“Run,” I beg, and she does.

CHAPTER 16

BLAISE

It’s no use avoiding Az.

Not since handing over Nox’s and Zora’s bodies back in Mystral.

I practically offered him my heartstrings on a platter.

By letting Asha go just now, I very well might have handed over Nox’s and Zora’s hearts as well.

My chest tightens at the thought, my canines drawing blood from where I forced them through my gums to frighten Asha away.

I don’t mind that the guards on the balcony watch as I slink into the shadows. When Asha tells them I warned her that a craving struck me, they’ll think I’m trying to avoid temptation. Perhaps they’ll even think I’m out hunting for animal blood to satiate my thirst.

Even if they doubt my intentions, even if they think I’m a potential hazard to the human residents, I’ve had enough run-ins with the Othian guards to know they’re unlikely to risk their own skin for the sake of the humans.

“I’m going to need a very convincing argument for why you let her get away just now,” Az says, still leaning up against the back of the tree.

We’re both in the shadows, but a benefit of my vampirism is a heightening of all my senses, including my night vision.

Fates, he’s beautiful. His jaw perfectly cut, his black hair just messy enough to give him a wild sort of quality. He’s the type of man who wouldn’t have much trouble luring girls out into the woods alone late at night.

“You said you needed her alive,” I say. “You should just be thankful I had the self-control not to rip her throat out just now.”

Az has the presence of mind to mask his expression, but that doesn’t do much to hide the way his heart races at the idea of Asha’s blood spilling.

Fear for her life rolls off of him in waves.

It’s a good thing too, because his relief that I didn’t hurt her is the only thing keeping Nox alive right now.

“I thought you said you had your cravings under control,” he counters.

I blink, fidgeting with the strands at the end of my braid. “I missed my dose this afternoon.”

Az’s tone goes steely. “You missed your dose.” He runs his hands through his hair. “You’re a wreck.”

I close my eyes, gritting my teeth. “It won’t happen again.”

A cloud shifts in the sky, moonlight highlighting the way Az’s eyes shutter with suspicion. “If your cravings are so bad right now, why do you not seem to have trouble around me?”

“Not everyone’s blood is equally appealing to me. You have fae blood in your veins. It has this sour scent to it.” I wince, as if even being around him makes me want to gag.

I’m not sure I’ve entirely convinced him, but I must have at least planted some doubt, because his shoulders slacken and he rests his forehead against the tree. “If you ever put her in danger again, remember whose life I hold in my hands.”

The monster inside me envisions ripping Az’s head from his body, but it would only be satisfying for a moment. An incredibly slim moment before the realization would strike that I’d never see Nox again.

“I already told you—it won’t happen again,” I mutter.

Az doesn’t acknowledge my apology. Instead, he straightens, picking a shard of bark from the tree. “What I’m not sure will happen again is a better opportunity to get her alone. Do you think she’ll be eager to go with you on another evening stroll after this?”

“You tell me. You’re the one who claims to know her better than anyone else.”

Az’s expression hardens, his fingers snapping the piece of bark in his hands in half. “You need to fix this.”

“I’ve been thinking,” I say, my words pouring out of me, fearful that Az will walk away, and that as soon as he’s out of sight, he’ll abandon using me as part of the plan. That he’ll stab a stake straight through Nox’s heart and never think of us again. “And I think there’s a better way to get Asha to the Rip.”

Az cocks his brow and returns to defacing the tree. “You’ve been thinking?”

I ignore the insult to my intelligence, having gotten used to it from my stepfamily, and continue. “If we take Asha against her will, we’ll incite Kiran’s wrath. I don’t know if you remember this, but the male burnt the King of Charshon to ashes from across the room last year.”

“Kiran already has a bounty out on me,” Az says, looking bored.

“Not as high as it would be if you took his wife. We both know there’s nothing that incites him like jealousy.”

“This isn’t sounding like a plan to me. Just common observation.”

“What if I could convince Asha to go to the Rip? Convince her it was her idea to begin with? Then we avoid Kiran hunting us down, intent on sprinkling our ashes on the nearest dung heap.”

Az steps off of the tree upon which he was just leaning. “You think Kiran is going to allow his wife to go gallivanting across the world? To a Rip that is the weak spot between this realm and one containing vicious creatures who thirst for fae blood?”

“Maybe you’re not giving him enough credit. He respects Asha, seems to let her think for herself.”

Az scoffs. “And yet, you don’t. You believe you can plant an idea in her head that she’ll believe is her own.”

I raise my chin. “Let’s just say I’m highly motivated.”

“And say you manage to convince Asha to come with you to the Rip willingly, and that, for reasons unknown, Kiran decides not to come with her. What then? What happens when she arrives at the Rip and realizes you’ve tricked her?”

I pick at my nails. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose. But at least you won’t have to drag her gagged and cuffed all the way there. Surely, you’re intelligent enough to realize whatever hope you have of regaining her affection is likely to be squelched if you take that approach.”

Az examines me with those sage-green eyes of his. “You really think you can do this? You really think you’re just that clever? Clever enough to trick the woman who convinced an entire council of fae rulers that she’d forced her husband and brother-in-law to rip out their own hearts just at the sound of her voice?”

“Maybe not clever enough, no,” I say. “But like I said, I’m highly motivated.”

Az’s smile is cruel. “I suppose I did make sure of that, didn’t I?”

CHAPTER 17

ASHA

Lydia is back.

And she’s back without Piper.

The library is quiet save for the librarian arguing about how she isn’t keen on abandoning her station, leaving the precious books in the hands of a group partially composed of fire-wielders.