Page 138 of The Shadows Between Us
“No, I’m here, too.”
Leandros steps out of the alcove he’d been standing in. “We were catching up. What are you doing here?”
I spin to Kallias. “You need to run. Now. Go to your guards. Wherever the nearest ones are.”
“Why? Are you going to try to kill me again?” he asks with bitter sarcasm.
“I’ve never tried to kill you, and I’m not the one who poses a threat to your life. He is!” I point to Leandros, whose eyes widen at the accusation.
“What?” Kallias asks. “Leandros didn’t help his uncle. He protected me from him when Ikaros tried to approach me after I’d swallowed the poison.”
“He didn’t protect you,” I say as realization dawns on me. “He used the opportunity to touch you. Have you been able to use your shadows since entering this room?”
“I haven’t tried, and they’re not about to work with you here. Now get out!” Kallias grabs my arm, trying to drag me away.
“He isn’t who he says he is. Lord Vasco has no nephew!”
Kallias’s grip loosens at the words, and I tug my arm free. “What are you talking about?” he asks.
“I have the same question,” Leandros says, and his voice is much closer now.
Without thinking, I shove myself between the two men, using my body as a shield for Kallias. Even as I spot the sword hanging from Leandros’s hips, I don’t lose my footing.
“Look at him, Kallias. Look at him closely. You know him.”
“Yes,” his voice comes from behind me. “He’s my best friend. Or was, until I—”
“No, you know him from before that. He looked a little different then, with hair as black as yours, a nose that wasn’t broken. The mind sees what it wants to see when it can’t make sense of anything else. Your brother died, so how could he return disguised as someone else?”
And then Leandros—Xanthos—narrows his eyes at me.
“What happened to you?” I ask. “You were beaten; that much is obvious. But why fake your death? Why come back and kill your parents and try to kill your brother? It doesn’t make sense.”
Xanthos looks over my head to Kallias. “I think she’s feeling guilty. She kissed me this evening, you know. After you sent her away.”
“Stop it!” I shout, feeling shame and anger all at once. But I don’t dare look at Kallias. I can’t take my eyes from Xanthos, from the threat. “I was hurt,” I say by way of explanation. “That doesn’t excuse it, but it did reveal to me your treachery.”
I hold my hand above my head, so the stain is pointed toward Kallias. “Hair dye. It came off on my hands. He caught up to me right after using it. I suspected he wanted to see me off. Make sure he could really get you alone for once, without anyone witnessing him murdering you.”
The room goes silent.
“No,” Kallias says at last. “No, he can’t be Xanthos. I loved my brother, but he was taunting. Cruel. Leandros has been nothing but—”
“An actor,” I finish. “An assassin in disguise.”
Again, silence. It stretches for so long, I think I might turn around just from the pain of not being able to read Kallias’s face.
And then the heat at my back retreats as Kallias steps backward. “Itisyou.”
Xanthos looks heavenward. “Great, Alessandra. Well done.” He draws his sword. “I’ve been working on this for four long years, and then you have to go and ruin it.”
“You’re the one who ruined it,” I point out, showing him the brown mark.
“I thought to take one last thing from my brother. He had everything that should have been mine. The kingdom. The empire. The shadows. The only thing that was truly his was you, and I wanted to take that, too.”
I step back when I feel Kallias’s hand come down on my shoulder, tugging me toward him.
“The assassin in the gardens,” I say. “He was there on your orders.” I’d seen Leandros right before Kallias showed up. I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection sooner.
