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Brows raised, Razai stared over my shoulder and murmured, “Scary. Anyway, my illustrious beginnings. As I’ve told you, my family discovered a way to banish me from my rightful place, since I threatened too many egos.”
Clave lifted his nose. “If you are going to tell her the full story, do tell it with more accuracy and less sarcasm.”
Razai corrected, “Since I hold a rare and dangerous power as a demon—”
A deeper, more destructive crack told me Azra had completely lost her cool and the countertop likely split completely.
Well, the Razai-is-a-demon secret is out of the bag.
“—and my family was always scared shitless of how easily I could overcome them, my cousin manufactured a way to get me banished. A rare moment of brilliance for him. Tapping into the collective family insecurity was a decent plan to get me exiled, but not enough. He only bought himself two decades.”
I balked. “Two decades? That sounds pretty successful to me.”
“It was viewed as a severe sentencing, since I was banished and barred from the Underground as well.” His sigh was equal parts proud and nostalgic. “They thought I’d fight it. Go outside the Territories maybe. I’ll never forget my mother’s face when I told her I’d be going to live as a Divine.” He kissed his fingertips. “Absolutely delicious.”
Another growl from behind made Clave straighten. Two of his fingers extended as if ready to cast a spell at my sister at any moment.
“What in the hell was your supposed crime anyway?” I continued, staring down Clave until he lowered his guard.
Darkness rippled over Razai, infinite as a sunless sky. He went very, very still. His stare told me I knew the answer.
Strange, since the only things he’d told me of his past had to do with… oh. “Vang.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
The corners of his mouth tightened. “My cousin had more rats than I’d counted on. Once he’d heard of Vang’s betrayal and our dead friends, he reported me to the authorities, blaming the entire rebellion on me. I was the perfect target. The one to blame for every life I’d tried and failed to save, as well as the one I successfully took.”
The cafe went dead silent.
He’d been blamed… for the whole thing? Instead of Vang?
Razai’s fist clenched slightly. Loneliness turned his cheek, wanting to shut me out even as he let me in. And then there was the yawning grief in his eyes. Boundless and howling in the silence.
In that moment, Razai and I were the only ones in the room, and despite loathing his fucking guts, I itched to touch his hand.
Shattering that urge with a steel bat, I swallowed hard. “So, you made it here and finessed your way into a teaching position. How?”
“Demonic races weren’t the only ones in Vang’s court. Isn’t that right, pretty boy?”
Clave crossed his arms and looked away, suddenly very… sulky.
I stared at Clave. Then back at Razai. Then back at Clave, who now actively pouted. My brows shot up. “I’m sorry. Are you trying to tell me Professor Sweater Vest Model is a social revolutionary? Give me a break.”
Clave shook out his curls and somehow straightened that stiff spine even more. “You are quite judgmental for a scrawny half-demon wearing last decade’s department store sweats.”
Azra gasped.
There goes the third secret. Sorry, sis. They know what I am.
Clave continued on. “For your information, I am very much connected to the cause. Not the brutish execution of Vang’s plans, of course. That was poorly done and completely lacking in taste. However, as a close companion to the leader, Razai had access to sensitive contact information of several key members. As I was in charge of the Divine sector of the revolution in the city, I remained the most logical point of communication.”
Despite the airy tone and haughty stare, a vein throbbed in his temple. It surprised me. He was still angry about what happened. The images of Clave as I knew him and Clave the secret revolutionary were impossible to reconcile.
Especially with the way he managed to look down on his audience from a seated position. Fucking prick.
He continued, haughty as a Greek statue. “The disastrous results of Vang’s failure, and afterwards, Razai’s predicament, allowed us to devise a suitable contract to move forward in equal benefit.”
Razai smirked. “You just don’t want to admit that you got blackmailed.”
