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I held up a hand like a ward against him. “Stop. Enough. No more. No more lies. I can’t take another lie from you.”
Another step back, then another.
“Are you all right?” It was Crescent. He looked between us, his face conflicted and unhappy. “I saw Avriel and Lyrastra just now. They looked too amused for my liking.”
Amused. Of course, they did. I was the prince’s toy. This public affection was all a ploy for their sake. But surely, they also knew none of it was real.
Lyrastra probably believed I thought it was though.
She probably thought I’d fallen for Draven, hook, line, and sinker. That every sweet word that fell from his mouth was truth to me. That I was not only his whore but his fool.
I backed up still farther. “I want to go. Now. Away from here.”
Draven’s face had become sad and weary. Another sham. I didn’t care.
“Take her,” he said, raising a hand to his brow. “It’s all right.”
“Of course, it is,” I snarled. “You gave them the show you wanted. Unless you planned to lay me down and fuck me in front of them all. Was that what you were hoping for? To finish things off completely?”
I could almost feel Crescent flinch behind me.
Bitter tears were stinging my eyes. I refused to wipe them away, instead praying he wouldn’t be able to see them in the dark.
“You must think I'm such a fool,” I spat. “To have fallen for all your lies. Protect me? I don’t know what any of this is, but I do know there’s no way any of it’s forme. Maybe it amused you to think you could trick me into actuallybeingwith you, but thank the Three...” My voice trailed off.
In fact, I could think of nothing to thank the Three for at the moment. I was alone, bereft, and broken. Right back at the place I’d been with Vesper. Tricked and betrayed. Broken and wounded. I could think of nothing to be thankful for.
Whereas mere moments ago, I had been filled with such unspeakable light.
“Your court is broken,” I whispered. “Youare broken. I pity you. And I pity myself for being trapped here with a soulless husk of a man like you.”
I turned around and fled.
CHAPTER 12
Iran past Crescent, shouldering him aside, crossing down another shadowed path to the edge of the garden and then followed it, searching for a way out.
