother and all the queens before her chose to do nothing but hide. I get the feeling going against Eidolon will cost me everything.
With a sigh, I open my eyes and let my gaze sweep across the view. Beyond the window is a sheer drop to a stone terrace that seems to wrap around most of the tower. Mountains rise and fall all around us in jagged, majestic spurs bathed in celestial light as far as I can see, blanketed in a forest of pine trees.
I didn’t exactly get to appreciate that the last time I was here, since I was being kidnapped at the time. It’s beautiful.
I don’t know how long I stand here. Part of me needs a minute, though that frustrates me. I had enough minutes when I was with Eidolon. I shouldn’t need more to get myself together.
The other part of me is secretly hoping for Reven to come to me after what I felt in my scars.
Which is probably why I’m watching movement in an area beyond the tower a long time before it registers. It’s difficult to tell in the dark, but there is definitely someone down in an area that I think might be a garden.
With a frown, I lean forward—like that can actually help—staring hard.
Is it a servant? The queen? I wouldn’t think it’s one of my group, except the way this person moves is…familiar.
Then they do something with their hands that’s impossible to miss, and I jerk back from the window, the curtain dropping into place with a muted thud, shock spiking my heart rate.
I know exactly who it is.
Anger overtakes the shock, burning it away in an all-consuming rush. I take off through the tower, my fury building as I stomp my way down to the doors leading outside on the ground floor. No one sees me go, and no one stops me.
I’m honestly not sure what I would have said if they’d tried.
