Page 22 of Facade

My feet wouldn’t move as my gaze swept over the bloodshed. Ryker cleaned his swords, then grabbed his tunic from a nearby branch. Blood coated him, and while I was thankful he hadn’t been hurt, the deaths still tugged at my empathetic heart.

“I’m sorry, Aniah. If I hadn’t—”

“I know.” My voice was quiet. Distant.

His jaw worked as his gaze flicked to the carnage.

“I’ll take care of the bodies. Get your things—we need to move.”

I nodded, words still lodged in my throat.

The horses Micah left us were loaded down with supplies—fruits, vegetables, bread, and two skins of fresh water. He even went so far as to pack five sharpened daggers and soap.

I tied off our old horses, and when I made it back to our campsite, the bodies were gone. The only sign they’d been there at all was the blood soaking into the ground.

7

Evanee

Aiden had said that the town would be small. He wasn’t kidding. It wasn’t because of its size—the town had been destroyed.

Only four buildings remained standing. The rest were burned to the ground. Recently, it would seem. The air was thick with the acrid scent of charred wood and smoke. Even the tang of ash lingered on my tongue. I would’ve thought the town abandoned if not for the soot-streaked figures that picked through the wreckage. What the hell happened?

Aiden allowed us a brief ten-minute stop, claiming discomfort with the way the town’s people—humans—stared at our entourage with open hostility. Hostility wasn’t what I saw on their worn faces. I saw pain in the way their shoulders curved in, and sorrow as they embraced one another.

One woman clutched a small charred body in her arms, wailing, her tears carving tracks down her pale cheeks.

“What happened here?” My voice was a whisper on the breeze, the destruction making my insides curdle.

The woman rocked back and forth, her lips moving, murmuring to her dead child. My eyes burned as she looked to the other townsfolk with desperation, until an elder man ran to her and embraced her, his shoulder muffling her cries.

Aiden barely spared them a glance as he tightened the straps on his stallion.

“As I said before, there’s been unrest among humans and Fae alike. Even some of the Shadow Stalkers have tried to rise against the Fae King. He likes to make examples out of defiance—stamp out rebellions before they grow.” He looked around, his expression hardened. “No different than the Elementals. They rose against the Fae and the Council; now they’re extinct.”

My stomach cinched. I’d only heard of that race a handful of times. I didn’t know much, but I did learn they’d had power that rivaled the Coven Council.

His words churned in my head, and blood drained from my face.

“Did you do this?” I hissed, my expression sharpening. His eyes snapped to mine.

“No. I wouldn’t… There must’ve been another unit sent.”

I turned my attention back to the smoldering all around us, the smoke suffocating. Even if Aiden hadn’t done this, his calm detachment was unsettling to say the least.

“Would you have?”

He sighed, turning his attention to me. “Would I have what?”

“Blindly followed orders and murdered innocents to set an example?” My voice shook, angry tears burning a trail down my cheeks. It was foolish to ask him these questions—to talk to him in such an informal manner at all. Yet I couldn’t help myself. To escape what I viewed as hell, only to see this? This was hell. Losing my memories was nothing compared to this mother grieving her child. To the people who lost their homes—their tiny sliver of life within a realm of monsters, obliterated. Stolen.

Aiden smiled tightly, his eyes losing their steel for a split second, as he finally shifted his attention to the woman.

“I can’t say if I’m being honest.” His teeth ground before he turned back to me. “I have a blood oath with the Fae King that can’t be broken except by death. I’m bound to him.”

“At what cost?” I breathed.

“Some things are worth darkening your soul for.” Steel slid back into place as he turned away, ordering everyone to mount up.