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He knew more than he let on, was hiding something vital, something—from that guarded darkness lurking in his eyes—he would never reveal. Not to me. Not now.
Which was precisely why I could never trust this male.
“No idea,” he muttered, staying true to form.
Then he shoved his hair back. “We’re close enough to Tempeste she won’t have to use much magic to reach the castle, and I expect she feels a certain smug satisfaction, knowing we’re in danger being this close to the Fae King.” A mix of lies and truth, and I nodded diplomatically.
There wouldn’t be any immediate threats, as Raziel had checked the entire castle before he’d allowed me to set foot inside. Even Tavion wasn’t as suspicious of the castle as he was of my odd behavior. We’d expected our meeting with the Oracle to be fraught with danger, but…there was something even darker waiting for us here, I just couldn’t see what.
Growing up in Varitus, no one had ever taught me about being Fae—since they were monsters living beyond the wall—so I knew next to nothing about what I was.
But every breath told me this wasn’t my first time here.
And I liked that idea less than any I’d had so far.
“Raz is taking first watch, but my guess is, the king’s focus is on that approaching army, not us.” Even after we’d parted ways with Dane, Tavion hadn’t said much. But I’d seen the questions in his eyes, ever since last night.
They were the same as mine.
“Let’s hope so.” I glanced up the stairs. “I need a bath and sleep. Let me know if anything changes. I’d like to get dressed before we have to run for our lives.”
Tavion’s lips quirked, the first sign of real emotion I’d seen from him since that awful vision. “You’ll be the first one I tell.”
I followed Torin’s scent up to the second floor, cursing the fact the smell only grew stronger. Was the castle known to her? Had she been friends with the Wynters?
A ripple of violent pain speared through my head, an ache behind my eyes growing worse as I rubbed my forehead.Too long in those horrid tunnels, I told myself.That’s all this was.
After a long debate with myself, I picked the last door at the end of the hall—furthest away from the stairs in case of an attack—and peeled off my filthy clothes as I ran a bath into the translucent clawfoot tub, the gold, gleaming legs screaming opulence and wealth. The brown water eventually ran clear and was freezing, but I didn’t dare use my magic to heat it up. I gritted my teeth and jumped in and out.
I pulled on clean clothes over my still-damp skin, wiped as much dust off the leathers as I could and twisted my hair into a knot, almost as tightly as my stomach was right now. This beautiful, wonderous place was a trap, yet I couldn’t see how.
I’d been here before.
I remembered this smell.
Well enough my stomach knotted tighter, heart thumping, body shivering, and not from the cold. Beneath the faint male and female scents, the fading incense and the dust, Torin’s familiar scent was a clear warning. Why had she been here? Was she trying to warn us?
Get out while you still can.
Too late, I wanted to scream, even if it was the truth.
I stumbled to the nearest chair, cradling my aching head in my hands. Pain turned to nausea, the sweet flowery smell mixing with the cloying incense, making me want to vomit.
Gods, what was wrong with me? Heat climbed up the back of my neck, then wrapped around my forehead like a burning crown until my skull throbbed in time with my pounding heart. Maybe I was sick, maybe I was…
You’re in the wrong room.
I blinked and the faint female voice echoed inside my head again.You’re in the wrong room. Go across the hall. Open the door, Anaria.
That was Torin.
Torin was in my fucking head.
An unseen force pulled me out of that room, had me wrapping my arms around my shivering body before I opened the door and stepped into the empty hall.Wrong room.
I scanned the hall again.How was I supposed to know…Something tugged in my center, like a rope tied around my middle, and dragged me to the opposite side of the hall, that sweet, smothering scent of lilies gagging me as I paused before the closed door.
My palm tingled slightly when I turned the golden handle, a faint hum of magic trickling into me.
