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“She did this to us, Rothbart,” Zoya’s voice shook with a barely controlled fury. “All those months spying on us, pretending to be our friends, acting like she cared about us.”
Fear flickered in Lina’s eyes, but it was clear she had no strength to stop Zoya.
Rothbart took another slow step. “You’re right. She did that.”
“Our parents are dead because of her. She doesn’t deserve to live.”
He clenched his jaw.Shit. Well, there goes her disguise.He glanced back at Odette. Her muscles were coiled, and she appeared ready for action. Her gaze flicked to his and her mouth parted slightly. Damn. She’d made the connection,
“You move a muscle and I’ll kill you,” he growled, reissuing his threat.
Odette’s expression turned dangerous, but she didn’t move. Rothbart held his ground. As much as he wanted to intervene, this was Zoya’s decision.Odette better understand that.
The haziness in Lina’s gaze suddenly cleared. “Zoya?” she whispered, lifting her head.
Zoya pressed the knife harder against Lina’s throat. “I meantnothingto you.”
Pain spread across Lina’s face. “That’s not true. You know that’s not true.”
“Then why did you…” Emotion caught in Zoya’s voice. “How could you…” Tears leaked from her eyes.
“Every day I regret what I did.” Lina struggled to raise a pale, trembling hand and touched Zoya’s face. Tears gathered in her own eyes. “The pain I caused you. If I could go back—”
“You can’t,” Zoya bit out.
Lina closed her eyes briefly, tears sliding across her cheek and into her hair. “If it will somehow ease your suffering, Zoya, kill me.”
Odette sucked in a breath.
“Zoya,” Rothbart said. His sister’s head turned to look at him and his heart twisted to see the agony there. “If you wanted her dead, why did you first gather all the ingredients from the garden?”
Her gaze fell to the plants on the floor.
A sob bubbled up out of Lina. Her fingers brushed over Zoya’s cheek. “I will never forgive myself for what I did to you. For what I took from you.”
Zoya's breaths came fast, and she glared at Lina, her gaze hardening. She raised the knife, let out a wild cry, and brought it down.
Burying it in the desk next to Lina’s head.
Then she collapsed onto Lina, embracing her as the two girls sobbed.
Some of the tension leached from Rothbart’s body. Zoya pushed herself off Lina and dropped to the floor on unsteady feet. She stared up at him with a tear-streaked face.
“She saved my life that night when the assassins came. I was asleep and instead of killing me, she woke me and held the other assassin at bay until you came to my rescue.”
Rothbart blinked in surprise. From the expression on Odette’s face, this was news to her as well.
“Your screams are what woke me,” he said. He took in the dying girl on the desk. “It would seem that she saved both of us.”
Zoya nodded, swiping an arm across her face and sniffing loudly. “Don’t let her die, okay?”
“I’ll do what I can.”
He spun and gathered the ingredients Zoya had collected and walked them over to a caldron and set it on the fire. “I need two bowls of water,” he said to Zoya. “Odette, bring the instructions.”
After she handed them to him, he focused on following them exactly, chanting and casting spells when instructed. Zoya brought the water and he immediately sent her away so he could focus, always watching Odette out of the corner of his eye. She stood perfectly still at his side, not saying a word. Finally he cast a ladle into the mix and pulled it out, blowing on it to cool the steam that blasted his face. His gaze met Odette’s.
“It is ready.”
