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Especially now that they knew August was ill. That he was desperately searching for a way to cheat death, whether through poison or through manipulating Spiritum.
And how did Anton fit into it? Clearly, he was looking for ways August could heal himself with Spiritum, too. And he and August had worked together closely to bring her here; they both had to be involved in tampering with the corpses. But did that mean they were complicit in killing the villages, or just being dishonest with what happened afterward?
Either way, they couldn’t trust Anton any more than they could trust August.
Though she knew Gabe would think differently.
Bastian kept quiet as he led her through the front hall, past the great doors that led out of the Citadel, into the shabbier corridors of the southeast turret and up to her and Gabe’s rooms. Lore was glad of it. They were both deep in thought, and the silence was comfortable. Probably more so than it should’ve been.
“Midnight,” Bastian said as they approached the door, rapping smartly on the wood. “Same place as last time. Wear something inconspicuous.”
The door burst open. Gabe looked rumpled, like he’d been trying to catch up on sleep. The hours they’d spent in the library had grown longer and longer as the week wore on, and neither of them counted as well rested.
“Gabriel!” Bastian grinned, putting his hands on Lore’s shoulders to thrust her forward. “See you this evening. Lore will tell you everything.”
Then he was gone, leaving the two of them staring at each other.
The silence grew too heavy to hold without slipping. “Are you all right?” Lore asked quietly.
Gabe rubbed at his eye patch, turned away from her. His shirt had rucked up in sleep, and he did his best to straighten it, though it was hopelessly creased. “Just tired. The last night I remember sleeping well was when you woke up after the Mortem leak.”
As soon as it left his mouth, Gabe froze, and it took Lore a moment to realize why.
The night she woke up, she’d come in here. Slept next to Gabe on the floor. So cold, and seeking warmth, something to cling to.
They’d never talked about it. They’d let it fade into the chaos of everything else, the edges rubbed away until they didn’t catch their thoughts. But now Gabe had brought it forward, pulled it into the light again.
They could talk about it now. Or they could continue pretending it never happened.
Gabe opened his mouth, and she couldn’t tell which path he was going to take. Which one she wanted him to.
So she didn’t let him speak. “Someone is hiring people from the docks to move cargo,” she said, brushing past him and into the room. “We’re going down there tonight to see if we can find out what the cargo is, and who’s doing the hiring.”
“We?” Gabe turned with her, closing the door as he did. The latch caught with a sharp, final sound. “So Bastian is coming, then.”
“Yes, Gabe, Bastian is coming.”
“I don’t think that’s wise.”
“Not this again.” Lore rubbed at her eyes. The lack of sleep was catching up with her, making her head heavy and her temper short. “Why do you hate him so much?”
Gabe was silent for so long, Lore thought he might ignore the question entirely. He stood by the door, still, head craned to watch the dying fire. “I don’t hate him,” he finally murmured.
Numerous acid-tongued retorts went through her head, but Lore remained silent. She knew that whatever lay between the Presque Mort and the Sun Prince, it wasn’t as simple as hatred. Lore sank onto the couch and waited for Gabe to grasp the thread of his thoughts.
“Bastian is careless,” Gabe said. “He always has been, ever since we were children. Careless with his power. Careless with his authority.” He paused, jaw working beneath gingery stubble. “Careless with people.”
There was enough ice in that last statement to make her eyes find her clasped hands, even though Gabriel still wasn’t looking at her.
A minute, hanging. Then Gabe sighed. “I wasn’t supposed to be in Balgia that day. I was supposed to be here.”
That day. The day his father turned the duchy over to Jax and the Kirythean Empire. The day his father died, and Jax pulled out Gabriel’s eye.
“Bastian and I fought. It was over something stupid—I think he cheated at cards. But I was incensed, the way only a ten-year-old child can be. We fought, and I beat the shit out of him.” A wry smile twisted his mouth. “It wasn’t much worse than what we usually did to each other, but for whatever reason, that was the only time he went to his father about it. Ivanna had just died the year before. I think Bastian had exhausted every other way of trying to make August care about him. This was a last resort.” Gabe shrugged. “Didn’t work for getting August’s attention, but it got me banished back to Balgia for the rest of the season, sent there with all the attendants who were supposed to be my surrogate parents. The week after I arrived, my father surrendered to Jax.” His hand rose, rubbed at his eye patch. “My presence wasn’t enough to change his plans.”
Lore knotted her hands in her skirt. “Gabe… I’m…”
But he cut her off, like he was afraid of hearing anything that might be pity. “I’m not stupid enough to think what happened to me is Bastian’s fault. We were children. But I’ll admit that I’m jealous.” He huffed a rueful laugh. “I’m jealous that his actions never seem to have consequences, when I’m carrying the consequences of an entire family. I’m jealous that it would take a miracle for him to be left all alone and with nothing, when everything was taken from me in an instant.”
