Page 80 of Tower of Ash and Darkness (Tower of Ash #1)

“ Tell me now, ” I urge through gritted teeth.

He looks at Celaena, then back to me, as if weighing something, as if deciding whether he should say what’s already sitting heavy on his tongue.

He swallows hard.

"My father has been stealing and securing secrets from your father. For King Sarris. He’s been spying on your father, trying to uncover what he’s been searching for all these years."

The confession slams into me like a physical blow as disbelief and anger swirl together in a storm I can’t contain.

“Spying on my father?” I echo, my voice trembling.

Jason’s gaze doesn’t waver.

“It wasn’t my choice, Lailah. I didn’t?—”

“You didn’t come back to the castle to marry me at all, did you?”

The words cut through the air, harsh and bitter.

Jason flinches, his lips parting as if to protest, but the truth in his eyes tells me everything I need to know.

He takes a step forward, his hand lifting slightly as though to reach for me, but I step back, putting space between us.

The movement makes him falter, his expression cracking under the weight of my rejection.

“And who is she?” I ask coldly, my gaze flicking to Celaena. She stiffens under my scrutiny, her hands gripping Jason’s arm like a lifeline. “Why is she still here?”

Jason doesn’t answer. His silence cuts deeper than any words ever could.

“He didn’t come here to let off some steam,” Callum interjects, his voice smooth and dripping with amusement. He tilts his head, his eyes gleaming with delight.

“No, he came to trade secrets with his father’s whore.” He flicks his gaze toward Celaena. “Or, to be more accurate, just a whore. Isn’t that right, gorgeous?”

Celaena’s face flushes with anger, but she doesn’t rise to Callum’s taunts. Instead, she retreats further behind Jason, her grip on his arm tightening. Jason turns to Callum, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Enough,” he growls, his voice low and rough, but Callum’s grin only widens.

“Touch a nerve, did I?” Callum leans back against the rock, crossing his arms as if settling in for a show.

Jason turns back to me, desperation in his gaze.

“Lailah, please. Just listen to me.”

“You’ve been working with your father,” I say, my voice hollow but accusing. “Spying on mine?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Jason insists, his voice cracking. “I didn’t?—”

“You didn’t what ?” I snap, cutting him off. “You didn’t come here for me?”

The realization hits me like a blow to the stomach. My voice trembles with barely restrained fury as I continue.

“Did you know your father’s men tried to kill me?”

Jason freezes, his features slack with shock. My words seem to hang in the air, heavy and damning. He takes a hesitant step forward, shaking his head as if trying to clear the disbelief.

“What?” His voice cracks, barely above a whisper. “When?”

“With me ,” Callum interjects smoothly, raising a hand as though claiming credit for the debacle. “We ran into a bit of trouble in the woods, didn’t we, Your Grace?”

He smiles wryly, and that familiar dark humor glints in his eyes—a reminder of his constant games—but this time, it feels like a dagger. Jason’s confusion deepens, his jaw tightening as his eyes snap back to me.

“Why were you with him ?” The edge in his voice grates against my already fraying nerves.

Callum interrupts with a mocking laugh.

“It’s funny,” he drawls, his tone thick with disdain, “how you stand there with your whore, acting like you still give a fuck about your wife .”

Frustration simmers beneath my skin, my fists clenching as I glare at him .

“This isn’t some cockfight.”

My voice cuts through his smugness, but Callum only shrugs, unbothered by my anger.His gaze turns cold as he continues.

“Lord Striden has been busy spying on your father,” Callum says, the words a conscious jab. His gaze flicks to Jason. “And Jason here? He’s been keeping tabs on them.”

His focus shifts, settling on Celaena, whose face pales before flushing with shame. Jason stiffens, his jaw clenching as he looks at Callum.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” he bites, but the words lack conviction.

“No,” Callum says with a smirk, nodding in my direction. “But you do have to explain yourself to her.”

Jason stiffens, his jaw clenching as he looks back at me.

“Lailah…” he starts, his voice soft, but I cut him off again, my voice sharper than before.

“What is my father searching for?”

Jason hesitates, his eyes flickering with something indecipherable before he finally answers, his voice low and heavy.

"A stone."

“A stone?”

“Your father believes it will make him unstoppable,” he says. “If he gets it, he’ll use it to elevate vampires above everyone else. Humans will become nothing more than cattle to him. It’ll mean war—a war that will destroy everything.”

