‘She thinks she’s protecting us by pushing us away,’ Torgrin said through gritted teeth.
‘I think it’s obvious I can’t be trusted,’ I said, looking pointedly at Torgrin’s neck where the burn looked even worse in the morning light.
‘I trust you,’ Atlas said quietly.‘You never gave up on Torgrin.You got us past the city gate, and you got us out.’
‘Don’t trust me,’ I whispered, unable to meet his hazel eyes.
Tomas came forward.‘You sacrificed going with Torgrin to rescue Cillian to get us out of Capita.I owe you my life.’
‘And where are Rhett and Finn now?’I asked him bitterly.Pain flittered across Tomas’s face, and I instantly regretted my words.
‘On the wall, you threw yourself over me.You protected me from the blast,’ said Braya, surprising me.I would have thought she would be the last person to speak for me.
I shrugged.‘I needed you alive to pass on a message to Atlas.’Could they hear the lie in my voice?
‘I have you to thank for ending the man who killed my mother and aunt,’ Ania said.Her chin tipped up when everyone turned their attention to the timid girl.
‘Well, we have something in common, Ania.He killed my mother, too, so I wasn’t doing it for you,’ I said cruelly.
She shook her head.‘Our father trusted you with our lives, and he was never wrong about people.’Ania spoke with a newfound confidence as she stood protectively beside her brother.Losing her father had propelled her into womanhood, but not the mild-mannered lady her parents had expected her to be.She needed to be brave for what would come for her and her brother.
Atlas grabbed my hand and looked unflinchingly into my eyes.‘We would have died three days ago if you hadn’t done what you did.’
Torgrin took my other hand in his.‘You took down hundreds of soldiers and turned off the fucking sun for us,’ he said with an intensity that bordered on awe.
Everyone went quiet while I battled with myself.I wanted to keep them at a distance because I was scared of what was happening to me, but the feeling of Atlas and Torgrin’s rough hands made me feel safe – something I hadn’t felt since all this began.
Mae broke the silence.‘I think they are trying to say the only one who is afraid of you here, is you.’Her words hung in the air.
The hardened exterior I had been trying so hard to hold on to broke, and tears filled my eyes.I didn’t want everyone to see me cry.Atlas and Torgrin seemed to sense this, pulling me to them.Two sets of arms wrapped around me as I buried my head into Atlas’s chest, hiding the silent tears running down my face.
I gripped Torgrin’s shirt in my fist.‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.I had taken my anger and fear out on him, and he didn’t deserve that.
He hushed me, and I felt his lips press gently against my wet cheek.
Despite it all, my heart remained wounded and afraid.
I would always fear hurting them.I needed to control the Darkness, but the blackness of my eyes proved it controlled me now.
‘All right, lads, it’s time to let her go.I need to check to see if that head of hers isn’t any worse than it was before it got battered.’Mae was clearly not the sentimental type.
The soft press of a kiss brushed my cheek, and another touched my forehead.Then they were gone.
CHAPTER 40
Isat in Mae’s tent, relieved I was no longer the centre of attention.I stayed quiet while she checked my head and the rest of my injuries.Three days and three nights of sleep had healed everything.
‘I don’t think you need to see the general’s Wound Weaver,’ she concluded.
‘Do you know why my eyes are like this?’I asked hopefully.
‘No,’ she admitted.
‘Am I a Shadow Weaver?’
‘Yes, but I’ve never met a Shadow Weaver.Bending shadows and light to do your bidding is rare, but Shadow Weavers did exist before Eritz was divided in two.Your ability to turn a man to ash is not a Weaver ability, though.Neither is turning day to night.’
I truly was the Cursed One.
