“Come on.” Taliyah jumped to her feet, took her hand, and tugged her from the bench. Arm in arm, they strolled through the door, exiting the garden. They entered the bustling market in the town square, near the street Blythe had occupied the day the Astra invaded.
Her gaze landed on a familiar sight, and her breath caught. Roux. He was waiting for her.
He stood outside Chop Chop, the at-home guillotine store, leaning one shoulder against a window display and radiating a wealth of ragged emotion. Regret. Guilt. Shame. Resignation. Fury. Several harpies eyed him as if he were a hot fudge sundae on a sultry summer night, but he didn’t seem to notice them.
As soon as their gazes met, he straightened and stalked over. “Leave us,” he commanded the citizens around him. His hands remained balled as the others scrambled away as fast as their feet could carry them.
“This is my cue, I guess, though this is the first and only time I’ll take an order from a subordinate. You’re welcome,” Taliyah muttered and branched off in the other direction.
Blythe closed in on her consort, meeting him halfway. Her heart skipped several beats. “Hey.”
“There is no easy way to tell you this.” He lifted his chin. “I killed Laban. I used trinite. He won’t be coming back.”
Wait. What? Her stomach twisted into knots. “That isn’t funny, Warden.” Roux would never do such a thing for real, knowing the anguish she’d endured last time. He just wouldn’t.
“This is no joke. He is dead by my hand. Before turning him into a phantom, Erebus gave him the heart of another clone. Laban was never your consort. He was always your father’s puppet. He—”
“Wait!” What was happening right now? “I know Laban was a phantom,” she cried, things cracking in her chest. Laban was truly dead now? Gone forever—again? Taken from Isla a second time? “Why? Why would you do this? He was my consort.” Heart or not. “How could you hurt me like this?How?You saw what it did to me after the invasion.”
If Roux had cared for her, even the slightest bit... Stinging tears welled, and there was no stopping them.
She’d chosen this male, and he’d dared to betray her trust in the worst way? Had broken her heart again, rending the organ in two.
Neeka’s words chose that moment to drift through her mind.Your heart is your heart, whether it’s this one or that one, so you can toss it and keep it.
“I did what I must to protect you and Isla—I did what the warrior asked me to do.” His words were broken at the edges. “He was under Erebus’s control, with orders to murder the girl. He couldn’t fight the compulsion, and he knew it. I did what I must,” Roux repeated, “exactly as I promised you in Ation, even if it means the end of us.”
No. No! Stumbling back, she gave her head a vehement shake. Laban told her hewasn’tunder her father’s command. And even if he were, he wouldnever. He adored his daughter, just as Isla adored her daddy. And yet...
Deep breath in. Out. Roux wasn’t a liar in any way, shape, or form. He’d always given her the truth, no matter the cost to himself. He’d confessed about the interrogation. He’d even told her about his fear of playing host to Laban. Today she’d learned the male she’d trusted for years had lied to her from the beginning, hiding what her father had done to him for the sake of his pride.
Her lungs emptied. What Roux claimeddidmake sense. Laban and Roux possessing the same heart explained why the Astra had seemed so familiar to her the day of his arrival. It also explained how she could have two consorts, when such an occurrence was impossible.
What if...Erebushadcontrolled Laban’s will? What if the twohadtricked her into believing the manticore was her consort? What if Labanwasn’tstrong enough to fight the god’s control?
How easily he could harm Isla. And in ways no one would see coming. Not Blythe, and certainly not Isla. Which made it the perfect plan on her father’s part. Thank goodness the child hadn’t yet learned about Laban’s survival.
A whimper caught in the back of Blythe’s throat, the truth suddenly clear. Erebushadtricked her all right. But not using Roux.
With hot tears streaming down her cheeks, she rasped, “I believe you.”
32
THE HEART
Roux blinked at his cryinggravita, feeling as if he were both dying and reviving inside. “I don’t understand.” A hint of wonder invaded his jumble of emotions. “You believe me?”
“Yes,” she croaked.
He scooped an about-to-crumble Blythe against his chest and flashed to his bedroom. He laid her upon the mattress and crawled in beside her, baffled.
She’d chosen to trust him, without proof. Did she—could she—love him? Even a little?
Could he make this easier on her, even in the smallest way? “I am so sorry, Lyla. So very sorry. I wish there’d been another way.”
“Don’t be sorry. You did the right thing. You protected Isla.” She rolled on top of him, burying her face in the hollow of his throat. “Besides that, I’m the one who owes you an apology. I made your life miserable, but all along, you were my consort. The one I should have defended.”
“Not me. Mars.” A fact he both celebrated and despised.