Page 79 of Ashen Wings

Isra’s knock on my door an hour or so later isn’t unexpected. The lingering awkwardness between us needs to be addressed, and with the astronomical stakes laid out before us, we can’t afford anymore bullshit.

“Hey.” He bites his lip. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

He’s cautious enough to avoid the intimate air of my bedchambers and for that, I’m grateful. I nod and follow his lead down the stairs, past the ruined table, and the arboretum. My throat dries with glimpses of our drunken haze as we pass the armchairs we’d once sat in, whispering secrets and reckless feelings.

“I’m sorry about last night, Is. I was drunk.” I fall into step beside him.

He draws in a breath and turns to me. “We both were, and I may have been too forward with you.”

The gardens sing under silvery moonlight, casting all too silent shadows over frosty grass and yellowing leaves.

“No, you weren’t. You were being a friend and I took advantage of that. I’m sorry if I fucked things up, I…” My fingers curl around my biceps. “I’m a mess.”

“You’re right in that you might’ve fucked things up, but not between us. What’s casual sex between friends, eh?” He raises a devilish brow. “We’re both adults, are we not?”

“That definitely didn’t feel…casual…to me.” I scoff.

“Nova.” His boot sends a pebble scattering across the manicured lawn as we stop. “My ego aside, there is no animosity between us. I promise you that.”

Warmth pools in my chest, swiftly replaced by the frigid emptiness I’ve grown accustomed to.

“Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Jace. You and I work better as friends, simply because of King Gloom. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and you at him if I’m being honest,” he offers with an understanding smile.

“Absolutely not.” I laugh, but the facade wavers. “He would’ve killed me if it weren’t for you.”

We hate each other, right?

I despise him, right?

Jace Ashborne is a monster born only from nightmare and cruelty, right?

“And once upon a time, I would’ve killed you if it weren’t for Jace.” Isra lowers himself to a stone bench. “Now look at us.”

“I guess that’s true…”

The fountain frozen in time lurks beside us with eerie silence, but it’s not the glassy flow fluttering through my chest.

“You can apologize that little heart out all you want, but the air between us is clear. I promise.”

“Gods, Is, I don’t deserve your friendship,” I reply, fighting the ache in my throat.

“Yes, you do. I meant what I said last night, even if I was a drunken bastard. You’re not a bad person, Nova.” He tucks a silver lock behind my ear. “You just might need a little reminding of that.”

I tell myself he’s right, but the claws around my heart tighten like a vice. How can he be so blind to the greed, the selfishness flowing through me, animating my limbs? I’m forged from basalt, ash, and the ghost of a slaughtered faction.

“Thank you.” I scuff a boot.

“You don’t believe me yet, I can see it in your eyes, but I hope one day you do.”

37

“We’ve got a problem.” Jace throws a scroll down on the desk. The study is silent, slowly waking from a dreamless sleep. “Samkiel sent a message.”

Across from me, Isra’s nostrils flare. “What did that fucker say?”

“Besides his usual cryptic bullshit, he included this.” Jace taps the parchment, handwritten and burnt around the edges. “It’s some sort of correspondence from House Ceti to the high priestess of Astora’s servants.”

I fight the sudden urge to plow toward the desk. What the fuck did Jace just say? “That has to be a forgery. Sovereign’s archives were decimated during the war. There couldn’t possibly be anything left of their records. A surviving scroll no less.”