“Who’s Aarken?” he asks.
“Her brother.”
“And the fish?” Griffin prods.
“Poseidon’s three-tentacled trout. An Oracle in the Frozen Lake.”
“Your Oracle?”
I nod, feeling increasingly numb.
“I’ll piece your story together,” Griffin vows. “Bit by bit if I have to.”
My stomach plummets. “It’s a terrible tale. I’d rather you didn’t hear it.”
He swipes a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “What am I missing, Cat? Why didn’t your family come for you when you were a prisoner in Castle Fisa? I would never have left you there.”
His words make my heart ache. As usual, my silence aggravates him.
“Should I ask Helen?” he growls.
“Please don’t.” My voice is rusty and catches in my throat. I’m unbearably hot, and my headache just started thumping to the beat of the pulse behind my eyes. Vomit crawls toward my mouth, and I swallow hard.
“Go enjoy the rest of the party. Enjoy your success,” I urge. “My magic has been hard on me tonight. I-I need to rest now.”
Griffin looks at me, seeming torn between concern over my well-being and wanting to interrogate me further. Then, his expression shuttering, he turns and steers me toward the stairs. I think he’s going to leave me there, but my steps falter as I start to climb, so he grips my elbow and takes me back to our room. The second the door shuts, I wearily kick off my sandals and start sliding the pins from my hair.
I unravel a series of tight braids, groaning in relief. “I feel like a stampede of angry Centaurs tried to kick me to death.”
Griffin watches me, his eyes dark. “There’s too much I don’t know about you. Too much you won’t tell me.” Closing the distance between us, he reaches out and runs strong fingers over my scalp, helping to shake out my thick curls. “You can trust me, Cat. I will never betray you.”
Something heavy settles in my chest. “I do trust you.”
His hands go still in my hair and then fall away. “Just not enough.”
I feel the loss of his warmth so acutely that I throw myself against his chest. It takes longer than usual for his arms to close around me, and my heart feels that hesitation like the sharp end of a knife.
CHAPTER 32
Noise from the realm dinner continues well past dawn. The nobles who haven’t retired to their rooms by now have apparently inebriated themselves into thinking that Griffin’s plans came from them in the first place, and are bloody good ones at that.
“To the health of the realm!” someone still in the garden shouts. Griffin’s new toast. Clever, really.
I can’t sleep, partly because Griffin hasn’t come back, and partly because I haven’t been pounded this hard with lies and truths since I was a kid. I hadn’t forgotten the toll it took. I just did it anyway. For Griffin. Now, I’m aware of every aching bone in my body. Even the tiny ones burn.
I give up on resting and climb out of bed. My arms and legs tremble as I force them into clothing that sticks to my clammy skin. Keeping my head down, I leave the castle using a discreet side door and then stumble past the royal bathhouse toward the women’s pool adjacent to the barracks. I’d rather face early-rising soldiers than drunken nobles.
Morning sunshine slants through the high, arched windows, dappling the water with puddles of light. In a haze of pain and fatigue, I slip out of my clothes and sink into the deserted pool with a sigh. I should have done this hours ago instead of waiting—and hoping—for Griffin to return.
I spread out my arms and float in a patch of sunlight, half-asleep, my ears underwater. Naked. Relaxed. Healing.
A sharp pain splits my middle. I gasp, water spilling into my mouth as my eyes fly open, and my hands dart to my belly. I stare in shock at the knife sticking out of my stomach, blood billowing from me like a watery sunset.
Bare feet pad almost silently across the marble floor. My head whips around. Daphne.
She’s always watching me. I guess her lurking finally paid off. “Throwing a knife from the shadows is something only a coward would do.”
She shrugs. “It worked.”
“Griffin will never forgive you.” I use one hand to help me float. The other is pressed to my stomach, around the knife’s blade.
“Griffin won’t ever know I was here. There are hundreds of strangers in the castle tonight. Any one of them could have struck you down.”
Air hisses between my teeth. My breathing turns harsh from the pain blistering my middle. “He doesn’t love you.”