‘It’s sort of a dark cloud on the family,’ Elnora said. ‘We don’t talk about things that bring us disgrace.’

Bethan nodded.

‘I doubt it will even have anything.’

‘Yeah.’ Bethan chugged the rest of her tea, alarm appearing on Elnora’s face. ‘I suppose that’s true.’

Bethan shot up from her chair, staring at the front door, an unnerving sense of longing at who was on the other side of that hall washing over her.

‘I think’—Bethan moved towards the door—‘I need to see Kellan.’

‘You should just sleep; you look stressed out of your mind.’

Bethan shook her head. ‘I have to talk to him.’

Knowing Kellan, he was probably hating or blaming himself.

She didn’t wait for Elnora’s response before shooting out the door. She didn’t bother to knock. She charged in.

Lupo jumped from where he was sitting and snarled at her, then stopped when he realised she was not an intruder.

A sigh of relief escaped her, knowing the dog was not going to attack. Lupo turned from her and moved into the kitchen.

She had no idea where Kellan was, but she saw his flask of fae wine discarded and dripping onto the floor.

She sat it upright on the coffee table. She wasn’t angry that he was drinking. She wasn’t mad about anything anymore. She had a new sense of motivation after Lenovik.

‘Kellan,’ she called.

He emerged from the bathroom, his hair wet, his body wrapped in a towel. His body was sculpted like the marble statues in the museum. He stood with wide eyes and a face like an ancient god.

‘Sorry, I—’ she said.

He nodded awkwardly before pointing to his bedroom.

‘Yes, of course,’ she said.

He moved to his room and shut the door behind him.

She let out a breath and panted, taking a seat on his couch. Her head spun; she wasn’t sure if it was because she was tired or from staring at him, a work of art.

She shuddered. Kellan shouldn’t have awoken those thoughts. The only person who ever did was Tharin, and she wasn’t going to fall into that trap again.

When Kellan came back from his bedroom, she gasped for air. They sat in silence, and Bethan didn’t know what to say.

‘I don’t want you to blame yourself,’ Kellan rasped, ‘for what I did. Don’t think it is your fault.’

‘It is my fault that you had to do it; I should have stayed hidden.’

‘What’s done is done.’

‘Your powers—’

‘They aren’t gone. I just can’t use them,’ Kellan said. ‘And I don’t care for them all that much.’

‘I know—’

‘If anything, I think I got off too lightly.’

His voice hitched. Bethan could tell from the way his eyes were red when he stood in that towel, how his hands kept shaking, that he, in fact, was feeling all the guilt.

‘But they were there to take you.’ Those green eyes gazed into her own. ‘I couldn’t think of another outcome where I wouldn’t have burnt them to a crisp to get you back.’