I clench and unclench my fingers, but they still burn. The throwing knife still flies from my hand and strikes Gabriel in the chest.
Chills race up my back as I sit up and cower on a corner of the mattress.
I won’t fall asleep again.
ChapterTen
After a pitiful night of no sleep, the flap lifts, and Hector steps into my tent. I don’t budge from my position against the mattress. Dark shadows rest beneath his eyes. Deep lines press against the sides of his mouth.
Remorse tightens around my chest. With each breath I take, it squeezes more and more. I should have never thrown that knife at him.
He walks to where I lie and kneels to unlock the shackle on my ankle. When I’m free, I curl into a tight position in the center of the lumpy mattress. The thought of another day of travel makes my body scream in protest.
“I want to talk about what happened when the Malachites attacked,” he says, stealing my attention.
The breath whooshes from my lungs as my eyes jerk to his. “W-what?”
“Tell me what happened.”
I clutch my blanket close and exhale. “No.”
Hector will not force me to relive those moments.
“Tell me how you cast Bloodstone magic,” he says, still digging at my desire to not speak about it.
“I don’t know.” Those three words burst from me. “I don’t.”
“I believe you.” He looks down at me for several long breaths. “Your mark must give you the magic.”
“Only a Bloodstone can cast Bloodstone magic. I amnotBloodstone.”
He scoffs. “Why deny it?”
“My parents were both Kyanites.”
I think of them, how they had always been so proud to wear the Kyanite coat of arms. There’s no way one of them was Bloodstone.
Hector stuffs his hands into his weapon belt. “They must have lied to you.”
I stare at Hector, trying to make sense of his words. One of my parents lied to me? That can’t be true. My parents were Kyanites, and that’s the truth.
“No.” I wag my hand at him. “IamKyanite.”
“The Seer said you have Bloodstone blood in you.”
“The Seer?” I blow out a quick breath. “She was lying.”
Hector’s smile sends fire flooding through my veins. “You have a Bloodstone mark on your wrist. You healed while among the Bloodstone and using our stone. You just cast Bloodstone magic. How long will you keep denying the truth?Youare one of us.”
“Stop it.Please.”
Father’s words echo in my ears.“Light cannot abide darkness.”
Surely, it’s impossible to have light and dark magic. What happened with those Malachites was a fluke. It had to be.
“Come.” Hector leans down and swoops me from the bed.
My muscles tense as I glare at him and shove his hand away. “I don’t want you dragging me around like a dog.”
