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Tavion flinched—a dull flush climbing his neck—and something told me he’d heard that sentiment his whole life.
Perhaps he’d lived in Julian’s shadow since he was a child.
Perhaps he still did.
“Get the fuck inside.” Zor ordered. “It’ll be dawn soon, and we all have places to be. We hash this out now.”
The inside of the little shed was too small for the four of us, especially with Tavion and Raziel bleeding all over everything, me and Zor sandwiched between. Zor took a breath and touched my shoulder, I looked at him in shock.
“Anaria pointed out earlier we can’t fight amongst ourselves. Not until we know what the Oracle…and Torin are planning. We make a pact right the fuck now.” Zor pointed his finger at Raz and Tavion. “No more fighting. Once the war is over, you two can beat each other to a bloody pulp, but until then…put your bullshite aside and figure out how to get along.”
The two males snarled, feral and primal, until—wonder of wonders—Tavion’s hand shot out, his bruised mouth twisting into a parody of a smile. “Like the commander said. We’ll have another go once the war’s over.”
“I’m fucking looking forward to it.” Raz crushed Tavion’s hand hard enough to squeeze the blood from his fingers, but Tavion didn’t so much as flinch.
Ridiculous male territorial bullshite.
“I told you the truth.” Tavion’s eyes slid over to me. “If I hadn’t gotten word, she’d be in the Shadowlands. She’d be gone. And that fucker Gravelock’s been after her since she arrived. My guess is, he knows more about her than he lets on.”
Raz’s eyes narrowed. “If you expect me to thank you…” I cleared my throat and shot him a look. “Fine. Thanks.”
“Good.” Zor sat down with a thump, looking as drained as I felt. “We move on.”
I wanted to crawl into bed and never come back out. I was wrung out, but there was one more thing that had been bothering me, and for once, we were all together—except for Tristan, who was enjoying his new life—and mostly civil, if Tavion would stop bleeding all over everything.
“Why us?” I asked softly. “How did this even start? I know Julian received a prophecy from the Oracle, but none of you have ever told me what it said.”
“That’s because…” Zorander cleared his throat and Tavion sighed.
“My brother went to Tempeste to kill the king.”
Tavion’s gaze wandered to Raz. “It was shortly after the first failed Solarys uprising. Raziel and Julian were sentenced to death. Zor…managed to evade suspicion.” I swallowed. I’d never heard this story, only that there was a rebellion.
“Because he had no wish to end up dead, Julian accepted the Shadow King’s offer to infiltrate the palace and assassinate his brother, knowing the attempt was suicide. Except…it wasn’t.”
Zorander picked up the story from there. “Two weeks later Julian returned with a scroll for the Shadow King from the Oracle. None of us knew what was contained in the message, only that the king called a special audience later that day.” Zor’s dark gaze landed on Raz, his eyes brimming with regret.
“Four of us were ordered to appear—Me, Raziel, Tristan and Julian.”
Tavion nodded. “Julian and Raz were friends, long before they decided to overthrow the Shadow King. Because of his magic, Raz was still a valuable asset, which is why he ended up with a collar around his throat and not his head on a spike. Zor was somehow able to escape suspicion and was still trusted by the king.” He snorted. “Little did he know Zor pretty much spearheaded the whole rebellion.
“Tristan was a surprise. His family moved in the same circles as ours, but they’d lost their fortunes, due to bad alliances made during the war. I always assumed he was included because of his skill as an archer. Or his fire magic. He was hand-picked by the king, that’s all I know.”
“Every time my brother asked for my help, I told him to piss off.” Tavion drummed his fingers on the mantle, his face darkening as if there was more to that story.
“But when you were born, Julian called in a favor. Infiltrate the palace guard and prepare for the day when we would seize the king’s magic. Because I loved my brother…and because I owed him my life, I agreed.”
A glimmer of pain darkened Tavion’s features and regret tightened my chest before I pushed the feeling aside. He’d lost his brother, but he was ruthless when it came to manipulating us to his own ends. Something I needed to remember.
“I never believed in the cause. Not like Julian did.” His face hardened. “And then there’s you. The fifth member of our merry band of misfits.”
“No, there’s another.” I said softly, my breath catching in my throat. “What about my mother? What about Adele?”
“The King found her.” Tavion shrugged. “Somewhere north of Blackcastle.”
Zor scratched his chin. “From what I remember, Adele was born in the northern region, near the High Barrens. Her father was a Count with a good bloodline, who’d run out of money and options. I don’t know more than that.”
The High Barrens.Was that where my people were from?
