“I know what he’s like,” Helena said sharply. “It’s the reason you and I are alive.”
Frustration lit Lila’s face, and she started to open her mouth.
“When you killed Morrough, what did you think about?” Helena asked.
Lila’s mouth snapped shut, and she looked away, her face growing anguished. “Luc. I was thinking of everything he did to Luc.”
Helena stared down at her left hand. The concealment on the ring had faded with time, but now the brace on her hand nearly covered it.
“Love isn’t as pretty or pure as people like to think. There’s a darkness in it sometimes. Kaine and I go hand in hand. I made him who he is. I knew what that array meant when I saved him. If he’s a monster, then I’m his creator.”
WHEN ENID REALISED THAT LILA was taking Pol away, she was initially uncomprehending and then hysterical.
“No! No, you can’t! He’s mine. He’s my best friend. You can’t take him away!”
She refused to be comforted by Kaine or Helena. She clung to Pol, not letting go. Pol was clearly conflicted, but he didn’t let go of Lila’s hand for even a second.
“She can come with us,” he said, looking seriously at Helena. “I’ll take care of her.”
Helena’s throat closed. “No. No, Enid has to stay here until she’s older,” she said, trying to untangle Enid.
“I want to go.” Enid sobbed as Helena pried her fingers off Pol’s trousers. “I want to live in Paladia, too. Why can’t we all go?”
“I’m sorry, we can’t,” Helena said, holding her tight as Enid attempted to collapse onto the floor and crawl to Pol. “It’s not safe for us. That’s why we live on the island, remember? Because Mum’s heart goes too fast when we do too many trips. Mum can’t go places that make her heart go fast.”
“But Pol is my best friend. I’ll be all alone without him.”
Kaine turned and walked into the next room for a moment, hands spasming.
Pol let go of Lila’s hand and went over to Enid.
“E,” he said tentatively, “you have to stay with your mum and dad. You can’t come to Paladia yet.”
“Why not? You get to.”
“Yeah,” Pol said slowly, his blue eyes huge and thoughtful, and then his expression grew pained. “But you have to take care of Cobalt. City’s no place for a dog, you know. He doesn’t come when we tell him, so he might get hit by a lorry.”
Enid’s head popped up. “Really?” she said in a trembling voice.
“Yes,” Pol said. “And the boats are dangerous, too, you know. So you have to take care of him for me. He needs walks every day.”
Enid nodded in fervent understanding of the serious responsibility being placed upon her, and Pol gave her the leash.
As Lila and Pol rode away, Enid sat on the cliff, holding Cobalt and crying.
CHAPTER 78
Four Years Later
“MUM.”
Helena looked up from the tincture she was making. There were certain things always in demand in the village. Enid was sitting in the kitchen, watching her work.
Since Pol’s departure, Enid had lost much of her playfulness. Kaine and Helena had tried to bring back the spark, to find children in the village for Enid to befriend, but she always held herself back.
There were too many obstacles: no alchemy, no mention of Kaine’s or Helena’s real names, or of where Pol and Lila had gone. The rules and barriers stressed Enid, and as a result she had retreated into the house, only going out with her parents or dutifully to walk Cobalt every day.
On the dark nights, Kaine would take her riding on Amaris. Sometimes they would fly to other islands together, but no matter where she went, Enid never wanted friends.
The bright spot of her life was the two weeks each summer when the family travelled to the Northern mainland, to visit Lila and Pol in the port city.
“Why do you have holes in your wrists?” Enid asked. “No one else has holes like that.”
Helena’s chest tightened as she looked down. She was usually careful to cover them, but she’d been distracted and pushed her sleeves up to work. Eight years was a long time to hide anything from a nosy child.
“No, there’s not many people who have them,” she said quietly. “During the war, people thought they could win if the other side didn’t have their resonance, so they tried to find ways to make it go away. And—these holes were one of the ideas they had.”
“Did it make your resonance go away?” Enid leaned closer, peering at them.
Helena pressed her lips together and nodded. “It did.”
“But it’s back now?”
Helena nodded. “Your dad got it back for me. It was a long time ago, but some scars don’t ever go away. They look funny, don’t they?”
Enid reached out and touched one inquisitively. “Did you get captured in the war?”
Helena’s throat closed. She stepped away, going to the cupboard and tucking a tablet into her mouth and quickly drinking a glass of water. She’d known these conversations would come up eventually. Enid was getting too old to keep avoiding them, especially given how desperate she was to go to Paladia and study alchemy like Pol, who’d just begun his first year at the Institute.
“Yes,” she finally said. “I was captured for a while, and it wasn’t very nice, so that’s why I decided to run away and have you instead. It’s been much more fun.”
Kaine entered the room, and Helena stiffened.
“E,” she said, “do you mind running to the village and getting some cheese for dinner? We’re all out.”
Enid hopped up, curly hair flying, and disappeared out the door.
“What’s wrong?” Kaine asked as soon as Enid was gone.
“Enid noticed the scars from the manacles just now,” Helena said without meeting his eyes.
“What did you tell her?”
Helena inhaled. “As much as I thought she was ready to know. I didn’t lie.”
Kaine just arched an eyebrow. Helena set her jaw and went over to a shelf and pulled down a newspaper.
“A crate of them arrived today,” she said. “I was looking through and this was there.”
She lifted the paper. WAR CRIMINAL FOUND DROWNED IN HEVGOSS.
Kaine’s eyes gleamed.
Helena looked down, studying the words. “It was Stroud. She was found in a lake. She appeared to have had a heart attack while swimming. Hevgoss is facing questions—apparently they took her in and gave her immunity in exchange for her research. Which is ironic given all those trials they presided over, where every guard was found guilty. But apparently the worst of them was quietly pardoned.”
There was a brief silence.
“Pity someone didn’t kill her,” Kaine finally said.
“Someone did,” Helena said in a voice that was almost a hiss.
Kaine stared at her blankly.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t you dare lie to me.”
Kaine gave a low sigh, and when he looked up, the sharpness of him reemerged like a raw blade.
The version of himself that he wore perfectly on the island whenever Enid could see him—softness, crooked smiles, quiet monologues. It all vanished, and now he was real again. As cold and gleaming as razor-edged steel.