Page 175 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

“Why not ask Augustus to leave? If you win the contest, doesn’t he owe you a favor?”

A sneer twists her mouth. “Helen would never allow it.”

Helen’s cold gaze flashes through my mind, her casual cruelty. The way she looked straight through Hali during the last contest, sharp and dismissive.

“What I need to know is, will you do it?” Hali asks when I don’t speak, her deep-brown eyes searching mine with something close to desperation. “Now that you know what I’m up against, will you help me?”

Damn it.

This will cause trouble.

I can already see the fallout—the ripple my choice will send through Virendrell, through the Shadow Fae, through me.

I should say no.

I should walk away and protect my own well-being for once.

But I’ve never been that person.

Not when someone is hurting. Not when I can help.

I close my eyes with a heavy sigh.

This is who I am.

For better or worse.

I just pray to the Gods that the repercussions won’t be too much for the Shadow Fae to handle.

Then I step into the chaos with one single word.

“Yes.”

32

Hali slips out of the library not long after revealing her plan, as if she fears the books will record her words and reveal them to their next reader.

After what she’s told me, I understand the fear.

But the last glance she gave before she left revealed her resolve.

What Hali wants me to do is far more likely to end in failure than success. And yet, after learning the truth of what’s going on in Virendrell, it’s impossible to refuse her.

A small part of me, the part that wishes to avoid conflict with powerful, influential Fae, tries to say her words were exaggerated. That Hali’s story is just one side of what’s going on here.

But isn’t that exactly what the Elders did to women in Verdanthia?

They pretended to listen to grievances but chose to care more about repopulation than granting women protection from too-young marriages and neglectful or abusive spouses.

No. Dismissing Hali’s plight isn’t possible.

How Judan allows this injustice to continue is beyond my understanding.

Unless the God of Order is using me and Hali as his instruments to right this horrific wrong…

I leave the library, quiet and contemplative, and I run through the many possible ways this situation will blow up in my face.

I should ask for Rian’s help…