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Kato gave a low chuckle, and Skye wondered briefly if he could get away with killing him. The island had been invaded by dead men. What was one more?

“Gossip is a funny thing,” Kato said. “Most of the time, it’s just pointless blather, told and retold, distorted by exaggeration, disinformation, and misrepresentation. However, in my experience, there’s always a small kernel of truth, if you know how to find it. You would know that if you tried alittle harder at court. Dealing with other nobles can be tedious, but you get very good at figuring out when someone’s hiding something.”

Skye tried to look unaffected. “Do you have a point?”

“You sent Taly away.”

“That’s right.” The lie came easily—just one of many.

“So, if that’s the case, why were you asking about her at the gates?”

“What?” Skye stopped abruptly, and two Lowborn fey walking close behind nearly collided with him. They paled when both brothers turned their way, mumbling wary apologies as they shuffled past.

“The guards that were on duty that day,” Kato went on. “I played a few hands of cards with them earlier this week. They said you were asking about a blonde human female, early 20s, below average mortal height. I wonder who that could be?”

It wasn’t the first time Kato had pressed him about Taly, testing the hastily constructed web of lies he’d spun to keep the events around her departure a secret. Each time, Skye gave him the same story. And each time, Kato had no way to prove him wrong.

But that hadn’t stopped him from digging.

No matter.

Skye began to walk forward. “I had a moment of weakness.” Another lie. She had run, and he had tried to stop her, thinking he might be able to catch her before she got through the gates.

But she had already been gone, and the rains had washed away her scent. Even if he had been able to follow, if duty hadn’t leashed him to that compound, there had been no way to track her.

“Ever since we were kids,” Skye added softly, “I’ve done everything that I can to protect her.” That part was true. She had always been younger, smaller,mortal. The first time she scraped a knee, he’d thought she was dying, especially when she just keptbleeding. At only ten years old, he’d never seen anything like it. “Those old habits are hard to break. Even if, rationally, I knew that sending her away was the right decision.”

Kato’s nostrils flared, as though he could smell the deceit. Like he had said, the most convincing lies always contained a small bit of truth. “Understandable.”

No smile. No amusement. Skye could already see him changing tack, and he braced himself.

“It’s just,” Kato began, almost hesitant. “Circumstances being what they are…” That there were dead men lurking in the shadows, and she was just a human among them. The concern in his brother’s eyes almost looked genuine. “It’s just a little heartless, I suppose. You’ve been jabbering about this girl since you were ten, and I… I guess I thought you cared more. That’s all.”

Skye pushed down a growl. Oh, hecared. Hemorethan cared. He loved that idiot human more than anything in this world and the next, and every day since she’d been gone had been agony. Sheer, unending torture as he wondered where she was, what she was doing, if she was injured, still alive or dead or… worse.

He wasn’t sure what he would do if he ever met a shade with her face. Even if she’d been turned into a monster, he wasn’t sure if he could kill her.

A chill breeze gusted through the trees, and a collective rumble of displeasure rose from the caravan.

Skye stared straight ahead. Continued to put one foot in front of the other. Kato’s words had found their target, but that didn’t mean he had to pick up the bait.

Kato’s voice followed him. “You think she’s still alive, don’t you?”

Ignore him,Skye thought as something inside him began to wail, growing louder and louder, drowning out the sounds of the caravan.Just ignore him.

“I suppose it’s possible,” Kato went on. “Unlikely but… well, let’s do the math, shall we? The trip to the relay and back should’ve taken what? A day on horseback? Maybe two? It’s been five days now and not one peep. Sure, she could’ve made her way to Ryme instead of coming back to Ebondrift, but with shades roaming the woods… What chance would a mortal have if there was trouble? Humans are weak. They bleed easy. Theydieeasy.”

Skye’s throat constricted, and he counted his breaths, his footsteps, anything to keep those words from sinking in. “If you have a point, then I suggest you make it.”

“I just want you to admit it.”

“Admit what?”

“That you lied,” Kato said simply and without malice. “That you didn’t send her away. That you’ve been covering for her because you know she’s hiding something, even though you have no idea what that something is.”

“You’re reaching. Making baseless assumptions. I’ve told you everything I know.”

“And I still don’t believe you,” Kato countered easily. “I want to. Don’t get me wrong. But c’mon, Skye—we both know she’s dead. She was dead the moment she set foot outside the compound gates, and if you’re telling me the truth, if you really sent her for the relay—then you sent her to her death. That little human you only ever wanted to protect—her blood is on your hands.”