CHAPTER 29

My guttural howls of agony drowned out the encouragement Duncan provided me. I heard him beneath my breathy moans and tight-lipped gasps, but that didn’t mean I listened. The more Eroan worked on me, the louder I became, until all of Wychwood likely heard my screams.

The process felt as though my bones shattered and my skin was being continuously split apart. I dared not open my eyes for fear I’d find my flesh melting over Eroan’s hands as he brushed tender fingers over my face, like the paintbrush of an artist.

“Can you give him a moment?” Duncan snapped.

I squeezed his hand, barely registering the click of his fingers beneath my force. If it wasn’t for the precautionary band of iron clasped around my wrist, there would’ve been nothing stopping my power from rising to protect me.

“No.” I heard the fury embedded in Eroan’s reply. He was breathless, as though he climbed the face of a mountain. “If I stop, there is no saying how disjointed the glamour will be. Please, allow me to… focus. Or leave until it is over.”

“It’s fine,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “I’m fine.”

Of course it was a lie, but Duncan couldn’t refuse me.

Instead, Duncan leaned his forehead into my shoulder. I risked a peak and saw no blood, melted flesh or destruction. There was nothing to suggest I should’ve been in so much torture. Eroan’s fingers were feather-light, but where he touched, it was as though he left ruin in his wake.

Gritting my teeth, I leaned into the pain and focused on the body before me. Kayne’s head was turned slightly to face me. His wide eyes were all-seeing. His skin was an ashen grey. I expected him to blink or move. He didn’t. Every now and then, Eroan would turn back to look at Kayne, pausing his work and studying the lines of his face and the details that one would only see up close. Freckles, old scars, the tone of hair and the length of eyelashes. Those moments of painless peace were short-lived. Eroan reached for me again, fingers prepared to mould my face into one that no longer looked like mine I focused on keeping my heart beating.

If I wanted to succeed, this had to work. The glamour was about to make me look like Kayne, to steal his face and use it as my own. Our key into the heart of Aldrick’s base – close enough to kill him.

“It may have been many years since, but I remember when your father was sitting before me at your mother’s request.” Eroan’s words distracted me as his thumb smoothed across each of my brows. I felt the hairs bristle and settle. If I’d seen my reflection, I would likely have watched as they changed from black to auburn. “It was never my place to question your mother at the time. She was my queen, I would’ve run to the ends of the earth for her. But for the years after, I pondered why she had wished for me to glamour a human Hunter. Of course, now I understand.”

“He told me.” I winced, not at the pain this time, but from the way the mention of my father and mother dredged up a mental discomfort. “He changed his appearance to hide from his past…”

“Having a glamour worked upon you is not a forgettable experience, as I am sure you understand.”

I lifted my chin, guided by Eroan’s vice-like grip. He studied me down the length of his nose, shifting my face from side to side before continuing again.

“Can you tell me more about them?” I asked, feeling pathetic to do so. “It might help distract me from–” I swallowed my words as a gasp burst out of me. Eroan forced his fingers into my temple, working my skin like soft bread dough. I felt as though my skull would split. “This fucking torture.”

Eroan winced, but did as I asked without question. “I remember his face; the one Julianne commanded me to conceal. Your father was a handsome man. It was not impossible to imagine what had captured your mother’s fascination. There is so much about you that looks like him, from your full lips and slender brows, just as your father’s had been. I see your mother, too, more so if I am honest, which hurts me to conceal. She was a beauty others would go to war for. The kindest face, the sweetest soul.”

I blinked and saw the emotion crack across Eroan’s long, focused face. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, mirroring his finger that fell from my own. “I… love hearing about her. Please, tell me more.”

“Your cheekbones,” Eroan continued, resting a gentle finger upon them. “They are sharp as the mountainous range north of our homeland. I remember when your mother was young, her cheekbones inspired poems from besotted men and women. In fact, if I dare spill her secrets, I remember one girl who particularly enjoyed cursing the apples of Julianne’s cheeks red with kisses. She was a lady-in-waiting from Elmdew, and your mother was still a princess. Ever the scandal at the time.”

My chest warmed as a smile bloomed over Eroan’s face.

“By the sounds of it, you knew Robin’s mother well?” Duncan asked from his perch beside me.

“Of course. Knowing her was one of the greatest honours of my life.”

“What else?” I pleaded, grimacing at the unseen fire that devoured my skin.

“An Icethorn-born always had the darkest of eyes. Black as night. It was said that the Icethorns’ eyes made even the rawest of obsidian jealous,” Eroan replied. “Close yours for me now. I’m nearly finished.”

I did as he asked, glad that the end was near. Eroan’s hands covered my eyes and pressed down. It was no surprise as I cried out, the pressure was unbearable

Before I drowned in the strain, Duncan closed his lips to my ear and whispered. “Breathe, my darling. You’ve done so well.”

By the time Eroan retreated, I was exhausted. I fell forward, leaning on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

“Do you wish to see?” Eroan asked. He wiped his hands down his silken shirt, leaving damp stains upon the material. Once his palms were dry, he produced a small, clasped mirror from his pocket. It was no bigger than his hand and was golden, speckled with azure jewels.

I took it from him. My fingers shook slightly as though the weight was too much to bear. No matter how I convinced myself otherwise, I wasn’t prepared to meet my reflection – not my reflection, but the face of Kayne staring back at me.

If I wasn’t completely marvelled by Eroan’s gift, I would’ve been sick at the sight.

“I shall begin working on the Tracker’s body next,” Eroan announced, sharing a glance at Duncan. “I know the face I will create well, so this glamour will not take me as long. Dare I admit I wish he could feel the discomfort I’m about to give him?”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Duncan replied. “Kayne certainly felt a world of pain for what he has done.”

