bits of dust falling to the ground. My knuckles hurt and bled, but I didn’t feel the pain. I was losing control, and I needed to find a way to pull myself back together, for Esme’s sake.
“In my brother’s defense, he had struck an agreement with our mother regarding Esme. All he wanted was to get me to safety and to convince me to cooperate in exchange for leniency. Kalon had thought our mother might give up on my Darkling affiliation and push me to work with him and Esme, in order to save my life. Obviously, she had other plans,” Ansel chimed in, but I wasn’t in any way comforted by his statement.
Valaine moved to stand in front of me, firmly squeezing my shoulders. Only then did I realize how badly I was shaking, overcome with fear and anger. “Tristan, we’ll find her. We’ll find Kalon. He’ll tell us everything then, I promise.”
“How can you promise that when he’s been pulling the wool over your eyes for thousands of years?” I didn’t regret the bitterness in my voice. Kalon had lost all my trust. All I cared about was finding my sister and getting her as far away from him as possible.
“Tristan, please,” Valaine said, her fingers digging into my flesh through the fabric of my shirt. “He took her away to keep her safe. We’ll hear from them soon. Esme would not leave you in the dark like this unless she had no other choice. Right?”
I nodded once. “Right.”
“For now, we know they’re safe and away from the Darklings,” she said. “We need to talk to Derek and Sofia about this right away. I need to work with Amal and Amane regarding the Black Fever, as well. And we have a trial and an execution to attend.”
“Esme is still missing,” I replied. “We could at least try to find her.”
“Give it until the morning,” Valaine insisted. “If we don’t hear from her or Kalon by then, I will personally come with you to find her. Meanwhile, we must keep Ansel safe. He’s a persona non grata among the Darklings. Lucky for him, we’re the only ones who know about his betrayal of the empire—no one outside your GASP circle is aware of this. We can use him,” she added, scowling at the boy. “Will you help us, Ansel?”
He bowed briskly. “I was a fool. I see that now. If there is a chance for me to do better, I’d like to take it. Besides, my brother is in danger, too. Mother will stop at nothing until she gets him under her wing or locks him away somewhere so he can’t meddle in her affairs anymore.”
“Where are we going to put him?” I asked. “We’ll have to notify Corbin and the Lord and Lady Supreme about what happened at the Visentis mansion. We can’t keep it a secret.”
Valaine shook her head. “I didn’t say we should. But we can leave Ansel out of it for the time being and pass him off as our protégé. At least until we find Kalon and Esme. If we tell my father that Ansel is a Darkling, he’ll go straight for his head.”
I had to admit she had a point. The master commander was determined to punish every Darkling that crossed his path, and I doubted he’d show any mercy toward Ansel. The boy looked terrified enough. It seemed like adequate punishment when added to his trip back into the city with Kalon and Esme.
“Okay, let’s head back, then,” I said. “We’ll tell Derek and Sofia about what happened. They’ll pass a selective summary on to the Lord and Lady Supreme. And we’ll wait until morning to hear from Esme and Kalon. But mark my words, Valaine, I no longer trust him. I can’t. I’m only holding back because I trust you.”
She sighed, then pushed up onto her toes to plant a kiss on my cheek. The feel of her lips against my skin sent a warm and calming sensation through my body. My heart swelled, expanding like a burning sun, my ribcage suddenly too small to hold it. “Thank you for trusting me, Tristan. I will do everything in my power not to let you down. You’ve done so much for me already… but believe me, please. I trust Kalon. And if you trust me, it’s good enough.”
Deep down, I did feel a little better, though Valaine’s cheek peck definitely had something to do with my mood change. I was still worried