Page 14 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

Sadly… yes.

I found myself standing next to the chair Ruin was tied to, on its back, his face red and already bruising. At least one of his eyes would swell shut. I took satisfaction in that fact. But Bren pushed me back, away, towards the door, whispering about taking a breath, staring at me with pleading eyes.

“You have to stop or you’re going to kill him,” she whispered.

“Good.”

‘Donavyn, stand down. I will not warn you again,’ Kgosi growled in my head. ‘Take a step away and think!’

Reluctantly, spitting blood onto the floor, eyes still on the spluttering Ruin, I let Bren push me out into the hallway.

6. The Lay of the Land

~ DONAVYN ~

When I stepped into the hallway outside, Bren turned to face me and she was trembling. Head to toe. Shivering as if she were cold. A stab of guilt and self-recrimination left me breathless. I had to get it together.

‘I’m sorry. I know I lost control—’

‘I can’t… I can’t talk about that right now,’ she murmured in the bond, staring up at me with huge eyes. ‘I just need to know if what he’s describing is even possible? Is he telling the truth?’

I resisted the truth that sprang to mind, and that in itself meant I had to speak it to her.

‘Yes. At least, it’s possible. I don’t trust him. I don’t even believe him. But… he knows things now I hadn’t figured out before he left. He’s learned that on his own. And the events… even Kgosi says it would explain much with Ciar.’

Her face went blank, but I felt the weight bear down on her heart.

‘Bren, I will protect you—no matter what. You don’t have to fear—’

She shook her head and looked down the hallway, raising her chin and taking a deep breath. “We have to figure this out,” she whispered. “What to do… about him.”

I was grim. ‘I have to figure this out,’ I corrected her. ‘This isn’t your responsibility.’

‘But I need to be a part of… whatever you decide,’ she insisted. ‘So, I’m just… I need to get my head around—’

‘You need to do nothing but breathe and stay close to me. I will handle him.’

Her eyes snapped up to mine, and it was a relief to see the fire in her ignite again. ‘If I hadn’t been here, you would have killed him already.’

I huffed. ‘I didn’t though, and I won’t. I have it under control now.’

She raised a skeptical brow, and Kgosi rumbled in my head, but my hands were clenched to fists in resistance, not to swing them. I let them both feel my determination in our bonds.

‘Two things are clear,’ I growled, letting Kgosi hear my discussion with Bren. ‘Whether his motives are selfish, or for the good of the kingdom, he knows things. Dangerous things. Things that we need to know,’ I added reluctantly. ‘Either, he is our mole—or connected to them—in which case, we are already uncovered and need to flee. Or he’s found our mole, and we need to uncover what he knows.’

Bren stared up at me and I felt her wrestling with something. I put both hands to her arms and leaned over her.

‘What is it?’

She swallowed and looked past me to the wall where Ruin sprawled on the other side, beaten and dazed. ‘He could have flamed Akhane and me,’ she sent, as if the words were dragged from her. ‘He had a chance to just… remove me. Remove us. It would have drawn attention, but he could have done it and fled. And he didn’t.’

I nodded. ‘Which is a single count in favor of his telling the truth—but it changes nothing, Bren.’

Her gaze slid up to meet mine, and I sent with every ounce of conviction I could. ‘Even if he saves Vosgaarde from war. Even if he saves lives, he will not escape his past. I will make certain his crimes are known. And Kgosi will, as well.’

She nodded, but I could feel her shivering. I pulled her closer, leaned down so our noses almost touched.

‘Even if every word he just spoke is true, I don’t trust him, and I never will. Do you believe me?’