“A drakken? Big boy with broken horns?”
“That’s the one.”
“He stopped the vicars from taking me. Well, at first. What happened to his horns? Aren’t wardkeepers supposed to have some big racks atop their drake skulls?” When he didn’t reply, Ashe said, “Dead?”
Her father checked a watch he dug from his pocket. “The Fallen has taken everything from Drenth, all that was good. Tevun was not only my wardkeeper, but he was my friend.”
“Void, I’ve lots of friends. I bet being the Gutter King and all, you’ve got plenty.”
Emre whispered something under his breath, something she couldn’t make out. Apparently, her jibe had hit a nerve. “Upon Gargantua lies the Seal of Terris. We cannot allow the Fallen to keep it.”
“Then why not steal it yourself? I’m certain you’ve thought plenty about it.”
For the first time since he came to her cell, the true Gutter King stood there. Anger rippled across his face, pure rage of crimson aura. “Gargantua will plummet, Brynn. By my hand, the Fallen will feel my wrath. For what he did to us. For those taken.”
“O a revenge plot,” she said jokingly. “I love those.”
Her father grinned. “They search for you, Solanine and the Fallen.”
“Yeah, me and Solanine have met.”
“And they seek still now that you possess the Eye. Go to them. Find the Seal. The Blood of the Gods has no greater purpose than that.” He made for the prison door, stepping through. “Solanine hounds you. They know where you’ve roosted. Be wary of them, they have spies everywhere. Especially in the gangs. But Lu Har will have grown tired of Solanine’s dalliances, he will soon send scourges.” A faraway look. “Particularly one scourge…”
“Wait, you want me to turn myself over to Solanine?” she said, noticing that there were no guards on the other side of the door. Nor Cyan or the other vicars. “How did you get in here? Void, how did you even find me?”
“Vicars and Solanine are not the only ones keeping tabs on a gangland thief with aetheurgy.” He gave her a wink. “Come on, Brynn, you don’t think I hadn’t followed your growth since the day you were placed in the Shards’ care? I’m a bastard but not an evil bastard.”
Ashe sat there, hands in her lap. Finally, she stood and fixed Emre Benld with a heady stare, her bangled hand clenching into a fist. But then she smiled before another pulmo hack doubled her over, black tar staining her lips. “Zenith’s cock, I need a drink first.”
“I don’t think you’ll have the opportunity before they come for you.” He pulled something from his coat pocket, holding it out to her. “They circle ever closer to us all. Soon, we will have nowhere to run except toward them with all the fire in our hearts.”
It was a cloth stained with blood. Looking closer, she realized it was the same fabric as the dress Wren was wearing the nightturn prior.
Hastily, she unfolded it, finding a bloodied lock of hair within. “No… please Zenith, no.” Tears stung.
“Tomorrow begins the end, my daughter. Tomorrow, my war reaches its apex. Be on Gargantua when it happens, for I aim to use the Fallen’s pride to usher in his demise. Use this anger for a righteous cause.” He scratched at his forearms vigorously. “You will know me by a mask of cracked marble, for that is the face of one who has suffered. A better man, or father, wouldn’t dare ask this of their child. I wish I was that better man. Regret will shade me until I see the Meadows. My only hope is that one day you will have the heart to forgive me. Whether in this life or the next.”
His eyes flashed as he burned, then he was gone.
The door to her cell remained open and Ashe burned her aetheurgy, bolting after, nearly tripping over the sleeping guards and Amaranth the Pure.
XXII
Emre
AN HOUR AFTER dawnbreak, Emre sat shirtless on a stool. Val stood behind him as he angled his head backwards, a straight razor held in her steady hand as she sheared the stubble from his face.
“You ready for this, Em?” The razor slid across his chin, the soft clang of her bracelets the only sound other than a slow drip from a nearby faucet. “Once we start, it cannot be undone.”
“As ready as can be. Are you?” He opened his eyes and found hers narrowed as she worked. “I know how hard this is for you, Val. Trust me, I know the pain that it will cause. Not just for you, but for him.”
The blade stopped. “This isn’t going to end the way you wish. She cannot be tamed. And he will get over it, he knows what’s at stake.”
A somber smile tinged his lips. Steel it, Benld. You must carry the strength until the end. “Which she do you speak of? Both, I suppose? If there were any other way, I’d do it.”
Val nodded, sadly almost, and then resumed shaving him. Even with his outward feign at confidence, he didn’t trust his own hand not to shake. When she was finished, he stood and washed his face with clean water. Toweling dry, he held the gaze of the man staring back. He didn’t know how he felt about his meeting with Brynn. He was elated to finally see his daughter again, but there existed a grudging hatefulness that seeped into the edges of his mind. He hated himself for using her, just as he used everyone else. No father should do that to a child.
But he had to.
Gods, she reminded him so of Cadrianna. The face, the demeanor, void, the attitude. She was beautiful from the moment he first laid eyes on her and beautiful she’d grown. How he hated not seeing her grow to womanhood, of the probability he wouldn’t see her become what she was meant for. His war against the Fallen would consume him, but it would consume her if he didn’t do what was necessary.
“Why didn’t you take me with you to meet her? And why would you just let her go like that?” His gaze flicked to the doorway to find Finn standing with his arms crossed, a frown marring that handsome face of his. “We could have taken her with us, Em. Hopped on a boat and sailed in luxury all the way to Kalderim. You always said you wanted to go on a cruise.” There was hurt in the jest. Sorrow even.
“I want nothing more than to hold her tight and never let go.” Emre clenched his fingers nervously on the sink so he wouldn’t betray his thoughts. Or scratch his arms. No, steel it! Control came back, slightly. “Know me she must, but trust me, she cannot. I’ll only bring her further ruination. What she must become must be her way and hers alone. Not mine. I can only show her the path, the trail she follows must be what she makes. She is the Godsblood. She is the chosen of the First Wife.”
Though it hurt him more than anything to withhold the truth from his daughter, it needed to happen. Even after all these years, seeing her now, it brought shame. Shame in knowing that he had failed her. Failed to be the father she deserved. He had to win. And he had to use Brynn. Everything else must be cast aside.
And it cost him everything, including his soul.
“You know something you aren’t telling me.” Finn glanced at his sister. “Val knows. I bet Tevun did, too.”
“Yes,” he whispered toward the face in the mirror. The face of a betrayer. The face he crafted the day he lost both Cadrianna and Brynn.
There was hurt in Finn’s eyes, like he had been slapped. “Family always comes first?”
