“I don’t trust the God of Death,” Bayne continued.
Isla’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. “But we trustLyvia?—”
“Do we?” Bayne interjected. “Do you trust her after traveling to hell? She brought a man back from thedead…That shouldn’t be possible, Isles. And she was…changed… when she returned.”
“Then forget about Lyvia,” Isla cut in. “Do you trust me? Or Drystan?” She threw her arm out to where I stood a few paces back. Her brows rose even further, if that were possible. Her amber gaze landed on me, and she waved me over as if the request was obvious.
I took a few tentative steps, wary of the power emanating from the king of Lotrennia and how quickly Isla’s face was turning red.
“We read the texts,” Isla continued.
I gave a firm nod, feeling she simply needed the support here.
“The spell we used was entirely of our own making. If we had to use one created by the Starlings or some other beings, maybe that would be questionable.”
“I do not doubt your skill,” Bayne explained. “I merely think we should be cautious when taking direction from one of the beings that are trying to enter our world and kill us.”
“Tynan cannot leave Hell!” Isla cut in, her arms slapping against her side as frustration built in her posture.
“We don’t know that?—”
“We do! Because two of our own saw it with their own eyes!”
“Lord Astraeus is not?—”
“AGH!” Isla gripped her loose hair as she shook her head. “I am sick of this, Bayne! I have followed you for decades! I fought for you. I killed for you. I havealwaystrusted you,” she snapped, her small finger pointing up at Bayne’s tall form.
His green eyes cut to mine, and I took a step back.
“I haveliedfor you,” she growled. “I lied to Lyvia for you in those days after we took her from Mount Telum, and I continued lying for you in the weeks after we rescued her from Kayj.”
Bayne opened his mouth to speak, but Isla shushed him with a quick flick of her finger.
“I lied to Drystan,” she paused, and her face went slack as if she just realized it. The crew had also withheld the truth from me those days after they’d found me in Stynguard. She cut a quick glance at me, and her lips fell.
“Everyone lied for you,” she continued, turning back to Bayne. “You want to talk about people changing? Look what you have become since your soulbinding. You are mistrusting. You are bitter. You are pulling your own insecurities into a discussion of critical protection in a war against the fuckinggods?—”
“That isexactlywhat I’m preparing for!” Bayne shouted, a flush rising up his neck from below his deep maroon tunic.
A flicker of power ebbed off his form, and I inched closer to Isla without thinking. Isla’s nose crinkled, and her brows narrowed as she shook her head.
“Because of what you saw at the Waters of Ascendiel?”
“Death is coming,” Bayne said after heaving a sigh and straightening his jacket. A calm mask of confidence and control fell over his features.
“You think you saw Tynan?” Isla asked, her face softening in consideration.
The king of Lotrennia’s eyes closed for a moment as he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what it was that I saw. But something is coming. It’s coming here, to Lotrennia. I need every ounce of power I can muster. We all do.”
Isla crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Has it been worth it? Do you trust her?” Isla asked as she scanned Bayne’s tall form.
He glanced quickly at me and back at Isla, and I let my fists bump against my thighs, feeling entirely certain this was a conversation they should have in private.
“I don’t know,” Bayne finally answered. “And no, I don’t entirely trust her.”
Queen Antares, I realized, as Bayne’s eyes cut to the gilded chair at the front of the table.
“Enough to close yourself off to the others?” Isla asked, her face softening. “Nerissa…Aquila,” Isla stressed. “The Bellator and caeluma bond goes deep. You could all use it together?—”
