Emmery frowned as his truth sat heavy in her gut. “Then why not let Vesper have it? Give him his home back and let him do as he pleased?”
Destonne stilled like something just dawned on him. “Ah, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised he never told you.”
Her stomach sank and she barely got the words out. All the truths and realizations had struck her, and she was unsure how much more of a beating she could take before she collapsed in on herself. “Never told me what?”
“I tried, many times, to give Vesper his kingdom back. My only term was that he worked alongside me as amicable neighbouring territories. It seemed fair. I couldn’t have him scheming for my downfall if I offered him power.” Destonne sat back up, his expression grim, falling back into memories. “He tried to kill me. Several times over, in shockingly creative ways. And with his treason, I was forced to give him a choice—work at my side so I could keep a close eye on him, or die for his crimes. He chose the former and that was that. Up until I tasked him with retrieving you from across the gate.”
Shock stole all of Emmery’s thoughts, her mind a tangle of words and emotions in one great whirlwind, or rather shitstorm. If these were all lies, too, they were infallibly well crafted; steeland stone, through and through. Though Emmery was silent, Destonne pressed forward.
“I believe you owe me one truth, angel.” He stared at her hands fisted in her lap, knuckles bleached. “Why did you choose me?”
Emmery sank her teeth into her bottom lip, in disbelief she was voicing this. “Because you were right. What you said when we had dinner. I’ve been fighting it, telling myself it isn’t true, but maybe wearemore alike than I care to admit.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “And I had nowhere else to go.”
“You could have returned to Castle Dusk,” he said, surprisingly gentle. His brows creased. “Vesper was more than willing to take you back. He said so himself.”
Emmery slowly shook her head. “I couldn’t. Not after how we left things. After what happened, Vesper and I need time, I think. Maybe forever. I don’t know. And I don’t know how to navigate this world. It’s still new to me and—” She broke off before she could voice that damn loneliness that saturated her soul. Desperate to pull the attention from herself she asked. “So, what are you going to do about all this? What’s your plan for Asaella?”
Destonne rubbed his chest right above his still heart. “I’m afraid you may have to wait for those truths. But retrieving my magic is a key component.”
“You can’t leave things this way,” she pressed. All the problems swelled in her mind and beat with a steady pulse. “You can’t—”
“And what wouldyoudo, Emmery?Hmm?” Destonne tilted his head. “Since you’re so full of insightful answers.”
Everything inside her screamed to take action. Did he not feel it too? “I would fight. I would sacrifice for my home, my family, everyone I love, and give until I had nothing left. Scrape my soul raw if that was the cost. If I had something to fight for,people who loved me—” Her voice broke and she swallowed her surfacing darkness. “There would be nothing in this world that could stop me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give.”
His gaze softened. “What do you meanifpeople loved you?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged.
“Don’t say that,” he said gently. His brows narrowed and his hand twitched as if he wanted to take hers. To soothe her confession that had sliced through her like his thorns had all those weeks ago.
Slowly, she shook her head. “Nobody loves broken things. They tolerate them. They’re used and depleted. And when they can’t be fixed, well, they’re just … thrown away.” And he would toss her aside, too, when their pactum was complete.
From his silence, he clearly didn’t know how to respond, but something in his eyes flashed in recognition. Like the words she’d spoken echoed inside his hollow parts as much as they did hers.
To push through the awkward quiet, she said, “Since you gave me an extra truth, I’ll offer one of my own. If there's something you want to know.”
He sat with the offer, stewed in it as if the ask he really wanted was out of reach, but he would stretch for it anyway. He stared past her atThe Nameless Bookon the nightstand. “What’s your plan once you find your Shade?”
The question caught her off guard. She needed her memories first, but permitting that went well, Zyphira had only told her to find Shade, not what they would do after. “I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted. “All I know is we’re supposed to—” She almost couldn’t admit it aloud, with Destonne’s likeliness to dismiss it and claim its absurdity. “We’re supposed to fall in love. And then everything will fall into place.”
Destonne stared at her for an infinitely long time. Searching. “So, what? Marry. Have relations with him. Bear his children and run off into the sunset. That will cure this fever?”
Emmery glared at him as fury scorched her from his assumptions. “You asked and I answered. What I do with him isn’t your concern.”
“I’m afraid it is, with the fate of the world in your hands. I quite like living and don’t want to see my people fall to this fever any longer.” He swiped the back of his hand across his brow. “But I wish you luck. Truly.Implexusbonds are, in a nutshell, asinine. I would hate to see you blend into his shadow. You burn too brightly for that.” He snorted and stood from the bed. “For all you know he could be some grotesque pig. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Just like that, he’d ruined the whole bout of truth and honesty bridging them by being himself again. Gods, a conversation with the man was like riding a wild stallion—sure to give her whiplash.
And howdarehe talk about Shade like that.
Sneering, Emmery shot back, “He can’t be more of a pig thanyou.”
A bitter laugh rumbled from Destonne. “You’d be so lucky to be stuck with me. At least I would—” He clamped his mouth closed and strode to the door. His fist thumped the frame once, twice, and on the third, he turned back to her. “For what it’s worth”—he struck the doorframe once more—“I’m glad you stayed. But you’ll be happy to hear we’re leaving shortly. Brennen and I are making arrangements tomorrow.” Glancing at the candle melted down to a stub and wax pooled in an exhausted puddle, he added, “I hope you get some rest. Goodnight, Emmery.” He left the room.
She stared at the door and sat with all she’d learned again, not sure how to sort or process it. How Destonne fit into her life now.Because she’d been honest when she said the two of them were alike—they’d both done terrible things, both never had a true home, and they both justified their actions in their own twisted minds in an attempt to mend this broken world.
Emmery sat back against the wooden headboard and gently knocked her head. “What do you think, Fionn?” she asked. “Should I trust him?”