I moved on silent feet to Avery’s room and opened her door a crack. “Psst. Avery,” I whispered, and she stirred quietly beneath her sheets. “Avery, are you awake?”
Her fiery curls lifted from her pillow, and her eyes met mine. “Lia?” she asked. “Lia, it’s still dark. Is everything okay?”
I felt awful for waking her, but I didn’t know when else we would be able to talk without the ears of the others listening in.
“Can you come downstairs? I need to talk to you and Finn about something important.”
She sat up instantly. “You’re making me nervous…”
My voice was soft when I answered, “I know. I’m sorry.”
I shut the door once more to give her privacy and moved to my brother’s door. I opened Finn’s door a crack to see he was already sitting upright in his bed as he stared down at a sleeping Landon.
I pushed his door open further. “Can’t sleep?” I smirked as I crossed my arms.
“I haven’t been able to for quite some time now. Although, I suppose the past few days are for an entirely different reason,” he answered sadly.
My features softened. “Care to come downstairs? I’ll get a fire going. Avery’s getting dressed now, and I would like to talk to the two of you.”
“Of course, Lia,” he answered as his back straightened.
And with that, I made my way to the staircase.
Chapter eleven
Avery
Finnian and I silentlywalked down the stairs of the townhouse to find Lia tending to the small flames she had lit within the fireplace. She turned around to face us and gave a soft smile as she gestured to the settee. We made our way to it and sat side by side as Lia hesitantly sat across from us next to the fire.
She anxiously rubbed her knees with both hands as she twisted in the chair to reluctantly face us, her eyes lifting to mine as she bit her bottom lip.
“Lia, is everything okay?” I asked nervously.
“No,” she whispered.
Finn leaned forward next to me and said, “Lia, you can tell us anything. I would’ve hoped you’d know that.”
“I’m a monster,” she answered.
My eyes widened at what she had just called herself. “Lia, you are many things, my sister and best friend being at the very top of the list, but I promise you…a monster is not one of those things.”
“Kaiis dead.”
My jaw popped open from shock while Finn jumped up from the settee next to me, but the whole time, Lia refused to break our stares.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered nervously. “Well, sorry that regardless of everything, he was also your brother, but I can’t sit here and lie to you saying that I’m sorry he’s dead.”
I blinked at her repeatedly as my mind tried to process what she was saying. Kai was dead—the evil, vile, murderous heir was no longer among the living…and she wassorry?
“Did you kill him?” Finn cut in before I had a chance to speak, and my head snapped in his direction.
Lia cleared her throat. “Not directly. It was Nox that killed him, but I also won’t say to you that I wouldn’t have done it if Nox hadn’t beaten me to it. He actually saved me. Between being blinded by my rage, feeling the pain of Jace’s injury, and exhaustion, Kai managed to corner me.”
Finn blew out a breath, and he reached up to nervously scratch the back of his neck as his eyes remained wide.
“And that’s why you believe yourself to be a monster?” I cut in before Finn said something else.
“Does it not make me one?” she asked as her gaze leisurely wandered to the flickering flames in the fireplace. “Perhaps if I had been thinking more clearly, I could have captured him as our prisoner instead.”
