Page 28

Kit

D amon stopped talking.

Lemeraties hadn’t said a word the entire time.

Swiping the back of my hand over my mouth, I moved to the ruined door and squeezed my eyes closed.

“What happened after that?” I asked.

Damon said nothing so I turned. He was still staring dully into the cell across from us. My heart broke for him. Maybe, in a little while, it would hurt for me, too. I had no idea if he still loved her but right now, I could just hear the echoes of the young guy he’d been, torn to pieces because he hadn’t been able to save her.

Knowing how strong he was, the weight he carried, the self-confidence and arrogance that came with that strength, it must have devastated him.

“I took him into the woods,” Lemeraties said, her voice a bare whisper. “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want another child to die. And that’s what he was. Younger even than your cousin, I believe. I was self-aware—or aware enough, considering I was half-mad and she controlled me through the blade.”

“How was she ever even able to do that?” I asked. “ You and a witch cast the spell. How did Madae—or Arsay—corrupt it?”

“That is not something I can answer,” Lemeraties said wearily. “A witch’s magic was involved. Perhaps Charmian’s magic had weakened after her death. Perhaps she was already weakened from the abuse she’d received before dying. Or perhaps Ma—Arsay found a way to corrupt it. She’s corrupted every other thing she has ever touched. Why not the bond I forged with my husband’s blade?”

Her eyes strayed to the sword I held, then moved away. A second later, they returned and I saw the questions in her eyes.

But she didn’t give voice to them.

“I took him into the woods,” she said again. “After that, I…” The words trailed away and moments passed before she turned and looked at me. “After that, I do not know—my memories clouded and there was just more death, darkness and despair. And blood.” Her eyes glowed as she whispered, “So much blood.”

“Kit!”

Frankie seemed to appear out of nowhere, the darkness that was the as-yet-unexplored tunnel spilling her out to stand before us like she was made from it.

Her eyes bounced from me to Lemeraties to Damon and finally to Rana. A beat of silence passed, followed by another. Finally, her gaze came back to mine.

“We’ve got problems,” she said. She looked around once more, eyes lingering on the cell where Nene’s remains rested. Something flickered in her eyes before she looked back at me. “It’s…”

Her gaze strayed back to the cell before she whipped her head back around and focused on him. “We need to get away from this castle, away from the people.”

Suspicion whispered in the back of my mind.

Damon came up off the ground, coiled grace and liquid danger. His eyes fastened on Frankie.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

His voice was calm.

I wasn’t fooled.

Had he sensed what I had?

Frankie’s lips thinned out.

“He’s coming.”

“Who?” Lemeraties drifted closer and circled Frankie to stand next to me. Her eyes slid to mine and I saw the knowledge there.

“My father .”

Oh.

Oh, shit .

I reached out without thinking and Damon was there, closing his hand around mine.

No sooner had that happened than the earth started to rumble.