The words crash over me like a wave, and I feel my stomach twist. My chest tightens, and though Jason’s eyes betray his desperation, I can’t meet them for long.

“I didn’t know the full extent at first,” Jason adds quickly, as though scrambling to salvage something from the ruins of his explanation.

“I thought it was just politics—about control, not destruction. But when I learned what the stone could do… I realized it didn’t matter who had it.

Either way, it would mean the end of everything.

” He pauses, his voice softening as his eyes search mine.

“Vampires, humans, witches … no one survives. ”

I close my eyes, struggling to find balance amid the storm brewing inside me. The chaos feels endless, like a pit opening in my chest.

“Where is this stone?” I ask.

Jason exhales deeply, the burden of his knowledge evident in the way his shoulders sag.

“It’s hidden beneath the Arinstor mountains. We don’t know exactly where—it’s been lost for centuries. And I don’t even know if King Sarris has it in his possession yet.”

He shifts slightly, his gaze steady and unflinching as he continues.

“My father doesn’t trust anyone—not even me . But he trusts her.”

His tone hardens as he nods toward Celaena, whose presence suddenly feels unbearable.

“She’s in his meetings, at his side constantly. He tells her things—things he shouldn’t—because he thinks she’s loyal to him.” Jason’s voice lowers, his expression tightening as he adds, “But she’s loyal to me.”

“You mean she’s in love with you,” I snap, the words spilling out before I can stop them.

Jason flinches, his lips parting as though he wants to protest, but no words come.

The hesitation is damning, and the silence he creates stretches unbearably.

My stomach churns with a mix of anger, disgust, and something more fragile.

Celaena stiffens behind him, her pale fingers still gripping his arm.

Her lips press into a thin line, her gaze darting to Jason before flicking back to me.

She doesn’t deny it. The confirmation, unspoken as it is, only amplifies the sting.

“Do you love her?” I force the words out, hating the vulnerability they carry.

Jason doesn’t look at Celaena. She peers up at him with furrowed brows, her face taut with something like fear—or hope.

But he doesn’t answer. The silence is worse than any response.

My breath hitches, fury and something terribly close to heartbreak clawing their way up my throat.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, the sound trembling with my frustration .

“So much for her meaning nothing ,” I bite out, my words dripping with venom.

Without waiting for an answer, I turn on my heel, pushing past Casper.

The motion feels like a release, as though moving away from Jason will untangle the knot of betrayal suffocating me.

I march past Callum, who tilts his head as I pass, his expression tinged with something knowing.

But before I can take another step, Casper’s voice cuts through the air.

“She’ll need to come with us.”

I freeze, his words stopping me in my tracks. Slowly, I turn to look back at him, grappling with the effort of keeping myself together.

“At least until nightfall,” Casper adds, his gaze steady on me. “I’m assuming she’ll be expected back at Lord Striden’s tent soon enough.”

“Brilliant idea,” Callum snorts softly.

Casper ignores him, his focus locked on me. His gaze softens just slightly, as though silently asking for permission or trust. I hesitate, the words caught in my throat as I look at Celaena, then Jason, and finally back at Casper.

“She can stay,” I say finally, my voice heavy with resignation.

The decision feels monumental, a stone dropped into a sea already threatening to drown me.

Casper’s jaw tightens as though he’s shouldering the weight of my choice.

Callum leans back against the rock, crossing his arms, his stern posture betrayed by the smile playing on his lips.

The fragile truce between us hangs in the air.

And yet, even amidst the chaos, Casper’s eyes remain on mine.

In their depths, I see something unspoken—a promise, perhaps, though I can’t fully understand it.

But now, I need it more than anything else.

As we approach the campsite, the sky above remains heavy with storm clouds, their ominous gray deepened by the relentless downpour that soaks us to the bone. Time feels like it’s slipping through our fingers.

The path twists, and the base of the camp comes into view. I watch as Casper strides toward his tent, the one closest to where Jason and I are supposed to share the night as husband and wife. I doubt any of us will find rest tonight.

Casper’s steps are slow, and for the first time since we left the forest, he turns to look at me.

His gaze pierces through the rain, holding an intensity that makes me freeze mid-step.

Jason and Celaena stop behind me. My attention shifts to Callum as he strides past, pushing through the flap of Casper’s tent and disappearing inside without so much as a glance in our direction.