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My stomach twists with nerves. The series of events isn’t overly complicated, but it feels like a monumental task. Putting it off or trying to avoid it won’t make it easier. So, I take a fortifying breath, and then I tell them everything. From the moment Alaric woke me to the moment we oath bound ourselves to each other… skipping over the more intimate details that followed.
When I get to the part where we made plans, their expressions send a wave of guilt crashing down on me. The words I don’t say ring loud—Alaric and I planned to leave without so much as a goodbye to any of them.
I thought merely uttering all of this aloud would undo me. I thought I might not even get them out between sobs. Instead, they fall from my lips, as hollow and empty as I feel. Finally, I tell them how Cherno came to me, telling me how Elizabeth cursed Alaric.
I stop there, allowing them to draw their own conclusions as to why Lawrence found me where he did. A thick silence settles over the room. It’s nearly suffocating, bearing down, until it breaks with a shatter.
The scent of liquor fills the room, cloying and thick. Blood drips from Lawrence’s clenched fist onto the wood floor, glittering atop the shards and mixing with the liquid of the spilled drink. He is furious.
“Did you not think it prudent to lead with this?” Lawrence grinds out each word. He stalks closer, stopping just over an arm’s length away when Cassius makes a warning gesture. “Do you have any idea what this means for him, or is it simply that you do not care?”
“Of course I care.” I did warn him that he would not think well of me once he knew.
Cool fingers brush my arm on my other side, startling me. Della’s eyes shine with the tears I can’t seem to summon.
I press the heel of my hand to my forehead. I can’t think… I’m lost in a fog of overwhelm.
Cassius stands and move to the fireplace. One hand on his hip, the other braced against the mantle as he stares into the flames.
Between the warmth and soothing crackle of the fire, I allow myself to sink deeper into the plush cushions. Weariness settles in my bones, turning my muscles leaden. My eyelids flutter, and I struggle to keep them open. What sleep I managed in the past day was restless, and since then, I have pushed myself past my limits.
I’m somewhere between consciousness and dozing when a hand alights on my shoulder. I pull in a breath and peer up into Cassius’s face.
“I’m sorry,” he says. Though I can’t think what he would need to apologize for. He must see the question on my face because he elaborates. “I do not want to see you suffer more than you already have.” Wretchedness fills his features, darkens his gaze.
A tendril of dread wends through me, to my heart, wrapping around it, and squeezes. I try to swallow past the lump in my throat, but I still can’t find my voice. His growing disquiet sets my nerves on edge, chasing away every last speck of exhaustion.
“What are you talking about?”
“I must ask something of you,” he says, taking my hands and clasping them firmly between his own. “Don’t answer right away. Think about it first.”
“Cassius—”
“Promise me that you will consider my request before answering.”
“I promise. Now, out with it. You’re making me nervous.”
“Leave with me—tomorrow night.”
I am briefly stunned. What Cassius wants doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand what he means. I want to hope that it’s the beginning of a plan, but my gut tells me otherwise.
“And go where?” I ask when I manage to find my voice.
“Sangate,” he says simply. When I continue to stare at him in confusion, he goes on, “I was born there, but I haven’t set foot in that city for a long time. There, I will be able to keep you safe.”
His meaning slides into place like the harsh snap of a deadbolt. He wants me to abandon Alaric—forget about him as if I don’t love him… as if I never did.
“No,” I say in a tone that brooks no room for argument. Pulling my hands out of his grasp, I rise to my feet. I don’t consider his request—I don’t need to. My decision would have been the same either way. He likely expected as much.
“If Alaric is truly cursed, then he is as good as dead. It will eat away at his body and mind. It is only a matter of time before he succumbs.” Each word is harsher than the last. More cutting. “Elizabeth did this to him, but she will blame you, and for that, she will make you pay.”
I cannot fault him for anything he said, but I can fault him for the way he said it. True or not, his delivery leaves me stricken.
Cassius at least has the decency to look chagrined when he sees what his words have done to me. He reaches out, but I move out of reach before he can.
“No.” I say firmly. “No, I will not leave this place—not with you. Not with anyone. Not without Alaric.”
“Be reasonable—” he cuts himself off, seeming to realize his mistake immediately, and holds up both hands. “What I mean to say is there are others who care about you and don’t want to see you come to any harm.”