Eroan exhaled heavily, his pink-stained lips quivering. He steeled his expression, flexed his fingers together and moved for the dead body without another word.

I didn’t wish to look at Duncan for fear of what I would see as he took my unfamiliar face in. Now my wonder had faded to a simmer, I longed to lift my nails to my skin and scratch every detail off. Remove every detail that didn’t belong to me.

“Don’t look at me,” I said, words fumbling out of my mouth.

“I’m going to look,” Duncan whispered. “Do you know, it does not matter what you look like to me. I know the truth behind the lie. I know you.”

Duncan encouraged me to lift the mirror again. His two fingers held the weight of it, lifting the glass surface into view. “I don’t want to see it any more than I have to.”

“Then look at me,” Duncan urged. “Robin, look at me and nothing else.”

My head didn’t turn.

Duncan knew he wouldn’t encourage me with words. Instead, he got on his knees before me and took both of my hands into his own. I studied his face as he fought to hide his reaction.

Instinctively, he grimaced, and that made me feel repulsed. Even he couldn’t hide his reaction, no matter how his words tried to suggest otherwise. And I couldn’t blame Duncan for his reaction. He currently faced the man he’d once believed to be his brother. A man who had betrayed us. A man Duncan had killed. The bruise marks around the real Kayne’s neck revealed how he had perished. Yet Duncan had still not spoken a word about it.

“I’m sorry it ended the way it did,” I said, drawing my hand down his cheek.

Duncan’s eyes narrowed, and he rolled back his shoulders. “I’m not. I’m only sorry I didn’t figure it out before. It would have saved a lot of pain. Friend or not, he hurt you before he revealed his true nature. That should’ve been enough. You are far more important than anything else, remember that.”

“And now you are forced to stare into his face until this is over,” I replied, smiling before realising who exactly smiled back at Duncan. Which was why his lips hardly so much as twitched.

“As I said earlier, you’re no longer the only important person in my life,” Duncan replied. “So is Eroan here. His survival is as important as yours. The moment we win, and we will, you are coming back here, and Eroan is going to pull every one of his threads apart until he returns you back to me.”

“That I shall,” Eroan answered, turning away from the table. He was finished with Kayne’s face. “Stay safe, Robin Icethorn. I’m no king, but I say that as an order. I cannot give strength to the thought of losing you, when I have so many more stories just waiting to share about your mother.”

“Then I will have to come back,” I replied, standing from the chair with the aid of Duncan’s offered hand. “When this is over, I could do with someone of your knowledge and loyalty in Icethorn to stand by my side.”

Eroan’s tired face lifted in a smile.

“It would be my honour. And, must I say, I am very much ready to return to Icethorn.” Eroan bowed. “I’ve missed my home. Now, is there anything you need of me before I take my leave?”

“Only that you will need to pack a bag,” I said, offering my thanks with a smile. I felt my adoration for him swell in my chest. “Your home awaits.”

“Thank you.” Eroan bowed deeply again, his voice muffled in thanks as his sobs finally overtook him. Without another word, he left, sweeping from the room on quick feet.

I stepped forward, pulling free from Duncan’s hand, as my eyes fell back on Kayne’s dead body. My knees wobbled, but I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself as I saw what was now upon it.

It was my face that rested among the white sheets. Not Kayne’s. Dark, obsidian eyes. Locks of midnight hair fanned out around the head. Skin as pale as winter’s first snow. The subtle point of ears that belonged to a fey, not a human.

“Uncanny,” I breathed, reaching for the point of cheekbone that stretched the surrounding skin. It was cold to the touch, but real. The image of my face did not fade away or ripple like disturbed water to reveal the image beneath.

It stayed there, unwavering.

“And beautiful,” Duncan added. “Although, seeing this is my greatest fear, brought to life.”

He turned his back on the table, rather facing Kayne’s face then seeing the death on mine, whereas I couldn’t do anything but look. I marvelled at the face that I knew so well. I replayed Eroan’s comments about my features and how similar they were to my deceased parents’. Hearing his words in my mind was enough to dilute the horror of looking at my face upon the dead body before me.

“You know, this might just work,” I said, speaking my thoughts aloud, recognising hope swell in my chest. “I hardly dare admit it, but it might.”

“All we need is a moment of distraction. A way of getting close enough to Aldrick to kill him, reclaim the keys and end this twisted desire for a demon god.”

“Simple yet effective.”

“That indeed, but you must remember one thing. Presenting Aldrick with what he believes to be your dead body is only going to anger him,” Duncan reminded. “You are going to need to be ready for that.”

My stomach flipped at the thought. I tore my attention from my face and looked back at Duncan, whose eyes beheld a clashing storm of concern.

“That is exactly the reaction I hope for,” I muttered. “There is nothing more distracting than anger. I want Aldrick to feel it, to lose himself in it. I will be ready when he does.”

Duncan narrowed his dark-forest eyes at me, and the corners of his lips turned upward slowly. “Careful, Robin, such promises of danger will excite me. I want nothing more than to turn all of this pain toward Aldrick, so he experiences what it feels like to lose.”

As did I.

“Tell me it will work,” I said, needing to hear someone else believe it was a possibility. “One more time.”

“For our sakes, I hope so. But if anyone can do it,” Duncan replied, keeping his focus on his boots this time, “you can. It is our only chance.”

I looked away, worried he would see the dark thoughts pass in my mind. This wasn’t our only chance; it was our last chance.

And I would make every moment count for the people I loved.

Duncan, Althea, Gyah and even Rafaela, all who’d paid the price to help me. But Erix, too… I would do it for him. And I would do it for me.