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Doors and shutters slammed shut as he continued his leisurely pace. Those who’d been running stalls, selling fresh bread and wares abandoned their goods to seek shelter.
He grimaced. Who was he before Arianna? Had he craved so much blood that he might have slaughtered these Fae for simply existing?
He focused his attention back on the palace in the distance. Was his room still there or had Alec removed it, forever exiling him from the city? Would Rion force his brother to provide him a new room or would he drift from the city on a phantom wind, forever questioning his existence?
Rion ran one hand through his filthy hair. He needed a bath. He needed food, water, and a quiet place where his heart could bleed. How could he have been such a fool? Arianna was The Divine and he most certainly wasn’t her mate. He should have taken her back to Móirín the first time his heart skipped. Maybe then, it wouldn’t feel as heavy as it did now.
But he couldn’t stay away from her. The female who’d saved his life had fascinated him. She’d treated him like a normal male instead of a creature born from the depths of hell.And you hurt her.
Rion walked up the smooth, marble stairs, the area completely devoid of guards. They had left the giant double doors open, though he knew they rarely closed. It led him into a circular room used for announcements to the people. A dais stood at the back, with another set of doors behind it that led into the palace.
No guards stood there either.
Inside hadn’t changed much. Large, marble columns reached for the forty-foot ceiling with intricate carvings of leaves and vines upon their surface. He remembered these halls, running between the columns with his mother at his heels, laughing and pretending she couldn’t find him in the vast space.
Rion paused and for a moment considered taking the long way around to avoid his siblings. He’d have to climb endless stairs, walk down hallways haunted with memories and descend on the far side of the palace before trekking his way back to his room. But that’d only give him one night of reprieve. Best to get it out of the way.
Rion pushed open another set of doors and the scents of his siblings hit him hard. They were here often, their aroma coating the room so thick, he wondered if they ever left.
Rion met his sister’s startled gaze across the room. Eyes they shared. A gift from their mother. His gaze shifted to Alec and their father stared back. A male who’d been all business with no time for distractions. So different from their mother’s free spirit.
The guards drew their weapons and backed toward his siblings. One even growled in warning. What would the monster have done? He’d never laid a hand on his sister and though there were times he might have liked to put his brother in his place, he’d never attacked Alec either.
Rion opened his mouth, but movement from his right had his magic reacting, shooting from a pack at his side to solidify into an impenetrable wall. He dropped his foot back, ready to defend himself as he’d done so many times before. A growl echoed from deep in his throat.
He should have expected it. How many times had he’d survived assassination attempts in this city? He’d lost count, but so soon? And his sister… Rion didn’t look at her. His sister had never—or had she?
Rion parted his grains of earth, but instead of a warrior, he saw a young half-breed on the ground, rubbing her backside. She didn’t hold a weapon and when her annoyed gaze met his, recognition sparked, and horror turned her face pale.
She threw herself at his feet, heedless of the glass scattered across the marble floor. Tea, he realized. Rion froze, watching the female’s blood mix with the brown liquid likely intended for his siblings. She trembled before him, the scent of her fear stinging his nostrils.
Monster.
Rion turned when his sister’s chair scooted back. She took a few steps toward him, but Alec grabbed her arm. That pleading look in her eyes almost brought Rion to his knees. This young female, despite being a slave, was someone she cared for. Saoirse had always been like that, caring for the slaves despite their father’s reprimands.
The girl hadn’t moved, but her shoulders shook with the sobs tearing through her now. He knelt and the female curled tighter into herself, cutting her hands as she slid them across the floor. Rion took her wrists, but he didn’t recoil from the heat of her skin. Instead, he forced her to sit up. She was like a puppet on a string. He eyed the glass in her palms.
“You should go to the infirmary.” Rion kept his voice quiet, almost a whisper, but she still flinched. He released her and she ran, disappearing through a side door. He watched it a moment before turning back to his sister. Her lips had parted, but his brother’s expression hadn’t changed. He kept one hand firmly around Saoirse’s wrist, eyeing the monster in their midst. Their hearts were racing, anticipating his next move.
He couldn’t take it. Rion turned, no longer caring about pleasantries. He slammed open a side door and stormed down a familiar corridor, his breath coming faster and faster. Rion ran up a set of spiral stairs and trotted down the long hallway that followed. He passed the upper gardens, ignoring the memories that pulled at him, rounded the next corner, and paused before an oak door.
He willed his body to calm, unsure of his next move should someone occupy his old room. Maybe one look would send them running like the half-breed. Like everyone.
Rion turned the knob and entered.
The window was open, a slight breeze blowing through the sheer, tan curtains. His bed was in the far-left corner with the same color sheets from when he’d left. And judging from the smell in the air, everything had been freshly washed.
A picture of his mother still sat on the dresser his sister had purchased from a woodcarver decades ago. And beside that, a picture of their family. Their father, with his stoic expression. Alec at his side, arms crossed. Their mother standing in the center with her long, red, flowing hair grinning from ear to ear. And Saoirse, holding him in her lap while he looked up at her. A memory from another life.
Rion locked the door and proceeded to the bathing chamber. He turned the water to scalding temperatures and peeled off his blood-stained clothes. His heart still pounded.
He could deal with Nàdair’s citizens and their judgments. He’d earned those. Rion could handle his brother’s murderous eyes and though it broke his heart, he could ignore his sister’s uncertain expression. But it was the terror-stricken face of that young female that had Rion clenching his chest.
Arianna, despite being thrown at his feet, had never looked at him like that. She’d been frightened, sure, but her gaze had never held what everyone else’s seemed too.
His heart seized in his chest, and he struggled to draw breath as steam filled the chamber.
He’d never see that again. He’d never feel her beautiful skin. Never relish in the gentle caress of her lips. He’d never see a look of trust from another being’s eyes for as long as he lived.
