Jasmine suddenly gasped, like she’d been under water and could only now take a breath. “Shit,” she said, examining her arms and legs critically.

“Better?” I asked, brushing aside my tears. It only freed up space for more.

She nodded, but her entire face crumpled when she looked over at Pagiel. “No,” she said. “It can’t be true. Not really ...” She shook his arm, willing him to wake up, but as the truth slowly dawned on her, she burst into sobs that made my stray tears look like nothing. Moments of true affection had been rare in our relationship, but I knew then that she was young and she needed me and that I would be there for her.

I wrapped my arms around her, and she cried into my shoulder. “It’s okay,” I told her, stroking her hair. “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” I didn’t really know if that was true or not. At the moment, it seemed unlikely. But as I held her, I realized I was grateful that she was alive and still in my life. Her words about “always being the hostage” echoed in my mind, and I met Dorian’s sympathetic eyes.

“My loved ones are always used against me,” I said softly. “Why?” It had been a recurring theme. Varia had used it to keep me in check in the Yew Land. Jasmine had been held hostage twice today. It was again one of those moments where I marveled that I could still control a storm above us and be so helpless in other situations, especially when it came to those I cared about.

“Because that’s what heartless people do,” Dorian said. “They prey on those who love.”

Taking Pagiel back to his family was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. I couldn’t hold animosity against Ysabel and Edria, not for their bitchy personalities and not even for withholding the truth about Pagiel’s heritage. Their grief was too great, and underneath all their schemes, they were ordinary women who had loved and lost someone. I would’ve wailed and lashed out at the world too if it had been Isaac in Pagiel’s place—which it very well could have been.

It was understandable that part of their grief would transform to rage. They wanted to blame everyone for his death, me especially. The thing was, I’d already beaten myself up over the events of that day, wondering if I could have done something differently. Dorian talked them down, finally convincing them that Maiwenn was the culprit here. The method of Pagiel’s death, gruesome as it was, was proof of that, at least. Ysabel and Edria demanded war on Maiwenn’s kingdom, but he kept his own counsel on that.