Page 156 of Wings of Destruction

Not me.

I’m the outlier no matter where I go and if I’m honest with myself, I have been my entire life. My mother and sister were cut from the same cloth and as the oldest, Elspeth was primed to take Illonia’s place as the leader of the village. It suited them. They had their own language without the need for clunky words.

Both chosen by powerful unicorns. Both battle tested and hardheaded.

My father was a warrior but something about him set him apart from his peers, a hesitation in his heart. It got him killed.

And me. Wild. Feral. Too chaotic to be tamed, and I ended up in the same place anyway. I ended up alone.

Daisy wrinkles her nose and releases me, wiping her hand on the front of her dress. “Gotten yourself in a bit of a scrape, haven’t you? You’re covered in blood.”

“Just one of my games,” I tell them lightly.

The others cluster closer to Daisy like I’m going to somehow erupt on them as well. If they only knew half of it.

Druella’s wearing the sapphire pendant proudly. Most days, she keeps it tucked under the high neck of her dress, like I did, so I’m guessing the display is special. For me.

It’s salt in the wound and grinds deep. Keeping the emotions off of my face is imperative.

But why? Why does it matter anymore? I’m out of here, one way or another, so why do I care what these women think of me? For some reason… I do.

I step in the opposite direction and walk backward past another unseeing suit of armor, one of the many medieval touches in this monument to structure and order and death.

“The best thing you can do for yourself is go back downstairs and get some sleep. I’m in a fighting mood.” I glance at Druella.

Her face has mostly healed at this point. Her eyes go round at my expression and the blood staining my teeth from the new flow of my split lip.

“I’ll take my necklace back and strangle you with it. It doesn’t matter how many of your friends you bring with you.” I jerk my chin.

Rewarded when Daisy sucks in a breath and the cow-eyed maid gasps out loud.

They call me poison. In a way, they’re right. I’ve infected everything I’ve come into contact with. Faye is better off to have these girls to protect her rather than casting any kind of lot in with me. She’d helped me.

It’s going to be the end of the story because it’s better that way.

My heart clenches again but Daisy rejoins her group without a confrontation.

She scoffs, the sound phlegmy. “I knew you were trouble.”

The others fall in line and retreat into the shadows where they’ve gotten comfortable. But my skin itches and the moon is brighter, ready to dominate the sky. Soon the final bell will toll to signal the end of dinner, the closing of the day, and the guards will be on my tail.

I consider Daisy’s arrival a warning. They’re coming for me. Harbi will send people to collect me so Evie gets her pound of flesh due. It’s inevitable.

In the scant time I have left, I head to the private gym and close the door. Only when the lock engages do I breathe as freely as a person in my position can breathe. Not well.

Kieran’s blade is double its weight in my pocket.

Slowly, I set the stolen book down on the edge of the practice mat and withdraw the dagger. Soon, the chill autumn air will push through the cracks in the stone and chill the room, but rather than going to the empty fireplace waiting for life, the kind in every room in this castle, I hesitate.

I’ll freeze.

I’ll punish myself for whatever fatal flaw makes me the way I am. Lonely, set apart, unable to fit in despite the screeching in my head warning me of the consequences. At least I got the blade, and it was easy enough to slip it free from Kieran’s holster.

Almost like he wanted me to have it.

My chuckle is anything but jolly. But then again, he didn’t charge after me, the way I thought he might. As though he’d reached his limit with my stubbornness and had to get out of sight.

In fact, he’s hardly danced to the tune of my expectations since he caught me.