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Even in the dim lantern light, Az’s expression seems to pale, almost as if he truly believes the lies he weaves.
“Thankfully, I’d made connections while apprenticing with Tijan, and I had my wife’s dowry.”
Ah. Right. I forgot about her.
The fae female Az slept with so her aristocrat parents would agree to let her marry him, ensuring wealth at Az’s disposal.
I allow myself to look sick, an honest emotion given the circumstances, but one I hope Az will interpret as jealousy.
Apparently it works, because Az shakes his head. “I haven’t had contact with her in over a year. Turns out running off with a female’s dowry doesn’t exactly strengthen one’s marriage. But none of that matters. I used the funds to hire a bounty hunter to capture the Red. Blaise told me you were searching for her, too.”
Ugh. Has Blaise been relaying everything back to Az?
There’s a part of me that hopes her plan to get Nox back didn’t work. I instantly feel guilty, as that likely isn’t fair to Nox.
Though maybe he’s found someone nicer than Blaise to settle down with in his other life. Or maybe he’s just as backstabbing as she is and doesn’t deserve happiness.
“Anyway, that plan failed, considering my bounty hunter never returned to me. I assumed he had been bought out by a higher bidder, which I suppose he had. I just wasn’t expecting it to be the Red herself.”
Marcus. Has the poison made its way to his vital organs yet? I feel sick.
“I’d even sent Tijan to buy her from an auction. Should have expected him not to win the bid, though. He’s too conservative with money for his own good. Isn’t willing to take risks. Anyway, I decided then I’d change course, try to find someone else to open the Rip for me. There were reports of a Gifted girl kept as a servant in the house of the King of Avelea, but she seemed too well-guarded to risk taking. Then there were reports of several humans who had dropped dead overnight, their neighbors suspicious that they’d been dabbling in dark magic. That trail led me to Dwellen, where I traced the parasite, as Blaise calls it, back to her. I thought I’d lost her when I realized she was in the clutches of the Queen of Mystral, but as I was searching for mercenaries who might be willing to retrieve her for me, guess who I happened upon, in an inn of all places?
“Of course, by that point, I was too late. Again. The parasite was gone, and I’ve heard enough about Queen Abra to know to stay out of her way. No use trying to reason with a crazy person. So I decided I’d change course again. Blaise had a connection to you, and I knew then that the Fates were smiling down on me. It was too much to be a coincidence. Asha, I’ve wanted so badly to fix things between us, to start over, and it was like the Fates were placing the solution in my lap. I followed Blaise back to Mystral, where I found the runes Nox had used to accidentally bind the parasite to her. I didn’t know exactly what they were, of course, but I’d been researching ways to control the Others for quite a while. I thought I already had a solid plan, adapting the bloodsharing ritual of the vampires to exercise control over the Others, but the runes I found were going to make it even easier, bind the Others to me before I even began the bloodsharing ritual, so they wouldn’t attack me. It was practically like receiving a seal of approval from the Fates themselves.”
I open my mouth. It’s going to be a delicate process, assuring Az of my shifting loyalty. I have to still be me if I’m going to convince him, which means sticking to the morals he’s so familiar with me holding.
“Az, we’ve talked about this. Finding answers to the questions you’ve been searching for doesn’t inherently confirm the Fates’ approval. You were in the right places at the right time because you placed yourself in those situations. You were able to recognize the patterns and connections because your mind was already searching for them. It…it scares me to hear you take your own ambitions and ascribe them to the Fates.”
Az takes my hand, this time ignoring my shudder at his touch. He only squeezes it tighter. “Is that really how you feel? Or is that how he wanted you to feel?”
I blink, shaking my head, as if bewildered. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I can tell the difference.”
Az has the audacity to look pleased. “We just have to give it time, Asha. You’ll see.”
I won’t, but at least he doesn’t seem to know that.
“Let me show you something,” he says, shuffling awkwardly around me, scooting me to the edge of the covered wagon, close to the flap.
The whole process of him dragging me is rather humiliating, not to mention painful, but I don’t think it prudent to mention as much.
Az gives me one last look, a crazed grin overtaking his face.
He opens the flap, and my heart sinks.
Behind us, coats of silver glimmer in the moonlight. I haven’t heard them, their padded steps as silent as a prayer.
The Others follow in ranks, not only mere, but other species. Some with scales and wings and fangs dripping with silvery venom.
There are legions of them.
CHAPTER 55
ZORA
I’ve never died before. At least, not to my knowledge.
I’m sure most people could make a similar assertion, but most people don’t live multiple lives either.
