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“You can’t want this,” I cry. “You don’t get toallowthis.”
“Oblivion was all we ever desired until you.” He pauses, holding something back. “We deserve nothing less.”
Feeling my control unravel, I stab him again. And again. But nothing helps. He’s not dying.
“Why aren’t you dead?”
He pulls the blade from his midsection and drops it at my feet, then strolls to his settee, dripping blood on the floor without a care. It’s slower and darker than normal, but he still bleeds.
“I honestly thought if you ever turned up...” His eyes briefly light up, then empty. “Doesn’t matter.”
Facing away, his breeches come off, and he cleans blood from his torso with rough, jerky swipes. He slips on another pair of pants and then laces up. When he faces me again, he’s alreadybuttoning his shirt, but I see enough to know the stab wounds are gone.
“You’re pretending to be good,” I accuse.
“But we’re monsters, right?” He gives my ugly face a pointed look to call out the one who is truly the beast. “You, of all people, should know there’s always someone else pulling the strings. The worst part is that you don’t realize we’ve sacrificed the only card up our sleeve to bring you into our home. You think you know moral depravity, pet. You haven’t even touched its sides.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
WILLOW
When Foxflickersand disappears, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s in full possession of all his powers. He can transport anywhere when heflickers, including through walls.
His door led to mine. How am I supposed to get out? I bang on the wall with my fist, shouting for help—hoping Cricket or Finch will hear me. I try shouting up my chimney for Baby Hunt. Nothing.
Releasing a strangled scream of frustration, I pace between our rooms and tug on Tinger’s pendant around my neck.
“How dare he!” I hiss. “Like, what the fuck was all that?”
Was anything he said true? Even if it wasn’t, I can’t kill them. The blade doesn’t work, which could be for several reasons.
“Maybe the Well flows differently here,” I tell Tinger. “Or maybe we’ve assumed the wrong things about the Sluagh. The Six are the last of the Sluagh. Maybe that makes them more powerful, I don’t know.”
My brows furrow as I stop before Fox’s bed, realizing he made it while I was in my room before our altercation. Did he know I watched him sleeping? Sheets and covers are now carefully draped over the mattress. He stacked pillows against the bedhead. It’s the only section of his room that’s in order.
I have a mind to mess it up again.
So I do. I jump on it, kick the blankets around, and when I’m out of breath and a little hungry, I flop down and stare upward, puffing a lock of hair from my face.
Scratches mark the ceiling. Gouges in groups, tallying something just like in our house in Elphyne. He waited for something here, too.
You don’t realize we’ve sacrificed the only card left up our sleeve.
His words echo in my mind.
You think you know moral depravity, pet. You haven’t even touched its sides.
Does he mean Titania, his latest queen and captor? Or them?
My stomach rumbles. I need to eat. I need to... I don’t know, get back to the Nexus and ask around. Someone must know more about these creepy, beautiful monsters.
But we’re monsters, right?
Gah. With a huff, I sit up and glare at his room. It’s much nicer than mine. Full of nice clothes, even if half are on the floor. Sliding off his bed, I pad around and inspect his things. Crystals and gemstones—which I pilfer. Cologne—I spray it on myself and hate how yummy it smells. A book with strange runes on it and illegible text inside.Interesting. I flick through the pages, then rip a random one out. A packet of playing cards. Antique brass spectacles—I saw these contraptions in Crystal City. Eyesight often fails as mortals grow old. Bob wanted glasses. I wonder if these will help.
I hold them to the window and tilt, but no reflection glimmers in the lens. I poke my finger straight through the frame. No glass. Weird. Discarding them, I move my inspection to the bathroom and gasp when I enter.
