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She snorts, and Fin adds, “Please tell me it was you who ambushed our father on the road that day. That yours was the last face he saw as he faded from this side of the sun.”
Lydia’s violet eyes flicker with something. “Well. I suppose I have nothing more to tell you, after all.”
She watches me carefully, as the realization sets in. Rajeen was attacked by the Umbra, an assassin known for the violent murders of abusers throughout Alondria.
The Umbra, who’d saved Dinah the night Azrael had kept her hostage. The Umbra, who’d ripped the heads of the traffickers from their bodies, for some reason sparing me, the king who had threatened to kill a bride every mooncycle.
I say nothing.
By the amusement in her eyes, I don’t think I have to.
CHAPTER 95
BLAISE
I wait until Kiran and his siblings are deep in conversation before I leave Nox’s side and hunt down Asha’s sister.
Dinah’s sitting in the parlor upstairs.
She startles when I slip into the booth across from her. “You shouldn’t be up here.”
I can’t help but notice how much harder she seems than the way Asha described her. “If anyone’s coming, I’ll hear them well before they have the chance to see me.”
“You didn’t hear me sneaking up on you in the marketplace,” she counters, eyes looking rather bored.
“Yeah, well, I was distracted.”
“By Nox.”
I sigh, which I suppose is enough of an answer.
“The two of you aren’t together,” she says, and I don’t know why, but I somehow feel interrogated, although she’s yet to ask me a question.
“No,” I half say, half swallow, misery welling up in my chest, pain that I have to quash.
“That’s a shame.” Somehow, Dinah sounds like she means it.
“I betrayed your sister,” I remind her, taking her glass of wine and taking a gulp before handing it back to her. “I would think you’d want for me to be miserable.”
Dinah levels me with a stare. “If you’re miserable, and you and Nox aren’t together, then you betrayed Asha for nothing. The least you could do is make her sacrifice worth it.”
Sadness pings at my chest. “It’s not really up to me. When I betrayed your sister, I betrayed the Old Magic too. He wasn’t thrilled about it, so he cursed Nox not to love me.”
“Oh,” she says, her gaze falling a bit. “That sounds like him. He’s always been a fan of tragic stories. Unrequited love is one of his favorites.” Her tone is affectionate, like how someone might speak of an ornery grandparent, but she rolls her eyes just the same. “It’s not nearly as romantic as he makes it out to be.”
“You mean Fin.”
Dinah stiffens, but then her shoulders loosen, as if she’s decided it’s so obvious it’s not even worth hiding. She picks at the hem of her sleeve without looking at me.
“I hold on to things longer than I should.”
I flick my gaze over to the girl, assessing her, then decide to let it be. “You’re not how your sister describes you.”
She shifts, making herself taller in the booth. “And you’re exactly how everyone describes you.”
I force an amused smile to my lips. “And how does everyone describe me?”
“It would be impolite to say.”
