Cursing inwardly, he slammed his mouth shut. As much as he wanted to end the call, doing so abruptly would be worse.
The last thing he needed was to see Tertia face to face. Not now. Possibly not ever.
His head pounded, and he glanced longingly at the kitchen. A bottle of amber liquor sat above the cabinets, calling his name.
“Ido notenjoy being kept out of the loop, my son,” Tertia spoke quietly, each word calculated and as sharp as the icicles she wielded.
He understood where she was coming from, but keeping his mother up to date in the middle of all the craziness that had been the last three weeks of his life was very low on his list of priorities, so he didn’t really have many other options.
Tertia wasn’t finished.
“Nor do I enjoy being delivered news like a commoner in the middle of my lunch. I had to hear about this from Connie Evander, of all people.” She scoffed. “Do you know how much joy that spineless Light Elf will take in knowing something before me? She was born Without, Ryker.Without!”
The way Tertia said the word, it was as though being born lacking magic was the worst thing in the entire world. It wasn’t Connie’s fault she was born that way.
Most beings—not humans, of course—in the Republic of Balance were born with magic coursing through their veins, but every so often, some people were born Without the blessings of the gods.
Tertia’s voice raised a notch. “Connie has always been jealous that her husband isn’t part of the Inner Council of Representatives, and now, she’ll lord this over me for the next century. By the Black Sands, the woman will be more insufferable than she already is.”
Ryker barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. That’s all life was to his mother. Social games, gossiping, and politics.
Meanwhile, Ryker had real problems, like a murderous wife.
The Representative was still scolding him.
Ryker listened with half an ear as Tertia told him he should have informed her of what happened earlier, how he was a disappointment, how he needed to shape up if he ever wanted to bear the mantle of Representative in the future.
These were all things he’d heard before.
A half-hour passed, during which Ryker said maybe three sentences. He was ready to throw his phone out of the window when a floorboard creaked. He looked up, and a pair of onyx eyes met his from across the room.
How long had Brynleigh been standing there?
“I have to go, Mother.” He flicked his gaze back to the phone. “I’m sorry. I’ll message you.”
She screeched, “Ryker, don’t you hang up?—”
He ended the call, flung the phone face down on the table, and dropped his head into his hands.
CHAPTER 7
Wishes were for Fools
Several minutes ago
The sound of voices pulled Brynleigh out of a restless, nightmare-filled sleep.
She’d been back in that chair. Silver daggers pierced her arms and legs. Rivers of blood streamed down her limbs. Emilia, the witch, had been taunting her with her magic, burning her over and over again until she broke down in tears.
And then Brynleigh woke up. Naked. Alone. Safe… for now.
It took her several minutes to calm her heart rate and realize the voices weren’t just in her head. She dressed in the same sweater and leggings as before and tied her hair in a messy bun before moving on silent feet to the door.
Her shadows had fully returned, and their song was a soothing lullaby. Her wounds were healed, and her skin was back to normal.
On the outside, she looked like herself again, but on the inside, she knew she’d never be the same person she’d been.
Her old normal was gone, never to be seen again.