Heknew.
“What?” She imagined her emotions were a tidal wave of feeling, fear and shame and surprise and anguish dueling each other.
“Nightshades ... our powers include curses. I can sense all the others. I knew from the first time I saw you that you weren’t bound to them.”
She remembered how he had saved her from eating the rest of the heart, demanding it be taken to her room during the first dinner. He had known then.
He had known the entire time.
“I’m not a danger to you, Isla,” he said, voice firm. Eyes clear. “I would never hurt you. Or divulge your secret.”
“Why?” she said, breathless. Why wouldn’t he tell the others? Why hadn’t he given her up the moment he had sensed that she wasn’t bound to the curses?
Grim grinned then. It was unnerving the way, even in this moment, it made her insides puddle. “Because we’re monsters, Hearteater,” he said. “Or, at least, that’s what they think.” His grin widened. “And monsters stick together.”
I am the monster.
The puzzle began to form. Grim’s immediate fascination with her. His pursuit of her, without fear of her curse.
The parts of her that had recoiled in fear now settled. Half of her felt bare and broken in front of him. Flawed. Powerless.
But the other half slackened in relief. He knew her secret. And hadn’t told anyone.
She had suspected him of using her during the Centennial. But he hadn’t. Every interaction with him had been genuine.
Her lips quivered. She willed them to stop, but they didn’t.
Grim took a step forward, feeling her everything. Her sadness. Her lingering self-hatred. He squinted at her, confused, then trailed his knuckles down her cheek. A tear had fallen, and she hadn’t even noticed.
“Grim ...” she said, voice unsteady. “What’s wrong with me?” A ruler born without power was an oyster without its pearl.
Grim’s eyes flashed with anger. “Nothing, absolutely nothing, is wrong with you, heart,” he said.
Then he took her into his arms. She stayed there, trembling.
“I think they’re going to kill me,” she said quietly, then looked up at him.
He surprised her by smiling. He placed his hand carefully against her cheek. “If anyone makes a move to harm you, I will ruin them and their entire realm.” His fingers trailed down her face, past her throat, then tugged gently on the pendant at the end of her necklace. “Pull this,” he said. “And I’ll be there.”
Isla believed him.
She believedonlyhim.
CHAPTER FORTY
TOGETHER
Oro’s betrayal was a glacier in her chest, throbbing and raw. She hadtrustedhim. They had been through a flurry of challenges and obstacles. Together.
Didn’t that mean something?
The weeks she had spent helping Oro had been wasted.
The only thing that thawed her pain was Grim. He filled her dreams, then her days.
Isla knew they were numbered, not just because the island was crumbling around her. Cleo and Oro would be close to finding the heart ... had possibly already found it. And when they did, and they wielded it, only one last part of fulfilling the prophecy would be left—killing a ruler, and their entire realm.
Soon, Isla would be dead. She would never have her Wildling power. Terra would be gone.
