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I know, because of the padding of paws, the slight scraping of talons against the marble floors outside.
The faint beating of wings just outside the window.
And a voice, the one that haunts my dreams, my consciousness, speaking from the shadows.
“Well, it’s certainly nice to see the group of you have finally made amends.”
Az steps from the shadows.
He knew we were coming.
Dinah and I exchange a look as the realization sweeps over me. She’d delivered the message to Asha. She’d only thought she hadn’t been caught.
Dinah’s face drains of color, even in the shadows.
Az snaps, and the sconces on the wall come to life.
My stomach flips.
He figured it out. Az figured out how to leech Kiran’s power.
Az figured it out, and we’re all as good as dead.
Kiran is the first to lunge, but a wall of fire erupts from the ground, suspended between Az and the former king, blocking his path. Az snaps again, his eyes glittering in the firelight.
Lydia tries next, but all it takes is a whistle from Az, and a mere launches through the door, tearing away the posts, fangs bared toward Elias’s throat. He dodges well enough to avoid a killing blow, but the mere takes him out anyway. It swipes at his head hard enough that he clanks on the floor, head lolling to the side, unconscious with the beast bearing down on him.
Lydia makes to lunge for the beast, but Az clicks his tongue in warning. “I would remain still if I were you.”
Lydia glances back and forth between Az and the beast, and I can see the calculations running through her mind.
She must doubt her speed, because she doesn’t move, only scowls at Az through the fire.
“It’s a shame you weren’t here earlier, Kiran. You just missed Asha.”
“Where is she?” Kiran growls.
Az gives him a look of derision. “Not here. Obviously.”
“If you’ve hurt her…”
Az has the gall to actually appear infuriated by Kiran’s insinuation. “Then I would have only done half of what you did to her. Picking away at her mind like you did. Do you have any idea how long it’s taken me to get your claws out from underneath her skin?”
Kiran actually stills at that, though his breathing remains labored.
“I never used those powers on Asha. Not intentionally, and certainly not without her permission. I never used them to change the way she felt about me.”
Az scoffs. “So it’s just time apart that has her feelings fading for you? That has her experiencing moments of clarity when she remembers it’s me she wants. That it’s always been me.”
Nox turns toward me, a look of bewilderment on his face. I only just remember that I haven’t caught him up on exactly how delusional Az has become. One look at Az tells me Piper and I were correct about our theory: he’s been taking an elixir to avoid sleep. It’s in the tremor of his hands, the strained tenor of his voice, the crazed glint of sage-green eyes that never rest.
I shake my head at Nox ever so slightly.
Fin surprises me when he’s the next to speak. “Yes, it’s always been you, and that’s why you couldn’t seem to get over her scars. Had ‘things you needed to work through,’ if I remember her account accurately.”
Az turns to face Fin, his neck craning to the side in exaggerated pity. “Prince Phineas. Torn between the ghost of your late wife and your family, all of whom seem to forget who took her by the throat and snuffed the life out of her. Tell me, aren’t you the tiniest bit glad that Kiran now understands a fraction of what it feels like to have your wife stolen from you?”
Nox tenses next to me, but it’s nothing close to the tension going taut between Kiran and Fin. Kiran scans Fin’s face for any sign that Az’s accusations aren’t true. But Fin has paled faster than any person I’ve ever seen, his cheeks a sheet of white, despite his naturally tanned skin.
