Page 110 of A Deception of Courts
“What is it?” Duncan drew his eyes up and down me.
“Erix isn’t coming, is he?” I asked, wishing I had the strength to not let his abandonment hurt me.
Duncan’s silence spoke volumes. If it wasn’t for the helmet covering his expression, I was confident I would’ve seen him wince. “No. Erix isn’t coming, Robin. I’m sorry.”
Shock lanced through me, a frigid wind of destructive power. I stared at his dark-green eyes through the slits of metal. “You knew all along?”
There was a pause. “I did.”
My nails bit into my palms, but I hardly registered the feeling. “Why didn’t you just tell me.”
Duncan swallowed, resolve masking his emotion. “Because you didn’t need the distraction.”
“Then Erix is no longer a man of his word,” I said, fighting the words out past the lump suddenly in my throat. “I should have known. You heard what Althea commanded of him. He should be here; he is meant to protect me. It’s his duty, and his pleasure and…”
Duncan wrapped his arms around me, drawing me close. His kiss worked into my crown, warming my body with a wave of pleasant shivers. “Erix hasn’t turned his back on you yet.”
A part of me wanted to cry into Duncan’s chest, but something stopped me. “It doesn’t matter. Daveed, take us.”
“Erix will–”
“I don’t wish to discuss him anymore. Enough of my energy has been wasted on trusting people who never deserved it in the first place. Erix, Kayne. They don’t differ from one another.”
Duncan reached out for me. I sensed his want to say something, but I pulled out of his reach.
“Daveed, do it,” I command. “We leave now.”
I saw the human boy hesitate out of the corner of my eye. I caught how he looked at Duncan as though searching for a command.
“Now!” I felt my power rise to the emotion I felt. Lucari chirped, digging her iron claws into me, my magic dispersed before it even had the chance to show itself. “Please.”
I gathered the storm of dark emotions and took it in my hands. There would be a time soon enough when I would release it. Like a rabid beast chained and baited with bloodied meat, I dangled the promise of vengeance before me. It was Aldrick who hung on the hook.
As Daveed thrust his hand downward, peeling the air in two and drawing it apart like curtains with the arrival of dawn, I walked past Duncan. He watched me like the hawk perched on my shoulder.
“Enough men have lied to me, Duncan. Please think again before you consider joining the list of their names,” I warned.
“Please, Robin. I don’t want to go like this.”
I grimaced at the sad edge to his deep voice. It would have been easy to turn back to him and give in. Instead, I forced my feet forward, closing into the spindle of shimmering light. “I don’t wish to discuss this anymore, I need to focus, just as you said.”
“Robin!” Duncan tried a final time.
“My name is Kayne,” I barked, recoiling at my hateful tone.
Duncan didn’t respond.
I felt all the parts of the man I had to play slot into place. There was no time for remorse. No time to dwell as Duncan’s heavy steps sounded behind me. There was only Daveed and his power, and the man I was prepared to kill on the other side of it.
CHAPTER 31
The air was crisp with the sweet floral scent of flowers. From the moment we slipped out of Daveed’s spindle, it was as though a wall of fragrance slammed into me, ridding the stench of burning bodies and ruin from my nose with one inhale.
I inhaled deeply, unable to stop the pleasant smell invading my nose and spreading its presence down the back of my throat. I swallowed hard, trying not to cough on the pungent aromas.
Daveed fell to his knees upon a bed of daffodils the colour of freshly churned butter. Their green stems snapped beneath his weight; his fingers smeared with pollen as he dug them into the ground to catch his breath. “I’m sorry – I’m so tired.”
Panic gripped me as I surveyed our destination. Aldrick wasn’t in sight. In fact, no one was.
