"I never said it was the right or wrong way to be. I just answered your question. Interesting, though, that you drew that conclusion."
"Why else are we here?"
"Because it's the first place I thought of, and while you might be in control of every aspect of our waking lives, dreams—even your dreams—are mine to command."
Malek laughed softly, the edges of his lips pulling up. "I missed you, Kasiandra."
His voice brought a shiver to her skin.
Cassi clenched her teeth and stared hard at the horizon as thunder rumbled overhead. She had been sending a message in coming here, but it hadn't been a message meant for him.
Led by childish notions of family, she'd flown her spirit to the House of Prey innumerable times as a girl to study the eagles circling the skies and to search for falcons in the mountains, wondering which might be her grandmother or her uncle. She knew every inch of this isle, maybe better than all the others except the House of Peace. Her spirit had haunted the halls of the fortress, had lain with the ruins, had flown alongside the hunters, and had even run with the buffalo while they scattered for safe haven. Then, one day, her mother told her the truth of her past. No accident had sent her over the edge and into the mist. Her own family had severed her wing and tossed her out. Cassi had never come here again, not even in her dreams…until today.
These vast skies and open plains were a reminder—love was a gift wasted on the unworthy. It was foolish to yearn for someone who would never want her in return.
"I'm not going to kill him," she whispered.
"That remains to be seen."
"I refuse."
He sighed, as though bored. "What is it about him that has you so enamored?"
"It's not about him, Malek. Can't you see?" She caught his eyes, hating the pleading sound of her voice. Why couldn't she be strong around him the way she was with everyone else? What was it about him that always made her feel so weak? "It's about me. I don't want to be a killer, a murderer. I've never drawn a line with you before, but now I am. And I won't cross it."
He took a moment to study her face, something almost sorry in his expression. With a blink, it disappeared. "Tell me, if someone were coming at you with a knife, would you just stand there and let them strike? Or would you fight to defend yourself? Would you kill someone if it was the only way to save yourself?"
"That's different."
"Why?"
"Because Xander's not a threat." A laugh escaped her lips at the absurdity. "He couldn't even stab me if he tried. And he never would."
"He's a threat, and the fact that you can't see that has me more concerned than anything else you've said today, Kasiandra. What do you think he would do if he learned the truth about us, about our world, built on the very power they fear? If he knew there was a prophecy that foretold the falling of the skies, the destruction of his homeland, of his people? You think he would just stand there and watch it happen? Or do you think he might tell more of the avians, might rally them to his cause? And what would happen if he did? We're barely surviving as it is. Our people starve. They ache. Every ounce of magic in our world goes to providing them food, to building them shelter, to keeping them safe. We're already fighting a war on two fronts, our mages stretched thin. We can't afford a third. If the avians came, what do you think would happen? They're stronger than us, better fed, better educated, trained to be fighters from birth. If we brought our hunters back to fight them, the dragons would ravage our cities, called by the magic we must use. If we turned the magic we need to survive against them, our people would die of hunger, of illness, of drought. There's no greater threat we face than the world above discovering the secrets of the world beneath the mist."
He was right, of course. She'd heard it all before. And yet, Xander had known the truth about Rafe and loved him still. He’d learned about Lyana's magic and now fought to retrieve her. He didn't have the same prejudices as the rest of the avians.
But he might.
If it weren't his brother or his mate, if it were people he'd never met, with a power he thought an affront to his gods, who claimed the end of his world was near, he might find cause to destroy them. Even if he didn't, he might tell someone else who did.
Cassi squeezed her eyes closed, shutting out Malek and the words he wielded like knives cutting straight into her soul.
"He's a good person," she murmured weakly. "He's honest and kind. He's just… He's good, Malek. I don’t want him to die."
"The only people who have the luxury of being so-called good in this world, Kasiandra, are the ones who aren’t important. Power comes with responsibility. Do you really think I want to kill him? That I wouldn't pick another option if I had the choice? I don't want him to die. I need him to die. There's a difference, one I thought you understood."
She did.
And she didn’t.
Malek had her confused. His presence, his steady gaze, his uncompromising words, they compelled her, the same way they always did, as though his magic were there, digging into her skin, drawing her closer. It was why she hadn’t wanted to see him. She was worried he'd pull her back into his web, just like he was doing.
Cassi searched her thoughts for the plan she'd come up with, all the arguments she’d been ready to make, all the reasons she'd so carefully outlined in preparation for this very conversation. All of them were gone, cowering in the shadows beneath her king's glorious might.
"What if—" She swallowed and blinked, trying to focus on the skies and the grasses and the stones, on anything except Malek and the power he still held over her—the power of being the only person alive, except for maybe her mother, who truly knew her.
You are a weapon. My weapon. To be wielded any way I choose.
That was what he thought of her.
That was all she was.
What if she made him think that was all Xander was as well? What if she put his life in terms her king might understand?
"What if we can use him?" she finally said.
Malek pressed his lips into a thin line, but said nothing.
"Before I came to visit your dreams, I overheard a meeting between Xander, his mother, and his captain of the guards. They fear for his safety, and they've devised a plan for his protection. They're sending him to the House of Wisdom."
Lightning flashed across Malek's stormy eyes. He was undeniably intrigued.
"I'm certain I can convince him to take me along," Cassi continued, words spilling out as a new plan came together. "I've been there in spirit, but never in body. There are rooms there with texts older than the isles themselves, from the time of the prophecy. I know. I've seen them. I've lurked over the shoulders of scholars as they've tried to decipher the old language. If I came as the guest of a prince, no one would suspect me. I could sneak in. I could copy the scrolls. I could maybe even bring you one. There might be information we could use against the dragons—knowledge we've lost to time, knowledge that the owls don't even realize they've preserved, knowledge only magic can access."
"What makes you think I don’t have a spy in the House of Wisdom already?"