Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(27)

“I was ordered not to tell you.”

“Tell me anyway,” Cettie said.

“The empress has been abducted. You are going to impersonate her. When Ereshkigal is freed, you will be her vessel. She will rule once again.”

“Why me?” Cettie pressed, her heart filling with dread.

“Because you can exist in both worlds without heeding any of the covenants. You are the only person who can pass freely between them.”

She didn’t know why this was so, or even if it was true, but she wanted to keep the interrogation going since her time was limited. “How do you know this?” Cettie asked.

“I overheard your father.” The muscles on his hands and forearms began to quiver. The nightshade was wearing off. Too soon.

Cettie leaned forward, her voice thickening. “Where is Sera being kept?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t trusted with that information.”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t know!” he said, his voice becoming angrier. She felt the confusion inside him. The poison’s effects were dwindling. He was starting to remember.

“Is what you told me about the Fitzroy family true?”

“Most of what you believe is a lie.”

Cettie breathed quickly, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt the room lurch, begin to spin. Those horrible things he’d told her were lies. Twisted words. Half-truths.

“Where is Adam Creigh?” she asked him next, pleadingly.

“Killingworth Hospital. In the Fells.” He almost choked on the words. “I’ve been ordered to kill him if you forsake us.”

He began to blink rapidly, his placid look steadily replaced by one of confusion. He jerked in the chair, trying to move his arms and legs.

Then he noticed her crouching in front of him and tried to knock foreheads with her. She backed away just in time.

“What have you done?” he snarled, wrenching against the bonds. It only made the ropes cut more deeply.

She backed farther away from him.

“Release me!” he ordered her. She felt a compulsion rise from him, one that jolted her heart. He was using the kystrel against her. How was that even possible? He was the kishion, she the hetaera.

The kystrel’s power should have been strong enough to control her. Yet somehow it did not.

“I don’t think so,” Cettie said, shaking her head. She went to the table and began to collect her things into her poisoner’s bag.

“What did you make me say?” he asked. “Let me go right now, Cettie. Please. I need to take you far away. I don’t want them to kill you.”

“Them?” she said. “Don’t you remember trying to kill me yourself?”

“I wasn’t going to kill you,” he said, shaking his head. His voice was desperate, full of real panic. He was afraid of failing. He was afraid for his own life.

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“I know you have Everoot with you,” he said. “I was going to heal you. I promise. Please, you have to listen to me. You cannot leave the hotel.”

“I’m certainly not staying here,” Cettie said. Her heart quivered with dread, but as soon as she said the words, she knew they were true.

“You think we’re alone? This hotel is run by the Genevese! They are behind all of the poisoner schools . . . the kishion. Trust me, you will not make it out of here alive without my help. They’ve already taken the tempest to prepare it for our mission. Please, Cettie!” He strained against the bonds again, his face wincing in pain. “I can protect you from them!”

She whirled around to face him. “I cannot trust a single word that comes out of your mouth. You’ve lied to me. All along. You are not Rand Patchett.”

He closed his eyes, and she felt a throb of anguish inside him. “But I am him now. I want to be him. Let me go!” he thundered. He opened his eyes wide with panic. “If you leave without me, you will be hunted like a fox cub. You can’t get rid of a kystrel’s connection! I will know where you are. And they will know. They will kill both of us, Cettie. And they’ll hurt everyone you love. Believe me, I’ve seen it. I saw what they did to Joanna to make Rand put on the ring.”

“What ring?” Cettie said, confused.

“The kishion ring! The one that binds him to me, and me to him.” He squirmed more. “I need it back. Where did you put it?”

She hadn’t even thought about it after she’d ripped it from his finger. It was somewhere on the floor.

“Free me,” he implored. She felt him invoke the kystrel again, saw his eyes turn silver with the magic. A sickening feeling filled the room—he had summoned the Myriad Ones with his power. A revelation unfurled in her mind. There was something twisted about the kystrels—they allowed those who used them great power and control, but there was a price. There was always a price. “Please, Cettie. I couldn’t bear it if they caught you. They’ll twist your mind.”

“But they already have,” Cettie said.

He shook his head. “No, they were trying to get you to choose this freely. You are more powerful if you choose it. If you don’t, they’ll make you a slave. You’ll be like the girls in the healing room. Your whole life spent in bondage. And they will kill all the Fitzroys . . . I swear it! They will. Even Phinia and Milk. Every single one of them, just to punish you. And you’ll still be a slave when it’s over. Please, Cettie. I beg you, listen to me!” She felt his sincerity. But was it real? Or was it just the kystrel’s magic weaving a spell around her heart?