Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(33)

“And hers was puberty?”

He nodded. “My mother’s mother hailed from the Fire colony outside Tavas. She married my grandfather when they were quite young and moved into the city to find work. Both my mother and her sister were born there and inherited Water traits.”

“With my father water-blooded back through generations, they never thought Elani would be any different.”

My mouth dropped open. “Elani? Not the little—”

Rowan nodded. “Yes, your servant girl is my sister. She’s four cycles younger than I am, but we’re very close.” He took a long drink of his coffee. “When puberty hit, her hair changed color. The Queen charged my parents with deceiving the Noble Council. They were accused of falsely registering an offspring as Water and conspiring to conceal her fire gene. They killed my parents and seized Elani as an example to the citizenry.”

“Did they come after you?”

The look of devastation that flashed across his face sent a chill up my spine. He pushed his plate away, his pastry hardly touched. “Not to capture. The Queen made sure I was worth more to her free and disgraced.”

“How so?”

After another drink of his coffee, Rowan stared into the half-empty mug. “My family name was traipsed through the gutters of Attalos, my parents murdered, our home vandalized and our standing in the community tarnished.”

“Can you rebuild?”

“I intended to. I reacted much like you when you first got here. I stormed into the Nobles’ Council and demanded justice. When those cowards wouldn’t even consider helping me, I went to the palace and tried to reclaim Elani myself.”

“What happened?”

The muscles in his jaw flexed. “The Queen had me restrained while Elani was stripped and raped by her Strati guards in front of me. She was only a child and I didn’t know how to free her.”

“Don’t think about it. We’ll go back to the palace and we’ll get her out.”

“And do what, run? Where? The Queen has spies everywhere. If they catch us it’ll only make things worse.”

“Then we’ll go back to Haven. I live in a mountain sanctuary. You’ll be safe.”

“That’s all well and good assuming you can get her out of the palace, which is unlikely. Then we need to get access to the portal pond, which will sound the general alarm. Then you have to make it so the Queen’s personal Strati don’t come after us, which will never happen.”

“It could—”

“Then, we’d have to forget about how all the citizens of Attalos still suffer in a life of violence and iron rule while we’re hiding, tucked away on a mountain where we don’t know anyone.”

“Well, it’s better than being raped or not standing up for yourself.”

His body went rigid as his expression hardened. The legs of his chair scraped against the tile floor as he pushed away from the table. We were alone in the kitchen. Terran’s mother had left us during the telling of Rowan’s story.

“There’s nothing to be gained by running,” he growled. “Trust me, I’ve thought of nothing else for ages. Every time that bitch touches—”

“What?” I was out of my chair and squaring off before I thought better of it.

“Nothing.”

“Every time the Queen touches what? Who? Rowan, what aren’t you telling me?”

“Princess? You okay?” Terran asked from the hall.

I whirled around to the doorway of the kitchen. Terran, Coal and Terran’s parents looked like they had stepped into a den of feeding lions and desperately wanted to back away.

“Yes,” Rowan said regaining some attempt at composure. “Forgive me for raising my voice in your home. You and your parents have been most gracious hosts. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Where are you going?” I shouted after Rowan. Holding my hand up for Terran and Coal to stay put, I followed him outside and along the front of the house. His stride was long and I had to jog to stay at his side. “What don’t you want to tell me? What else is there?”

“Leave it alone.”

I snorted. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

“Then leave me alone.” Strong fingers strangled my upper arms as he seized me up and shook me so hard my teeth rattled. “Go back to your sanctuary and grieve your boyfriend. Forget about Attalos and our tormented city. Just go.”

My blood pulsed in my veins, his anger affecting the both of us. “I’m not going anywhere until I find out who killed Tham and figure out how to fix whatever is broken in Attalos. Like it or not you’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t like it,” Rowan shouted in my face, looming over me until his nose was an inch from mine. His breath was warm, his eyes flashing with flecks of gold and green. “Why couldn’t you be as vapid as the rest of them? Why do you have to be so . . .”

“So, what?” I snapped, twisting in his vise grip.

“So, you.”

Before I could register the shift in his mood, he yanked me forward and captured my lips. His kiss was fierce and hot, hungry and possessive. His tongue raided my mouth as his hands released my arms and pulled me against the solid wall of his chest.

Never in my life had I tasted anything like him. Passion and dark spice tingled in my mouth and seared through my bloodstream. He tightened his fist in the back of my hair, his desperation lighting a fuse inside me. It sizzled through every nerve and had my body aching. For the first time in days, the pain of anger and disappointment abated, replaced with something even more powerful. Gods, the man could kiss.