A Thief of Nightshade(30)

“Do you realize this could have killed her?” Given shouted, suddenly sounding far more authoritative than Aubrey would have guessed the Shade could be and, oddly enough, panicked.

“I’m sorry. Ignore him,” Aubrey said.

“Thank you.” Aubrey clenched her jaw as Aislinn walked on ahead of them.

“It’s all right. Do you need to rest here for awhile?”

“No,” Aubrey said, “We need to keep going.”

They traveled in silence for several hours before any of them spoke again.

“He has every right to hate my kind, but we aren’t all evil,” Given said, “And there are Fae who oppose Saralia’s rule.”

Lipsey made himself comfortable on Given’s shoulder as they walked.

“Why haven’t they done anything?”

“Because it’s crap! What she’s saying isn’t worth the time it takes to hear it!” Aislinn came back into view through the fog. Aubrey hadn’t realized he was that close.

Given smiled politely. “Oberon, Saralia’s brother, rules in Agincourt and cannot fight her. If Saralia dies, then he dies as well. Her spell keeps both of them alive.”

“That’s precisely what I mean,”

Aislinn said with superficial sweetness.

“To sit back and allow her rule just to prolong his own life is just as evil as Saralia herself.”

“He has a point,” Lipsey said.

Aubrey didn’t disagree with Aislinn, but Given seemed to be telling the truth.

“Couldn’t he just take the throne from her?”

“No, the Lyr, the force that fuels Saralia’s spells, has been brought into darkness now. It would take someone truly pure of heart to sway its power. If you aren’t strong enough—”

“What, he doesn’t think he’s pure of heart? Shocking,” Aislinn said.

“You don’t understand,” Given paused suddenly, short of breath. “The Lyr cannot pass to him. It has once already, through Saralia’s spell. She granted him eternal life through it.”

Aubrey suddenly felt sick. The madame had tried to sway the Lyr and had been found unworthy—would Aubrey also be found lacking? That’s why Tabor questioned her. He’d once had faith in Lady Crimson.

He wanted me to see what I would face if I failed.

“Oberon’s truce with Saralia isn’t any worse than Man’s truce with her. Both kings compromised and both kingdoms now suffer the consequences of those choices.” Given’s eyes looked glassy— feverish.

“You’re...”

Given shook her head and motioned for them to continue on. Whatever bothered her, she clearly didn’t want to involve Aislinn and Aubrey couldn’t blame her for it.

They made their way through the swamp, passing through fields and forest.

By the time night fell, they had found a place by the lake to rest for the night.

Aubrey hadn’t felt the wounds on her back at all; in fact, it was almost like they weren’t there. She would have been convinced of it, but when she reached over her shoulder, she could feel the gashes.

They sat around a campfire, Lipsey curled up against Aislinn, Given lying below a tree nearby on a bed of moss.

Aubrey stared at the fire, remembering a vacation she and Jullian had taken with her family to Aspen.

She spared a glance at Given. She looked so young, maybe nineteen or twenty at the most, but what caught Aubrey’s attention was the shame in her eyes. She took a deep breath, and felt the hollowing in her middle as she recalled the night she had finally told Jullian.



Once ...

The fire crackled in the large family room at the Wright home in Aspen. Aubrey hadn’t wanted to come and had done everything in her power to avoid it, but Jullian had insisted that getting out of town would do Aubrey some good, help her clear her head. He worried about her constantly now—hardly let her out of his sight. They’d spent the last three days skiing and she’d made a decent run at snowboarding. Her back was killing her, her legs ached and she wasn’t entirely sure that she still had toes—she certainly couldn’t feel them.

Grant stood just ahead of her, in front of the window with his back to the room, one hand hung in his pocket, the other holding a glass. His obnoxious wife Dana, Brooke and the children were sitting around the room doing various things: reading, playing

cards,

watching

television. Harry was with Jullian and her parents were unaccounted for. Aubrey was on edge. This was the longest amount of time she’d spent with her parents since she’d moved out.

A hand slid suggestively across her collarbone from behind and she violently recoiled, only to realize it was Jullian, who’d returned early from his last run down the mountain. He paused to consider her response before revelation flashed across his face and forced him to close his eyes. He swallowed hard, then as discreetly as he could, he pulled Aubrey away to their room. Once he’d shut the door behind them, he took her slight frame by the shoulders.

“Look at me,” he whispered.

She kept her eyes on the floor.

“Aubrey, please ... please ... forgive me. You tried to tell me in so many ways.”

He shook his head, clearly remembering the conversations that led up to the trip.

“You told me that you wanted to stay home.” His words dripped of remorse. “I just would never have imagined, still can’t fathom that ... it was your father who hurt you? Your own family?”