The swelling had worsened on the ride back, the whole left side of his face now purple. He couldn’t be bothered to care. It would heal.
Cal dismounted his horse and led him to the stable.
“You’re spending too much time with Marlys. You’re even starting to sound like her, Bri,” Vesper said. He brushed them off. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my room.”
As he trudged up the steps, he glared at the stone wolves that allegedly guarded the castle. His father always claimed they would protect him and Izzy from harm with some sort of magic. What a load of shit that was. All the stories his father told were concocted by a man who hid the ugliness of life.
Vesper dragged his feet through the hall and up the stairs to the bathing room. Cal was right, he smelled of booze, sex, and the metallic tang of blood. Not exactly pleasant.
After he filled the tub and disrobed, he eased himself into the hot water. His wounds burned, but the pain was better than nothing. Better than the numbness.
As he sank into the bath, he fought back the thoughts and memories battling in his head. But as he shut his eyes, he fell back into the time he’d seen Izzy again.
Before Emmery yanked him back to the living world, Vesper teetered on the precipice of death in a strange place between. And there he found Izzy curled up, weak, and alone. At first he rubbed his eyes to convince himself it was truly her. That this wasn’t some fucked up delusion. But there she was: skin pale as death and her black wavy locks sprawled atop inky water. Ripples circled her like a dark halo. She hugged her knees to her chest like if she let go she’d shatter.
Vesper called her name in a breathless plea, and only after several attempts did Izzy finally lift her head. When she sat up and turned, her violet eyes brimmed with horrors one could not reduce to words.
Izzy’s matted black curls fell into her face.“Vesper?”
He nearly crumpled into a fit of tears when her voice ricocheted off the walls of his mind. Vesper sprinted. His arms pumped as the distance between them stretched indefinitely, until he crashed to his knees and cradled his sister in his arms. Each notch of her spine protruded through her muddied black dress.
Vesper cupped her face as tears welled in her eyes. “Gods—oh gods, Izzy. What are you doing here? And where the fuck are we?”
“I don’t know. But you shouldn’t be here.”Her voice was weak, her magic spent. Izzy rarely spoke aloud as a child and it’d taken Vesper years to adjust to his sister’s mindspeak, but after her trial, and the price for her magic stole her voice bit by bit, she leaned on it. When she was young she’d signed to shape her words, much like their father when his magic was spent.
The hardest part for Vesper was that it stole her bespelling laughs and replaced them with silent smiles. It wasn’t the same to hear them in his mind. At least not for him. Maybe it was a twin thing.
Vesper merely blinked and then took in his surroundings.
The darkness. Everywhere.
Fuck, what was that place? Was it some pocket of the Hollow reserved for rotten souls? Because he could imagine it for himself but not for her. She had always been the light against his dark.
“Is it because I never buried you? I never saw your body, Izzy.” He studied her in wide horror. “Did Destonne do this? What the fuck did he do to you?”
Izzy shook her head.“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.”
And he promised her he would get her out. That he would save her from that place. And then—
A soft knock tore him from the memory. He glanced back over the rim of the tub toward the door as it swung open and Briar stood in the doorway.
“Bri, I’m kinda … naked here.” Then he spotted the familiar pulse of that angry vein in her forehead and he stilled.Oh shit.
Briar crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you feel good about yourself?”
Between his throbbing face and fading buzz he wasn’t in the mood for her scolding. “Not now. We can talk later but—”
“No,” she said, firmly. “You’re being an idiot and someone needs to call you on it.” She exhaled and dropped her arms to her sides.
He opened his mouth to respond but she continued.
“Don’t say you’refine, because I know you’re not.” Her red eyes burned through his remaining shrivelled wisp of dignity. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Because I have a pretty good idea.”
Vesper stood from the bath and retrieved a towel from behind him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I am!” She kept her eyes on the stone tiles. “You’re ruining your reputation and any chance at gaining the respect of your people.”
“You’re overreacting.” Vesper wrapped the towel around his waist and slicked his hair back. He sauntered down the hallway to his room only for her to follow after him, her footsteps angry. After he dropped his towel to the floor, he yanked on wrinkled trousers and a clean grey tunic. The fabric stuck to his damp skin as he struggled into it and stumbled over the mounds of clothes he didn’t care to deal with.