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Nevelyn bristled. “No. This is Cath Invernette. A dear friend. Our sister died when we first arrived in Ravinia. Another casualty of the Broods. First, they took Ware, and then they took her.”
Ren looked shocked. “They killed her?”
“Not with a blade,” Nevelyn answered. “Or poison. But they’re guilty all the same. She was sick. We had no money. We’d been on the run for so long. We had no way to take proper care of her when it happened.… But that was not the topic of our discussion, was it? You were about to explain why we should let you walk back out of here alive.”
Their guest didn’t flinch at that threat. She appeared fearless. She must know something, Dahvid thought. To walk in here with such confidence.
“I am tied to the Brood family, but not without controversy,” Ren began. “Last year, there was an accident at Balmerick. The public portal spell malfunctioned. I was one of six students who were lost as a result. In the Dires. We were hunted the entire journey home. Theo was one of the other six. We were the only two who survived.”
“I read about that,” Cath blurted out. “They searched the entire campus.”
Dahvid saw Nevelyn set a hand on Cath’s leg under the table. A quiet reminder to not give away more information than necessary. Dahvid shifted uncomfortably when their guest smiled.
“No one knew what happened or where we’d gone. We had to cross back over a mountain range to get home. I used all the magic stored in my vessels, but we were still being pursued. Theo had plenty of ockleys left. Before the final battle, he bonded with me. He needed my spellwork to survive what happened.”
“So the bond was forced?” Nevelyn asked. There was a subtle note of disappointment in her voice. “You realize that bonds can be severed? That’s what the Broods will do. Unless you come from a family of proper standing.”
“I don’t,” Ren confirmed. “My parents lived in the Lower Quarter. Worked on the docks. I was a scholarship student at Balmerick. You’re absolutely right. I am not a good fit for their family at all. Landwin Brood would happily get rid of me.”
Nevelyn did not bother to hide her scowl. “Then what use are you to us?”
“He can’t get rid of me, because Theo is in love with me.”
Dahvid barely held back a smile. It was a rather fine turn in the conversation. He could tell their guest had been working up to that—and he could tell she had more secrets to share. It was hard to maintain a casual air when he knew this could be what they’d been waiting for all this time.
“Congratulations,” Nevelyn said. “Theo Brood is lovesick over you. The two of you are bonded. It doesn’t explain the only thing that matters: Why did you come here?”
It was the right question. If she was telling the truth, then she had a clear-cut path toward wealth, familial standing, and more. Why risk that by coming to see them? Dahvid felt desire burning in his chest. A fire that wanted to become a roaring flame. He desperately wanted her to give the right answer to their question. Ren Monroe offered another mysterious smile.
“I am here because I do not want to join House Brood. I want to destroy it.”
13 NEVELYN TIN’VORI
Nevelyn thought it was too good to be true.
She could sense Dahvid’s excitement. It was like a living thing, pulsing and hungry in the air between them. This strange girl had traveled up the coast, searched their city, all to find them. Now she was holding a mirror up to their deepest desire, perfectly reflecting back the very goal they’d been hoping to accomplish for over a decade? It was in Dahvid’s nature to trust fate. He thought this was how the world worked—in spite of all the tragedies they’d suffered. Fortune favored the bold. Favored people like him. But Nevelyn was not so easily swayed. The curse of being the forgotten middle sister was that she’d long been a skeptic of the world.
This was all far too convenient.
“Why would you want that?”
“House Brood is responsible for my father’s death,” Ren answered. “He got in Landwin Brood’s way, and he was killed for it. I was only eight. When I learned what really happened, I made it my life’s mission to destroy them. It’s why I went to Balmerick in the first place.”
“What a story,” Nevelyn replied. “It has just the right amount of drama. Believability. Most convenient of all: it is a story we have no way of authenticating.”
For the first time, she saw hesitation. Ren Monroe had been so bold from the very beginning. Now she weighed something. An important decision was being made.
“Trust is difficult, especially when you’ve been running as long as the two of you have. I will not pretend to know what you’ve been through. My story is not your story, even if I believe we share the same goal. What if I tell you something that I’ve told no one else? Perhaps we can begin building a trust between each other.”
Nevelyn could not help smiling. At least the girl was interesting.
“Try us.”
“The portal spell… it didn’t malfunction. I altered it. My original intention was to draw Theo Brood and Clyde Winters out into the wilderness with me. Two heirs of two major houses. I was hoping to demonstrate my abilities and earn a position. Once I had my footing, I could begin the process of tearing them apart from the inside out. But Clyde died inside the waxways.
“Theo became my only path forward. From that point on, I treated him like a mark. I carefully forced him to rely on me. I even persuaded him to bond with me. He thinks that I’m also in love with him. Landwin Brood rightfully suspects me. He has done his best to keep me isolated. I have money to spend, but no one I’ve met would dare challenge the Brood family. I need you as much as you need me.”
Nevelyn turned those details around in her mind, attempting to fit them into the grand scheme of everything else they knew and had planned. “You assume a great deal.”
