I didn’t particularly like Vail, but I understood what it was like to give your loyalty to the wrong person and suffer the cost. Vail was starting to understand, but I needed to give him a nudge to ensure he didn’t betray Samara again.
Try to anyway. I’d kill him before he ever got another chance, which would break Samara’s heart—which was the other reason I was trying to help the stubborn asshole out. I had no doubt that Samara still loved Vail, it was just hidden beneath a mound of hurt and fury.
Half a thought from me had the roots slipping back into the earth. Vail stalked away—in the opposite direction of Samara—so I ripped open the wound in my soul that I’d tried so hard not to think about.
“My father killed my older brother.”
Rain started spattering against the thick forest canopy. I focused on that sound, doing my best to block out the resounding crack that always came to mind when I thought about Kalias.
Vail stopped mid-step, not turning around but clearly listening.
“Kalias was my half brother. I think it was hard for the Fae to procreate, and the Seelie turning themselves into shadow monsters probably didn’t help,” I said evenly, as if I were discussing someone else’s family history. The branches above me moved closer together to provide me a little bit of shelterfrom the rain. They did that sometimes, helped without me having to ask. I patted the rough bark of the tree in thanks. “Erendriel was the first of the wraiths to figure out how to get his Fae form back.”
“Who was the mother?” Vail asked, still facing away from me.
“A Velesian.” I swallowed. “She died shortly after Kalias was born. We . . . were never able to find out anything about her. Not even her name.”Or if she’d been willing, I thought darkly.
A twig snapped when Vail finally turned to face me. My magic lashed out, silencing the rest beneath his feet. His gaze dropped to the forest floor and back to me. “That’s how you’re able to move about so quietly—you use your magic to quiet your footsteps.”
I nodded shallowly. “Stumbled across that ability by accident.” The sound of bone snapping echoed across my mind, and I flinched. “Kalias was five years older than me. I’d met him a few times growing up, but it wasn’t until I was twelve and Erendriel took me to live with him that I really got to spend more time with my brother.”
“Did he have magic?”
“No.” I closed my eyes briefly. “Pure-blooded Fae come into their magic in their early twenties, but they typically start showing signs of it earlier. Kalias was seventeen when I arrived, and it was becoming clearer with every passing year that he wouldn’t have magic.”
Something our father derided him about every day.
“But you do,” Vail pointed out.
I gave him a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Yes.”
“Does your father know?”
The rain started to fall harder, and Vail took a few steps closer so he could hear me. It took me a moment to decide how to answer him. I was already telling him a story I hadn’t told anyone else, so I might as well speak the truth.
“Yes,” I finally answered. “But he doesn’t know how much.”
Something that I couldn’t read flickered in Vail’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything. He was a patient bastard when he wanted to be.
“I started showing signs of having earth magic when I was eleven. Minor things like making flowers bloom early, being able to sense nearby animals. As my powers grew, Velika became more . . . perturbed by me.” I blocked out the painful memories full of blood and screaming. “But it was the first time Erendriel ever showed an interest.”
Few people truly knew me. I was the charming Moroi Prince to most. To some, I was a villain—but those were mostly people I’d killed or those who had been slaughtered in front of me while I’d been forced to stand by. Only Samara and Kieran truly knew me, and even still, they’d probably be surprised to know just how gullible I’d been all those years ago.
That I’d seen the hand Erendriel had stretched out to me as salvation when it had really just been damnation wrapped up in pretty words.
Nobody lied better than the Fae. I’d learned that lesson too late.
“I’d spent the first twelve years of my life under the thumb of someone who despised me. Erendriel treated me like a person, asked my opinions on things, praised me when I did something right. I’d never experienced such a thing, so I naturally gravitated towards it.” A bitter smile stretched across my lips. “I was too young to understand the way he was manipulating me.”
A small crease formed between Vail’s brows, but he didn’t say anything, so I continued.
“Erendriel had no interest in Kalias—he’d already written him off—but I liked having an older brother, and Kalias took me under his wing.” The bitterness in my smile faded slightly as I thought about Kalias.Crack. The smile vanished. “He knew ourfather was disappointed in him for not having magic, so he tried to make himself useful in other ways.”
“Did he betray the Velesians the way you did the Moroi?”
“I was a child manipulated by a centuries-old Fae and then had the pleasure of having my mind shredded by my psychopath of a mother.” I gave him a cold look. “What’s your excuse?”
Vail looked away.
