From her twisted grin, she seems to be getting a sick sort of pleasure from trying to scare me. That’s what she’s trying to do, right? Scare me? The Night Court has kept their existence secret for centuries, and from what I’ve heard, the wards are unbreakable.
“Are you here to toy with me?” I ask, since the more I delay her with questions, the more time I’ll have to get my dagger. “To get me to jump off the tower so I fail the test?”
Or worse… to push me? It would be against the rules, but she’s royal. If anyone could get away with some murderous rule breaking, it’s her.
Then again, Aerix would kill her if he found out. And even though I don’t know much about her, I doubt that Cierra—oranyone,for that matter—would be dumb enough to purposefully incur Aerix’s wrath.
“I’m telling you the truth,” Cierra purrs, stepping further into the room. “And since we’re all about to die anyway, I thought you should know what kind of monster you’ve been worshipping. What kind of creature you’ve been sharing a bed with.”
I stand straighter, meeting her gaze without flinching, although I’m sure the breeze stirring around me is giving away my unease. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re living in a delusion, Zoey,” she says. “One I know all too well. Because back when Aerix and I lived in a small village on the outskirts of the Winter Court, I thought that when he and I were in the Night Court together, he’d see what was in front of him the entire time. That he’d finally seeme.”
“You had Aerix turned into a night fae against his will.” I hold her stare without flinching. “I already know the story. He told me weeks ago.”
She smiles again—a cold, bitter twist of her lips. “I suppose Aerix told you just enough to seem truthful. But while he was confessing those little truths of his, did he tell you why he was at that waterfall on the day he found you?”
My stomach knots, memories of that day flashing through my mind. Aerix’s powerful silhouette, his wings spread wide, descending like a dark god as he pulled me from the cold water and saved my life.
“It was a coincidence?—”
“Think,” she interrupts, frost gathering around her feet. “Really think. Do you honestly believe that Aerix, Prince of the Night Court, stumbled upon you and your friends bycoincidence?That the waterfall was an accidental meeting place?”
My pulse quickens, dread seeping through my veins. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” she continues, slowly and deliberately, “that Aerix had been watching you for days. You see, mybrotherdoesn’t do coincidences. He chooses his targets carefully. From the moment he saw you, he became fixated. Not because of you, but because ofthem.The ones you were traveling with.”
“No.” I shake my head, confused about where she’s coming up with this. “He saved me because I look like Kallista. Because I reminded him of her. You even admitted to seeing the resemblance yourself.”
“And you believed that pretty little story?” She moves closer, and I step away, my back hitting the wall beside the window. “You think a resemblance to a childhood crush from centuries ago is enough to drive a man like Aerix to stalk you through the woods? To risk everything to claim you against the king?”
“Yes, I do.” I hold my head up high, unwilling to budge. “And if you’re trying to upset me to the point where I’ll jump off the tower, it’s not going to work. Because I love him, and he loves me, and nothing will ever change that.”
“Your fake little fairytale love story doesn’t even matter, because we’re all going to die.” Cierra laughs in a startlingly unhinged way and crosses the distance between us, grabbing my chin and forcing my gaze up to hers. Her touch is cold, her long nails biting into my skin. “But I wanted you to die knowing the truth.”
“And what truth is that?”
“It’s about family,” she murmurs, frost crawling up her fingers to my chin. “Real family. Bloodlines stronger than obsession and deeper than?—”
The door opens with so much force that it cracks the stone wall.
Aerix stands in the doorway, his midnight eyes blazing with a fury I’ve never seen before. His wings are fully extended, casting shadows across the entire room, and frost erupts from where his feet touch the floor.
“Get your hands off her,” he snarls, his voice so low and dangerous that the air vibrates with his anger.
Cierra’s grip on my chin tightens before she releases me, turning to face Aerix. “Hello, Brother,” she says with a bitter smile. “There’s no need to get riled up. I was just having a sisterly chat with your little pet.”
“I said get away from her.”
In one fluid motion, he crosses the room and grabs Cierra by the throat, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. Her feet dangle as he slams her against the wall, his fingers tightening around her neck with crushing supernatural force.
“You know the rules, Cierra,” he says, his voice deadly quiet. “No one touches what’s mine.”
“Aerix,” she gasps, struggling for breath. “I’m your sister.Your family.”
His grip tightens, and she wheezes in pain, her eyes bulging in terror.
“Family?” he repeats, leaning in until his face is an inch from hers. “You might be family in name, Cierra, but you haveneverbeen family by blood.”
