anger, his gray eyes wide and hurt. He stared at me and I was the one to drop my gaze this time.
“Get a hold of yourself,” Tatius chided. “We will present a unified front, with all of my council backing the fact my companion had nothing to do with the albino’s demise.”
“Your companion?” Nathanial’s words were hardly more than a broken scratching sound issuing from his throat. He looked at Tatius. The rage had thinned in his face, a sharp edge of fear taking its place. I’d seen similar expressions on animals before. The question in their eyes wasn’t an indication they were beaten—it was the panic of being backed into a corner. A cornered animal was deadly.
Tatius stroked my hair. “Yes, my companion.”
A statement. No question. No room to argue.
I tried to push free. “No.”
He cocked a dyed eyebrow. “No? My dear, you get no say in this matter. You are a novelty, a child, a commodity. And now you are mine.”
Chapter Seven
His?
Like hell. I didn’t belong to anyone. Least of all to Tatius.
My effort to detangle myself from Tatius’s arms redoubled, and Nathanial was suddenly in the space before us. I hadn’t seen him move, hadn’t heard him. His hand shot out, ripping me from Tatius’s grasp, pulling me behind him.
My legs still weren’t steady, and I stumbled, falling to my knees. I rolled with it, letting the momentum turn me. Then I shot back to my feet. My vision filled with black dots. That didn’t stop me. I slid into a defensive crouch, my fists clenching. One heartbeat pounded behind my blind eyes.
Two.
I couldn’t hear the fight. Couldn’t tell who was winning.
The darkness gave way to a gray washed world. I caught a glimpse of Nathanial’s back, his hands locked with Tatius’s as the two of them grappled. The gray parted. Nathanial crumpled to his knees, his arms going slack.
Shsssk. The dagger slid from Tatius’s thigh hilt.
Nathanial didn’t move. Didn’t twitch.
The dagger angled toward his throat, and I threw myself forward, knocking Nathanial to the floor. I expected pain to slice through my back, across my unprotected shoulders. It didn’t. I chanced a glance up.
Tatius glared down at me, his arms crossed over his broad chest and the dagger tapping his forearm. “You’re both fools. Get up.”
Nathanial rose smoothly before turning and offering me a hand. I wouldn’t normally have accepted the help, but it had been a hell of a night. I took his hand, glad for it as I realized I was shaking again.
“Come,” Tatius said, holding out his arm for me to take.
Apparently we were picking back up where we were before Nathanial’s outburst.
“No,” Nathanial stepped in front of me, blocking me from Tatius’s sight with his own body. “No. She is my companion. I brought her here in good faith. She will not be presented on your arm.”
I could just make out Tatius around Nathanial’s shoulder.
He shook his head, his expression turning dark. He lifted the blade, and it glimmered in the candlelight. The orange glow made the surface look like it was already coated in blood.
“Is that the position you are choosing to take, Hermit?”
The threat was clear in his voice, and if not his voice, then in the glinting blade.
Nathanial spun. His arms locked around my waist and lifted me from the floor in one movement. I gasped as the ceiling rushed toward us and he hugged me tighter to his chest.
“Shhhh,” he hissed in my ear.
I held my breath, willing my heart to stop its deafening banging. It didn’t obey. I caught my reflection in a mirror. I hated the frightened look carved across my face, my too wide eyes. My reflection looked away. I blinked. What the—?
There was no mirror.
Doppelgangers hung in the air around us, each an exact copy of Nathanial and me. How?
Nathanial. One of his powers was to create illusions. He used it to make himself invisible when he flew, and once he’d changed my appearance, but I’d never realized he could do
“Get a hold of yourself,” Tatius chided. “We will present a unified front, with all of my council backing the fact my companion had nothing to do with the albino’s demise.”
“Your companion?” Nathanial’s words were hardly more than a broken scratching sound issuing from his throat. He looked at Tatius. The rage had thinned in his face, a sharp edge of fear taking its place. I’d seen similar expressions on animals before. The question in their eyes wasn’t an indication they were beaten—it was the panic of being backed into a corner. A cornered animal was deadly.
Tatius stroked my hair. “Yes, my companion.”
A statement. No question. No room to argue.
I tried to push free. “No.”
He cocked a dyed eyebrow. “No? My dear, you get no say in this matter. You are a novelty, a child, a commodity. And now you are mine.”
Chapter Seven
His?
Like hell. I didn’t belong to anyone. Least of all to Tatius.
My effort to detangle myself from Tatius’s arms redoubled, and Nathanial was suddenly in the space before us. I hadn’t seen him move, hadn’t heard him. His hand shot out, ripping me from Tatius’s grasp, pulling me behind him.
My legs still weren’t steady, and I stumbled, falling to my knees. I rolled with it, letting the momentum turn me. Then I shot back to my feet. My vision filled with black dots. That didn’t stop me. I slid into a defensive crouch, my fists clenching. One heartbeat pounded behind my blind eyes.
Two.
I couldn’t hear the fight. Couldn’t tell who was winning.
The darkness gave way to a gray washed world. I caught a glimpse of Nathanial’s back, his hands locked with Tatius’s as the two of them grappled. The gray parted. Nathanial crumpled to his knees, his arms going slack.
Shsssk. The dagger slid from Tatius’s thigh hilt.
Nathanial didn’t move. Didn’t twitch.
The dagger angled toward his throat, and I threw myself forward, knocking Nathanial to the floor. I expected pain to slice through my back, across my unprotected shoulders. It didn’t. I chanced a glance up.
Tatius glared down at me, his arms crossed over his broad chest and the dagger tapping his forearm. “You’re both fools. Get up.”
Nathanial rose smoothly before turning and offering me a hand. I wouldn’t normally have accepted the help, but it had been a hell of a night. I took his hand, glad for it as I realized I was shaking again.
“Come,” Tatius said, holding out his arm for me to take.
Apparently we were picking back up where we were before Nathanial’s outburst.
“No,” Nathanial stepped in front of me, blocking me from Tatius’s sight with his own body. “No. She is my companion. I brought her here in good faith. She will not be presented on your arm.”
I could just make out Tatius around Nathanial’s shoulder.
He shook his head, his expression turning dark. He lifted the blade, and it glimmered in the candlelight. The orange glow made the surface look like it was already coated in blood.
“Is that the position you are choosing to take, Hermit?”
The threat was clear in his voice, and if not his voice, then in the glinting blade.
Nathanial spun. His arms locked around my waist and lifted me from the floor in one movement. I gasped as the ceiling rushed toward us and he hugged me tighter to his chest.
“Shhhh,” he hissed in my ear.
I held my breath, willing my heart to stop its deafening banging. It didn’t obey. I caught my reflection in a mirror. I hated the frightened look carved across my face, my too wide eyes. My reflection looked away. I blinked. What the—?
There was no mirror.
Doppelgangers hung in the air around us, each an exact copy of Nathanial and me. How?
Nathanial. One of his powers was to create illusions. He used it to make himself invisible when he flew, and once he’d changed my appearance, but I’d never realized he could do
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