He gave her a sidelong look, his expression grim and unfriendly. “I’m disappointed in you,” he said.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I believed you to be the sorceress reborn.”
Her jaw tightened. “That’s exactly who I am.”
“Perhaps my memory of Eva grows dim after all this time. But you—you’ve shown tonight that you’re nothing compared to her. If she were still here, still alive, Timotheus would already be dead.”
Kyan rarely turned his anger on her, and when he did she didn’t like it one bit. She glared at him, defiant. “You said yourself I’ve accessed only a small portion of my magic so far.”
“Perhaps I was wrong. Of course I was—how could any mere mortal ever help me in my plan?”
Lucia’s indignation grew with every word he spoke, but she tried her best to calm herself. One of them had to think rationally. She took a deep breath. “We need to take a break,” she said. “We’ll find an inn in the other town and get rest, food. And we will find a wheel, Kyan. I promised I’d help you, and I meant it. I still mean it now. But you need to control yourself. This,” she said, indicating the smoldering village, “is becoming a problem.”
Kyan’s eyes flashed fiercely, and Lucia braced herself. “All this is, Lucia, is more useless, disappointing mortals turned to dust. I don’t see any problem with that.”
Despite herself, Lucia scoffed. “I do.”
“More proof that you’ve become useless to me.”
His words wounded her, but she refused to let it show.
She forced herself to breathe, to not unleash any more of her temper or, worse, start to cry. “The moment I killed Melenia, everything about my life, my journey, became so clear to me. I wanted to destroy everything and everyone.”
“And now?”
“I’m not so sure anymore. But that’s what you want, isn’t it? You want to lay waste to this entire kingdom. So go ahead.” She waited for his reply, but none came. “No? I think I’m starting to understand. You may be free of that crystal, but you’ll remain imprisoned until Timotheus is dead and your siblings are released, won’t you? Which means you do need me, much more than I need you. Which means you better start behaving yourself.”
A dark, cold shadow slid behind his amber eyes. “You don’t know me nearly as well as you think you do, little sorceress.”
“If you say so. Now, I’m going to make my journey—alone—to the other village so I can find an inn and get some sleep. Don’t disturb me until morning.”
o;Very fast.”
“I need you to take a message to the prince. You’ll need to leave immediately.”
She scanned the group, her expression pinched. “I can’t leave. If I do, you’ll be vulnerable to attack.”
“And if you don’t, many people in Mytica will be in terrible danger.”
“And?” Her tone held an exasperated edge. “Am I to understand that you’re counting every living soul in Mytica a friend, and that I need to protect them all?”
“That’s exactly right.” Jonas took her by her shoulders. “Please, Olivia. This is important. Please do this for me.”
“Mortals,” she said, shaking her head. Olivia studied Jonas for a moment of stony silence. “Very well,” she finally said. “Compose your message. But if you die before I return, I refuse to be held responsible.”
Jonas nodded. “Fair enough.”
CHAPTER 25
LUCIA
PAELSIA
The deadly events in the Paelsian market had stayed with Lucia ever since, troubling her thoughts by day and stealing her sleep by night.
Kyan had grown increasingly irate ever since, his violence more easily triggered. Moments of calm and introspection were few and far between as they continued searching for a way to draw Timotheus out of the Sanctuary.