“I’m making sure you’re warm,” he said gruffly.
Face to face, it was impossible not to look into his eyes. Up close, their sapphire color was even more breathtaking. Black lined the edges of them, making them pop. But there was pain in those eyes, too. A pain so deep that it looked as though something had broken his soul in two.
Without thinking, I caught myself asking, “Are you all right, Kalen?”
His lips parted. “You called me Kalen.”
“Just for now,” I whispered back. “Don’t get used to it.”
With a shake of his head, his eyes swept across mine. “Areyouall right?”
“No.”
He nodded. “Well, all right then. Neither am I. Toryn will heal, but he’s in a lot of pain. He almost didn’t make it. I…don’t know what I would do without him in my life.”
“I realize I haven’t known him for very long, but…Toryn seems like a good soul.”
“You have no idea,” he ground out, closing his eyes. “Toryn stayed beside me when most of the world turned me into a monster. Someone to be hated and feared. Someone to be scorned. Even in my own kingdom, not everyone believed I was worthy of trust for a long time. But it’s more than that. Toryn is good to everyone. He goes out of his way to help those who need it. Those bastards just committed an act of war.”
My heart pounded. It was the most emotion he’d ever shown me. About anything. And his words had set fire to a question in my mind, one that had been a little spark for the past few days but was growing almost impossible to ignore now.
What exactly had happened all those years ago? If King Oberon had lied to us about so much, what else had he said that was untrue?
But most importantly, had the Mist Kingreallyburned down those human cities?
“You really didn’t do it, did you?” I whispered to him. “You didn’t kill thousands of innocent mortals in the human kingdoms beyond the sea.”
For a moment, I thought he might pull away. Instead, his arm around me tightened. “Tell me, Tessa. Whose power stems from light and flames? And whose power stems from mist?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Even though I’d begun to suspect it, hearing those words come out of his mouth shook my very soul. All my life, I’d been taught that the Mist King was the enemy to be feared. Never cross that bridge. Never step foot in the mists. Because he’d sneak up behind you and gobble you up. You’d never be seen again.
Stay on the right side of the chasm, do what you’re told, and you’ll be safe. The Mist King can never get to you while you’re under Oberon’s protection.
It had all been a lie.
“Those are Oberon’s powers,” I whispered to him, heart pounding so hard I nearly shook from the force of it.
“Were,” Kalen said firmly. “Theywerehis powers.”
“Was he the one who did it?” My voice faltered. “He destroyed those human kingdoms?”
“No.” Kalen shook his head. “Those were just lies, likely woven together to make you scared of me. All those human kingdoms still exist. My army did destroy villages in the Kingdom of Light when we invaded, though. Like this one. I wished they hadn’t, but the war was…brutal.”
“Why didn’t you explain that before?” I asked him, my hands fisting around the blanket.
“I tried. You wouldn’t listen to me, Tessa,” he said with a sigh. “In fact, I’m surprised you believe me now. Until today, you’ve insisted on calling me by that name he gave me. There was a part of me that thought you might decide not to kill him after all. That you’d want to undo our vow.”
“Oh, I would never decide that.” My whole body started shaking, and before I realized what I was saying, I whispered, “You don’t understand. He killed my sister. And then he dropped her head right at my feet.”
My voice broke off, my heart thundering against my ribs. I’d never said it out loud. I’d never even whispered it to anyone. But as I’d listened to Kalen’s story, the words had built up on my tongue, begging to be spilled, like chaotic paint across a canvas.
There was no taking it back now. Even if I found a broom and brushed all the paint back inside, the color had already seeped into the canvas. It would leave behind a stain, a memory I could no longer turn away from. And now Kalen could see it, too.
Even if he wasn’t a monster, I still couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t trust anyone.
Kalen drew in a long, slow breath. After a moment, he lifted his arm from my body and cupped my cheek. Every single cell in my body zeroed in on where his skin touched mine. An impossible heat spread through me.
“I am so sorry, Tessa.” Anger flashed through his eyes. “You deserve none of what he’s done to you.”