Page 49 of Omen of ice
They need their own space.
What I did must have altered the sigil. Changed it to grant us this unforeseen—and unwanted—outcome. Levina told me to trace it over Valen’s heart—but she had no way of knowing someone already inked the Heartbreaker there. This is on me. I should have known better.
I stop pacing and kick the cot. It rattles against the wall, the pillow tumbling over the side. I take aim again, intending to kick harder, and an urgent knock sounds at the door. I reach for the handle, but it bursts open before I can touch it.
Valen stands in the hallway, and the set of his shoulders and the fierce gleam in his eyes make my stomach roil. His unease rolls over me like a tidal wave, as warm and real as the breath in my own lungs. Something is horribly wrong.
“Gather supplies.” His words are frantic. “We need to leave.Now.”
16
Valen
I turn and stalk across the hall to my door, shouldering it open with more force than necessary. Tania is right behind me. “And where, if you don’t mind me asking, are we going?”
I pull a pack from beneath the bed, then proceed to fill it. Warm cloaks, blankets, spare clothing… “We need to get to your priestess so she can fix whatever it is you did to us.”
“I thought we covered that.” She glares at me but there’s a hint of confusion in her tone.
Concern floods the link between us, and guilt bubbles to the surface, so thick that I almost choke on it. Between what I’ve learned about Servis and the tear, and what my uncle just said, I don’t know how she hasn’t seen through me yet.
“We made a mistake.” The confession kills me. We said too much, put too much faith in my uncle. Pointing toward her wound, I add, “Telling them about that, about the link.” The moment Kopic led her away, my uncle questioned me further about what happened outside the village. He came up with a simple solution to remedy the link between us. One that doesn’t require me leaving the safety of the estate.
“I’m still not following,” Tania says.
“The wound I received wouldn’t have killed me.”
She nods. “Right…”
“But chances are it would have been fatal for you had I not intervened, correct?”
Understanding creeps into her features. Understanding tainted by the hint of cloying panic that coats the inside of my mouth and nearly makes me gag.
“We gave them all they needed to fix this problem themselves.” I stuff a pair of gloves into the bag. I won’t need them, but Tania might. She’s so damned determined to shrug off any hint of discomfort, but I have a new awareness of her now. One that makes it impossible to ignore. “I told them that when they took my donation, it almost killed you. They believe that if they do it again, if they take just a little more, it will do the trick.”
“Do the trick?” Her mouth falls open. The horror, the disbelief, that rolls off her nearly brings me to my knees. If she only knew the whole truth… “They want medead? They’re willing totortureyou for it?”
There’s a small bit of skepticism in her tone and in her emotion, but more than that, there’s a profound sense of astonishment—and I can’t blame her. What I’m implying is unthinkable to her. Until recently, it would have been unthinkable to me, too. Aphelians are honored. Revered. They hold the highest standing and are given the deepest of respect. To harm one is unthinkable.
But knowing what I know now, finding out the truth about Servis and Aphelian, Orbik’s reaction makes so much more sense. These druids, these descendants of Aphelian, are nothing more than tools. How many before me knew the truth? How many carried on without batting an eye? How many druids were used and discarded?
Like Mika.
By not telling her, I’m just as bad as the rest. But I’m also protecting her. If she found out, it would only cause problems for her. For her people. It would cause problems forus. “Apparently, some don’t find your position as revered as others. Having your life tied to mine puts the magic in jeopardy. That’s not something they can allow.”
She glances over her shoulder, at the large window behind us, then at the door. Her entire body tenses.
“You would never get to the gates,” I say softly. Fight or flight. My own legs itch to run in answer to her fear. Every thunderous beat of her heart pounds inside my own chest, each breath coming slightly quickened. “The guards would cut you down.”
“From what you’ve just told me, I don’t have anything to lose.” Her lips split with a wicked grin, and I have to remind myself that our situation is dire. It’s impossible to tear my eyes from the flame that flares to life behind her eyes, or the way her entire body tenses, straining her leathers in all the right—or wrong, depending on how you look at it—places. While she might be fearful of the situation, she’s still Tania. Brave and dangerous and unwilling to go down without a fight. “You Fae might be physically more resilient than me, but slicing open an artery would still probably kill you. Do you think they’ll take that chance?”
She wants me to believe she’s considering it, but I know better—and it has nothing to do with oursituation. “I’m proposing a way for us to both make it out of this alive. If you’ll hear me out—”
There’s a rustle at the door, and a moment later, Liani slips inside. Her eyes are swollen and red, and she has several brown bags in her arms. The scent wafting from them tells me she’s just come from the kitchen. “You must hurry.” She thrusts the bags at Tania. “Orbik’s men will be here shortly.”
Tania sets the bags on the bed and glares at her. “Then I will meet them with my sword in hand.”
Liani laughs at the Aphelian before dismissing her completely and turning her attention on me. “You must find a way to break this link. Orbik won’t risk your life, but he’s not above hurting you to be rid of an insignificant human. I cannot allow that!”
