I don’t even have a chance to answer, because he’s shaking his head quickly. “You need to get out of here. You need to hide. I’m trying to figure out how to move Mom—”
“I’m not hiding,” I say.
My voice is firm, and he blinks in surprise. “They don’t even care that Mom is dying.” Jake’s voice is harsh. “Please, Harper. We can find a way—”
“I’m not hiding.”
His voice changes. “Did they have you? Are you a warning? Is this—did they do this?” His eyes are on my cheek again.
I knew I was walking into a mess. I knew my homecoming would be bittersweet.
I didn’t expect … this.
Grey’s bracers are heavy on my arms. “Jake,” I say gently.
He runs tense hands through his hair again. “We have until nine a.m. I don’t know—”
“Stop!” I slide the bag off my shoulder. “Stop spinning, Jake. Take this. Let’s come up with a plan.”
He snorts disgustedly. “Harper, unless you have a hundred thousand dollars in there—or maybe a bulletproof vest—you need to get yourself somewhere safe. I don’t know why you came back right now, but it’s the worst possible time.”
I’d forgotten this. How I could never solve anything before. How I was something to be shoved into back rooms or left playing lookout in the alley, because I never had anything to offer.
I shove the bag into his chest. The weight slams into him, and the coins inside clink together. “Take it,” I snap. “I’ve brought money.”
“What?” he whispers.
“I brought money. I want to see Mom.” My voice almost cracks. “I’ll tell you everything. And then we’re going to come up with a plan.”
CHAPTER FORTY
RHEN
Despite my orders, I half expect Commander Grey to return with Harper. My imagination conjures the thought of her kicking and screaming as he impassively drags her into the castle and right back up to my door.
These thoughts are fruitless. I should be planning my discussion with Karis Luran. I have spoken to my generals, and soldiers have been moved into position around the castle.
There is still a chance to save the people of Emberfall.
Perhaps there is time to find another woman to break the curse.
The thought would be hilarious if there weren’t so much desperation behind it. I pull the crystal stopper from a bottle and pour, watching as deep red liquid fills the glass. I take a sip, then remove my shirt to prepare for bed, moving across the room to toss it over the back of a chair.
There, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
The scales have spread, even in the short amount of time Harper has been gone.
A sharp knock raps at my door.
Silver hell. I grab my shirt and yank it over my head. A glittering shadow is visible through the lacing at my neck, and I pull on my jacket as well, fumbling with the leather straps to hurriedly buckle them into place.
“Enter,” I call.
The door swings open to reveal Grey. He is windblown and red-cheeked from his time outside the castle territory, and his bracers are gone, but he has returned unscathed.
And alone.
“So it is done,” I say. “She is gone.”
He nods.
I seize the glass and down it in one swallow. “Come in. Close the door.”
He hesitates for the barest moment, then says, “I saw you have doubled the soldiers standing at the edge of the castle grounds. In preparation for Karis Luran’s arrival, I would advise that we station guards at—”
“Grey.”
My guard commander falls silent.
“I don’t want to talk about Karis Luran.” I pull the crystal stopper from the bottle and pour again. Deep red swirls to fill the glass.
He waits.
Without hesitation, I fill a second, then extend it to Commander Grey.
He looks back at me yet makes no move to take it.
“Do not make me order you,” I say.
He takes the glass from my hand.
I raise my own as if to make a toast. A line forms between his eyebrows, but he does the same.
“Forgive me,” I say quietly. “I failed.”
He goes very still, lets out a breath, and to my surprise, drains the glass. It makes him cough.
I raise my eyebrows and smile. “Am I going to find you on the floor in a moment?”
“Possibly.” He shakes his head and takes a breath as if it burned going down. His voice has gone husky. “That is not wine.”
“No. Sugared spirits. From the Valkins Valley. My father always kept some on hand.”
“I remember.”
“I imagine you do.” I wonder if he remembers that my father never let anyone touch it—not even me. The rule was so ingrained in me that it took many seasons before I dared to try it, even after he died.
I drain my own glass, then lift the decanter again. “More?”
He hesitates, then lifts his glass. “Please.” Though he doesn’t look entirely sure about that.
I give a wan smile and pour. “Had I known you would be a willing drinking companion, I would have offered ages ago.”
“Ages ago, I would not have been willing.” He lifts his glass the same way I did a moment ago, then waits for me to mirror his movement. The alcohol hasn’t hit him yet; his eyes are clear and direct. “You owe me no apology.”
He downs this glass with the same speed as the first.
My smile widens. “You truly will be on the floor, Commander.” I nod at the chairs by the fire. “Disarm yourself. Sit.”
When I claim the chair closest to the dressing room, he unbuckles his sword belt and eases into the chair before the fire, laying the weapon on the floor at his side. He’s definitely not drunk yet if he’s keeping his weapons in easy reach.
“Another?” I say.
“Sunrise is not far off, my lord. I should not …”
His voice trails off as I fill his glass for a third time.
Grey sighs—but he takes the glass when I offer it.
I do not wait for a toast this time. I simply drain my own. “Do you remember the night Lilith attacked me and you brought me here, to my rooms?”
“Which time?”
Indeed. “The day Harper arrived.”
“I do.”
The alcohol is beginning to burn its way through my veins, turning my thoughts loose inside my head. “I said I would release you from your oath if I failed to break the curse.”
His expression goes still. “You did.”
I know he is remembering what I asked next: that he kill me if I had not yet broken the curse, and if a sign of the impending change presented itself.
The fire snaps in the quiet darkness.
“I release you from your oath, Grey,” I say. “Once we have met with Karis Luran, I want you to—”
“No.”
“What?”
He tips back the glass and drains this one, then slams it onto the table between the chairs with a bit too much force. He coughs. “I said no.”
“Grey—”
He stands and draws his dagger so quickly that I jerk back, suddenly certain he’s going to plunge it into my chest right here and now.
Instead he flips the blade in his hand and holds it out to me, hilt first. “Use my dagger if you wish. But I will not end a near eternity of service by destroying the very man I swore …” His words begin to slur together. “I swore to protect.”
I snort with laughter, but cover it with a cough. “Put your weapon away before you hurt yourself.”
His eyes narrow and he slams the dagger onto the side table. All the slamming—the glass, the blade—is curious, until he moves to sit and nearly misses the chair.
This time I laugh out loud. “Grey, hardly ten minutes have passed.”
“Blame your father.” His voice is still husky, but now that he’s seated, he looks more stable. “It was his order that the guardsmen abstain.”
“Regardless of the results of my meeting with Karis Luran—and regardless of whether you will grant my final request—I believe you should leave here once the meeting is complete, Grey.”
“And where would I go?”
“You’re a talented swordsman. You would have no trouble finding work. Shall I write you a letter of recommendation?”
“You joke about this.”
“I have failed, Grey. I can drink myself into a stupor and stomp my feet in fury, but that will not change things. Harper is gone. She did not love me.” I pause. “I had thought that perhaps she could …” I let my voice trail off and shake my head. Then I lift my eyes to meet his. “You should go back for her. Once all is said and done. I detected a spark between you …”
He looks away.
“Was I wrong?” I say. “Or did you leave your knives and bracers with another?”
“You are not wrong.” He hesitates, then speaks quickly, tripping over his words in a way that is almost comical. “That is to say—I have never acted to dive—to divert her attentions from you—”
“I know.”
He shakes his head, then does it again more forcefully. “I speak too freely. This cursed drink has bewitched my thoughts.”
“Most people like it.” I pause. “So you will go back for Harper?” The thought tugs at me in an ugly way. I want the best for her. I want the best for Grey. It seems fitting that they might find each other as part of my downfall.