“To answer your question, Kalias had no interaction with the Velesians—bad or good.” I tried not to think about how many times I’d caught him staring at paw prints in the mud belonging to Lycanthropes or other Velesians. My brother had been caught between two worlds, unable to shift into an animal form but unable to do magic like a Fae.
Erendriel had thought he’d been a failure, but to me he’d just been my brother. We’d both been too caught up in trying to win the praise of our father to realize we hadn’t needed it. We’d been enough.
“What is the point of this story?” Vail asked when I fell silent. He still wasn’t looking at me, but he was idly rubbing his chest in the spot where I guessed he felt the same tug I did.
“During my time living with the wraiths, I was mostly kept away from everything. Erendriel would occasionally ask me to perform small acts of magic, but he dodged any questions I had about him and the Fae. How they’d become wraiths. What they were trying to do. I never truly learned anything about what was driving Erendriel.”
Lightning tore across the sky.Crack.
“One day, Erendriel brought me and Kalias to a remote Moroi outpost with a handful of his wraiths.” Vail’s silver eyes suddenly focused on me again. “He passed me a knife, told me several Seelie words, and then pointed to the blood ward protecting the outpost. I hesitated. Despite my naivety, I knew wraiths had killed Moroi before. I’d convinced myself that ithadn’t been on the orders of Erendriel . . . but it was the dead of night and the Moroi were sleeping peacefully in their homes.”
“The attacks on the outposts didn’t start until recently. You’re talking about almost a decade ago,” Vail commented.
“It was a test,” I said tightly. “One that I failed.”
The branches above us creaked, and I felt the forest reach out to me, trying to heal the old wound. I flinched when one of the branches cracked.
“There is so much I don’t understand about the Fae, even after being around Erendriel and his followers for so long, but one thing I do know—they plan everything ten steps ahead.” I moved towards a tree and laid my palm against it. The branches settled, but the hollowness inside my chest remained. “He needed to know that when the time came, he could get across the wards, and he didn’t want to rely on Velika. She was a tool to be used—not trusted.”
“What did you do?” The accusing expression on Vail’s face told me what he suspected my answer would be. That I’d betrayed our people. A dark part of me wished I could tell him that’s what I’d done, because maybe if I’d made a different decision that night, I would have saved my brother. I sure as shit hadn’t saved those outposts—only delayed the inevitable. Because those were the outposts Erendriel had slaughtered years later.
Crack.
“I refused,” I rasped. “I loved Erendriel. He has this . . . presence about him, and he was my father. I thought he must have valid reasons for anything he did, even if I found some of them suspicious. He had my loyalty—beyond a shadow of a doubt.” The muscles along my jawline tensed. “But I did not have his.”
“He threatened Kalias if you didn’t do it?” Vail guessed.
A humorless laugh escaped me. “That’s the other thing about the Fae. They prefer punishment over ultimatums. He snapped Kalias’ neck in front of me and then threw his body to the ground. The wraiths he’d brought with him ripped Kalias to shreds. There was nothing left of my brother to bury. It was like he never existed.”
A hollow ache settled in the pit of my stomach. I so rarely let myself dwell on Kalias and his fate. But while the others were pissed off at Vail for betraying Samara—and rightfully so—I understood why he’d done it.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the monster beneath the mask of someone you love.
Vail looked at me for a long moment with an unreadable expression. “What happened next?”
“Erendriel and his wraiths left me there. The Moroi who lived in the outpost found me crying in the morning. I was returned to my mother and became a tool for her and Erendriel to use when they needed. Erendriel didn’t need me to cast the spell to get past the wards. He only needed to slice me open and hold my bleeding body over them while reciting the spell. The night he brought me and Kalias to that outpost had been a test. Not to see if the spell worked, but to see if I would do as commanded.”
“Why tell me this?” Vail’s brows furrowed. “I don’t understand you, prince.”
“Few do. Samara is one of them, and she loves you despite herself.” I shrugged. “If you attempt to betray her again, I will carve you apart and scatter your body across the earth.” Roots rose from the ground and snapped at Vail’s feet, causing him to leap back. “It will be likeyounever existed. This is a warning to better choose who you give your loyalty to.”
He glared at me. “Carmilla isn’t the same as Erendriel. She thinks she’s doing what she has to for all of us. I just need to get her to see reaso?—”
“Believe me when I say that Carmilla knows exactly what she is doing. Or have you forgotten about the families—with children—still locked in the dungeons of the Sovereign House?” I cut him off. “Samara has already come to harm once because of your inability to see who Carmilla truly is. I know you love her. Do not fuck up again.”
His mulish expression morphed into one of uncertainty. “She’ll never forgive me,” he murmured. “I’ve tried to explain, but she?—”
“Have you tried saying the words, ‘I’m sorry?’ That’s usually a good starting point.”
The tug on my chest became more insistent, and I frowned before looking in the direction it was pulling me. Then I exhaled sharply when the tug became a panicked yank and heard Vail do the same.
We looked at each other, then took off at a dead run.
Vail keptpace with me as we raced through the woods towards Samara. The frantic pulling had dimmed, and emotions slid through me that weren’t my own. One of them was so strong, it almost took me to my knees.
Grief.
It was still hard to decipher things from the bond, but I was fairly certain Samara was at least physically alright. It wasn’t bodily pain I was feeling from her—only emotional.
