Sleeping.
A boy I dove into shark-infested waters to recover because—fuck it—I like the kid. Orlaith likes the kid.
We all like the kid.
I have no hope for me, but forhim …
I’d punch a fucking ocean of sharks to make sure he doesn’t end up as mutilated inside and out as I am.
I rip my gaze away, spearing it to the powdery sunbeam of morning light spilling from the sky-hole—the storm having passed a couple hours ago. A storm which swelled into a heaving, restless beast that slashed at the sky, shredding the atmosphere into static ribbons.
It settled the internal wound I’ve been harboring since Zali and I received Orlaith’s sprite, even before I saw the bolt rip down from the sky—a scribble of blinding white light threaded with a black vein that side splashed off the tip of a risen sword and struck the pier into glassy smithereens. So bright, I can still see the residue of it on the backs of my lids when I squeeze them shut.
So that sunbeam pouring into the burrow … it’s a sure sign that Orlaith made it free of the angry ocean. Because if she hadn’t? The fucking sky would have fallen. And that man right there—crouched over Calah’s lifeless body in the middle of the feeding arena—would be dead.
We’d probably all be dead.
Cainon reaches forward, sweeping the long, silver hair back from the face of an elderly woman curled up in Calah’s limp embrace, her scored wrists crossed before her withered form.
Self-inflicted?
I don’t look too hard. Don’t think too hard about it either. It’s just the sort of black hole I could tumble down if I stared long enough.
My gaze drifts to Calah’s wide, unseeing eyes, and I half expect him to blink. For them to flick in my direction. For him to stand and stalk toward me reeking of disappointment.
You were my favorite, pretty boy.
How could you hurt me like that?
I thought you loved me, too.
Something tight wraps around my chest, making it hard to breathe, and I cut a gaze at the ceiling.
“They loved each other despite their differences,” Cainon grates out, his voice thick with emotion, making me want to bash my head against the wall. “He dragged her down into his burrow, thought she smelled good, then tasted her and realized she was so muchmorethan just a pet …”
Just a pet.
Just an animal in a cage.
“He was the shackle she learned to cradle against her chest despite his …flaws.ThenIcame along,” Cainon says, his words echoing through the somewhat hollow burrow. “I was the flaw she couldn’t see past.”
“I don’t want your life story, dickhead. I couldn’t care less if you were shat out of a donkey’s ass. It’s been a long day, and I’m pretty keen to find the most comfortable position in this shithole and tuck down for some shut-eye.” I shuffle, repositioning myself against the wall, wincing when the motion slides the top layer of flesh off the burns on my shoulder blades. “So, if you would kindly fuck off,” I hiss through clenched teeth, “you will have my not-so-eternal gratitude.”
The thump of his boots echoes down the hall while I hone my attention on a crack in the ceiling.
“You’re awfully cocky—”
“That’s what the ladies tell me.”
“—for somebody in a cage.”
I never left the first one.
He crouches beside my cell, the smell of blood mixed with his acidic scent wafting into my personal space—something I don’t appreciate.
I don’t have much of it.
“You know, I still wonder why Jakar choseRhordynto be the bearer of his runes. Of the greatgiftof his divine power. I’m sure he regretted it when that savage immediately wiped out almost the entire race of Unseelie, then hunted what was left like dogs.”
