Page 184 of A Thief Among Fae

“Should I come with you?” Desmond asks, his voice tight.

I don’t look at him. I don’t want to see if he’s stricken with guilt. I don’t want to lose my threadbare control and give us all away. How could I have been so stupid to believe that I was his world when he already has one? A world that needs him more than I ever could?

That thought doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“No.” Then I walk away, not looking back once. My hands shake. I clench them tight.

Desmond doesn’t follow.

I walk the outskirts of the ballroom and wait in the shadows until a dignitary calls for Ronan. He politely asks the woman in pink to excuse him and then joins the other noble. The woman smiles demurely and stares about the room in wonder in a way no frequenter of Avedor’s court ever would.

This is my chance. I weave through the crowd, not letting her out of my sight. Her blissful gaze drifts past me, then swings back. Her lips part, brows knitting in confusion.

I grab her arm and pull her toward the windows, far away from the prince. She follows me without protest, but as soon as I stop, she wrenches her arm back. “You left me again to attend a ball?” she snaps.

“I left to save my friends from execution. The execution you sentenced them to!”

She sniffs and turns her head, both dismissing me and looking toward Prince Ronan.

I swerve to block her view. “Is this the reward the crown gave you? An invitation to Ronan’s ball? Was it worth betraying your sister?” In my heart, I know that’s not all he gave her. I just can’t bring myself to say it aloud.

Evie glares at me. “This is exactly what you wanted me to do, isn’t it?” The angry flush of her face travels even past her mask. “If I became a vapid lady with adoring servants to watch over me, you could leave without thought or care for your family. You betrayed me!” Her voice shudders with resentment, and her fists clench.

I reel back. “Evie. . .”

“You said you’d take me to a healer. You said you’d help us choose a house in Mythos. And then you left again, and we all figured you wouldn’t return this time. Why would you want to when all that waits for you in Nettlerock is a drafty house our great-grandparents built stone by stone, loving parents who stink of slop and sod, and a doting sister who’s always looked up to you?”

Every word mercilessly cleaves into me. “Evie, I⁠—”

“You wanted me to climb above our station and care for our parents! You wanted me to find a suitor who’d love me! Well, here I am, Cynthia, doing exactly what you wanted of me!” A frustrated tear rolls down the edge of the mask, dripping onto the floor. “You have no right to be angry with me.”

Nothing she said was a lie. The realization is even more brutal than Desmond’s goodbye. I don’t want to lose the man I’ve fallen for, but how could I ever stomach losing my sister? We didn’t need a vow. Our bond was formed the day she was born. It was supposed to be unbreakable.

I did this. Not Evie.

“Are you alright, Miss Evangeline?” someone asks behind me.

I spin around to find Ronan watching us, shockingly concerned.

“I’m fine. This woman is pestering me out of jealousy,” Evie says, already stepping around me.

Despite myself, my face screws up in anger. “You’re just going to⁠—”

A scream pierces the crowd, and when another follows, the music falters.

“Look out!” someone yells.

A guard falls from the balcony and splats onto the pink marble floor with a sickening crack. An arrow juts out from his eye, black liquid dripping from the wound.

Oh gods. My body seizes with fear that I’ll find Desmond on the balcony, but I force myself to look up.

Gashil.

He stands with one foot planted against the banister, looking down on us like a predator admiring his prey. He’s surrounded by fomorians with their weapons already drawn. They cut through the guards like straw, nullifying every ward and offensive Gift the guards try to stop them with.

Gashil pushes off the banister and follows them. When they reach the royal family, my heart leaps to my throat.

Because the first one Gashil kills is Eldon.