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“Don’tyou dare,” I said quietly.
Veras went still. I saw his jaw tick. Up close, I noticed lines beginning to form around his mouth and eyes—lines I’d never noticed before.
“Ten years is a long time, yes,” he said. “But it would take more than a lifetime for me to forget your sister.”
“What would your newest lover think about that?” I wondered. His guard stepped closer to me, but then Lorik was there, pushing him back. The guard had nearly fifty pounds of bulk on Lorik, but there was something about his expressionthat told me Lorik would win any fight he started. Something unseen, especially given how quickly he could channel magic—a skill I hadn’t seen even in the highest of Allavari.
Veras held up his free hand, and his guard stepped away.
“We’re just passing through,” Veras said again, but this time, his lavender eyes were pinned on Lorik. “We don’t want trouble.”
“Neither did she,” I couldn’t help but bite back.
Veras’s gaze shuttered. His chin tilted back, and I saw the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed.
“I only want to make the offering, Marion,” he finally said, his voice steeling. His tone was clipped. Final. “Nothing more.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lorik regard me. Waiting for what I would say? I couldn’t help but remember his offer to me. That all I had to do was ask and he’d give me whatever I asked of him in repayment for helping him.
In the beginning of their relationship, I’d never liked Veras. But I thought that had had more to do with Aysia and me than him. He was a dangerous Allavari male with more than questionable morals. But Aysia had loved him, and that was the only reason I allowed him to make his offerings on my land…where she was buried.
“A Sever will take it anyway,” I said, looking down at the wreath.
“One might. But they know better to stay down Below where they belong. Despite what you think, I’ve always looked after you, Marion. Aysia would want that,” Veras said. “Some advice? Stay away from this one.”
He swept a hand toward Lorik. A warning growl rose up from the Kylorr-Allavari male, a sound I’d never heard from him before.
Veras continued, “You thinkI’mbad? You should look at the company you keep.”
I stiffened. “Leave.And never come back.”
“Not before I give my offering,” he growled. “How long will it take for you to understand that we are bound, Marion? Bound by Aysia? I willneverabandon her, just as you never will. How many times have I expressed my regret and grief over what happened? When will it be enough for you? You think I’m the villain in this, and that’s true…butyouwill never be able to forgive. And it will eat at you for the rest of your days. Despite what you think,Idon’twant that.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Fury and disbelief and grief and sadness and bitterness swarmed within me until I was rooted into place. Frozen. Unable to move.
Lorik moved for me. He stepped forward, eye to eye with Veras, blocking me from view with the expanse of his wings.
“She asked you to leave. So leave…before blood is spilled at her feet in payment. I am not bound by the laws of the Allavari, remember?”
There was a dangerous edge in Lorik’s voice that nearly hadmeshuddering. Dark and deep, the words left no room for response. Even the guard Veras had brought with him flinched back.
Veras didn’t speak. He stepped around Lorik and placed the wreath at my feet, his jaw tight, his movements stiff.
“Make the offering yourself, Marion,” Veras murmured. “They were her favorite. You know that.”
I had half a mind to rip up the wreath into a million tiny pieces…but his words kept ringing through my mind:Butyouwill never be able to forgive. And it will eat at you for the rest of your days.
Was he right? Would I hold this hatred and bitterness with me until the day I left this life? Would I carry the resentment and grief into thenextlife?
I didn’t want that, I realized as I stared at the wreath at my feet. I didn’t want that at all.
“She died a terrible death because of you. I don’t know if I can forgive you, Veras. Ever,” I said quietly. Lorik turned. I felt the heat of his hand come around my waist. Veras paused on the pathway, looking back at me over his shoulder. “I loved her more than anything in this world.”
“What you don’t understand, Marion,” he replied, “is that I did too. We have that in common, at the very least.”
I choked out a huffed sigh, feeling tears burn the backs of my eyes…and I didn’t want him to see me cry. Not then, not ever.
Thankfully, he turned, his guard trailing him, and he was gone a moment later. Only then could I breathe again.
