So she can avoid you.
My heart breaks a little more.
She won’t avoid me now, will she?
Jeston’s head lolls forward, like that of a baby whose neck is too weak to hold much of anything. “Wynn and I work together in your brother’s castle.”
They may only be friends now, but they’re going to be spending all their time together, growing closer every day, whileI’m stuck in a far-off kingdom married to a woman I cannot stand. “Are you interested in pursuing her?”
His brow furrows for a split second before his eyes expand. “Oh, I understand now. You saw a pretty Tuath and thought she’d fall at your feet. But she turned you down, didn’t she? And you think I’m the reason why.” Cackling, he shakes his head. “Did it ever cross your mind that she might not want to fuck our duster prince?”
My nails bite into my scarred palms.It’s the drugs talking. He wouldn’t dare say such things to me if he were sober.
I screw my eyes shut, doing my best to rein in my anger. He is only speaking the truth, but it’s a truth I don’t want to face. Allette saw me glowing like a star last night; she knows what I’ve become. Who could blame her for not wanting someone so weak? So broken.
“Tell me,Your Highness,” Jeston giggles to himself, “have the hallucinations started yet?”
When I open my eyes, I find him smiling up at the ceiling. “What hallucinations?”
“The hallucinations,” he repeats, as if I didn’t just say the same damn thing. “The dreams. I hear the dust makes them so fucking real.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I have had vivid dreams of late, but that has nothing to do with the dust…does it?
Jeston snorts. “Liar.” His smile grows, a malicious, wicked thing. “You see, the problem with ingesting illegal substances is that you’re never sureexactlywhat they contain.” His barked laugh echoes off the stone walls, rattling my eardrums. “There have beensooooomany addicts found dead due to an unknown poison infused in recent stardust shipments.”
Did he say poison? Boris hasn’t mentioned any unusual deaths in the kingdom. Does he even know?
Jeston must be bluffing.
Only, he can’t be bluffing. With barmite in your system, you speak only the truth.
Time and again, I’ve dusted to help me through the worst years of my life. Boris begged me to quit, as did Aeron. Why didn’t I cop on and listen to them?
“You needn’t worry about me. I’m never dusting again.” Not after seeing the disappointment and devastation in my love’s eyes. I’ll be better for her. Prove that I can be the man I once was.
“Has the cough started?”
“What cough?” I’ve been coughing a little, but only when exerting myself. Surely that isn’t what he means.
Jeston’s head falls forward once more. “If it has, you won’t live to see spring.”
“How do you know?” He and I have never met before. How could he possibly know all these things?
With his head still down, he mumbles, “All those nights you spent glowing like a star are about to take their toll.”
That isn’t a fucking answer. My fist slams against the table. “How do you know, dammit!”
He doesn’t respond.
I spring to my feet and press my palm to his damp brow, forcing his head upright. His eyes roll behind closed lids, and his breaths wheeze.Dammit. How much barmite did they give him? I shake him by the shoulders. One eye opens, then the other, his pupils nothing more than pinpricks.
“Can the damage be reversed?” There must be some sort of potion or tonic to cure me. I don’t want to die—at least not now that I know Allette is alive and there is a chance for reconciliation.
“You need five doses of antidote, all taken…” His eyes roll back in his head.
“Dammit, Jeston. Wake up!” I shake and shake him until he focuses on me. “Five doses of antidote all takenwhen?”
“At the same time, on the same day of the week, for five weeks. That should be enough to rid your body of the poison.”