purification era 02 - quelling by Angie Grigaliunas

Author:Angie Grigaliunas [Grigaliunas, Angie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Rabreah

I didn’t truly breathe again until after Ariliah fell asleep and our mother returned to bed. Night wore on, though for how much longer, I couldn’t tell. The day had dragged for what felt like a week already, and my body whined with lack of sleep. But deeper, it ached for privacy. A place where no one could see or hear me.

Ariliah’s words to our mother kept repeating as if nothing else existed. I wanted to dance around the city at her strength, her ability to stand up for herself, the glimpses of her precious heart shining forth. But I wanted to dissolve at her claims, the way she’d stood up – but for them. At the way she’d called it treason to stand against them, just as they called it treason.

She didn’t know it was me. That I not only set myself against them, but that I’d been part of the robbery. The raid was, in part, my fault. If she’d known, would she have said the same things? Declared her allegiance to them as she confronted our mother? When the truth came out, would she turn on me and side with them?

I had no answer. And it was the silence that cut the most, tangled in my chest as I stared at her silhouette.

The most beautiful person in the world might be my enemy.

And the one person I’d always tried to protect might be the one person I couldn’t save.

With cautious shifts, I eased out of bed. I allowed my eyes to adjust to the darkness before stepping into the main room, just in case our mother hadn’t cleaned everything up, had left something on the floor as a trap for us.

Nothing materialized in the fuzziness, so I slunk around the corner to the barn passage. I made it halfway before my legs faltered. Darkness swirled around me, constricted my lungs, and I slumped back against the wall. Heat stung my eyes, my throat. Burned in me like poison no matter how hard I gritted my teeth against the onslaught.

A hush filled the passage, and beyond it, mine and Sorek’s footsteps echoed. Just hours before, I’d walked this path with him. We’d gone into my cellar, stood at the front door while he kissed my hand and made me think he was human. That he needed me somehow.

You better believe he’ll do what they say.

My friend, if I could honestly call a man a friend. My ally if nothing else. My leader. A man I was supposed to be able to trust, a man who had repeatedly told me to trust him. And somewhere deep inside, I had started to. Had let those first sparks bloom, cautious sprouts in the dry, cracked ground of my heart. Had let myself start to relax in his presence even when we were alone in the dark, even when his breath smelled of ale and memories of the initiation haunted my mind.

Then he’d stood in my house and ordered a raid. Played the part of Hulcondan so effortlessly, again.

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