“You’re cold,” I murmur.
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
I swallow hard. “Your… familiar. Is it what you wanted?”
“You know I know very little about this magic,” she says softly. “It’s just what happened.”
“So, you use your magic now. Is that how you got out of the ether?” I ask. Her fingers stiffen at my question.
“Would that bother you if I did?” She looks at me stubbornly.
I meet her gaze, lost in those pale blue pools. “No.” And I mean it.
“Who is that woman?” Verity asks suddenly, her voice laced with anger.
I sigh. “Queen Erzur of Stellium. I agreed to marry her in exchange for her sun soldiers. We needed more soldiers.”
Verity draws her hand away, hiding it behind her back. “I hope you’re happy with her.” She meets my pained gaze. “Truly.”
She’s gone before I can reply. I drag my hand over my face, groaning. I want to follow her, to explain more. But it wouldn’t matter anyway. What we had is over. My future lies with Erzur, and the sooner I can accept that, the better it will be for all of us. Verity deserves happiness. But she won’t find it with me.
I turn, dragging myself back to the dining hall. I can’t spend another minute with Erzur. I push through the doors, biting back a sigh when her eyes flit towards me. I can see the carefully concealed anger behind her gaze, but I ignore it. If she can find me later, she can berate me for chasing after Verity.
“I have business to attend to,” I announce from the door. “I need to organize scouting parties to follow the demons that escaped.”
“I want to go.”
Verity’s voice is so soft, I wonder if I imagined it. I turn, eyes wide with surprise as Verity steps out of the shadows. “I want to go,” she says again, more firmly this time.
“No,” I say without thinking.
She raises her brows. “No?”
“It’s too dangerous,” I say. “This is a mission for trained soldiers only.”
“You aren’t my King,” Verity retorts. Her eyes dart towards Erzur before settling on me again. “You can’t stop me.”
I scowl. “You won’t be going with my soldiers. I do command them. And if I forbid it, then you’ll be wandering alone.”
“Then I’ll go alone,” she snaps, eyes flashing. “But I’m going.”
I close my eyes, a headache building in my temples. “Thal,” I growl.
“Yes?” He asks. I hear his chair scrape as he moves to my side.
“Go with Verity, keep an eye on her,” I grind out, anger coiling in my chest. “I’ll let a team know you’re joining them in the morning.”
When I open my eyes, I see Verity hiding a victorious smile. She turns away, marching down the hall to gods know where. I leave the dining hall without another word and head to my private office where I can sit in peace and quiet. There, at least, Erzur can’t torture me with her snide comments and arrogant flair. I glance over my shoulder towards Verity’s disappearing form.
For the rest of my life, I know this is a day I will always remember. The day we were well and truly torn apart.
Chapter 4
Verity
In the drab room of the cliff-side fortress, I stare at the leather armor on the stand beside my bed. It was left at dawn, before I had even risen. I finger the fine workmanship and my heart clenches in my chest. On the chest, the symbol of Altair’s family has been imprinted. It’s a subtle, painful reminder of the man who gave me the armor.
I slip into it, lacing it clumsily. Finished, I pull my brown hair back into a braid and study myself in an aging mirror. I'm leaner than I was before, almost Fae-like with their long, gently curving bodies and willowy limbs. Pale blue eyes stare back at me, but there's no light behind them. I sigh.
“Ready?” Serus asks, his voice a silken whisper.
I nod and reach for a long dagger on my nightstand. It’s plain and unassuming, but the blade is sharp. I know I won’t be of much help fighting demons, my strength doesn’t lie in swordplay. A laugh bubbles in my chest as I see myself dressed like a warrior-assassin in the mirror; like one of the heroines from the books in the library I loved so much. This girl isn’t me; I grin ludicrously at myself.
The smile slips from my lips as my memories are jogged. I don’t know who I am anymore. I came here just a school librarian, and then became the Curse-Breaker. Now, I’m a Bloodbane witch.
My eyes drift towards the red cloak draped across a rickety chair. The cloak is stained with mud and blood, ragged and torn at the edges. I swing it over my shoulders and clasp it around my neck, suddenly feeling more myself. I draw the hood and flinch back when I see Maaz’s reflection in the mirror. Pale skin, blue eyes, red hood. I could be the bitch and her sister, now Altair’s prisoner.
I tug the hood off and leave the room, Serus trailing behind me. The Fae in the halls give me a wide berth as they catch sight of me in the blood-red cloak. To them, I have been the Curse-Breaker and Altair’s fiancée. Now, I’m neither of those things. I’m just a witch in a red cloak.
I meet Thal beside the gates leading out of the fort. A small host of soldiers is ahead me and I see the Fae soldier who brought me here among them. Her brows raise appraisingly as she takes me in, and I imagine I see a smile quirk her lips. Thal holds two reins in his hand, one for his horse and the other for mine.
“Looking perky this morning,” he says, grinning, as he hands me the reins. I take them, looking up at my gray mount and twist my lips into a wry smile. Thal swings onto his horse effortlessly. “Red becomes you.”
I meet his
