She's the reason the heart of my family had been torn apart. Because that night, I'd unwittingly chosen her. Now, years later, she's my prey.
[Season 1 'Of Crows and Thorns']
***
NELLE:- Cursed by a terrifying dark power, I'm a secret hidden in plai...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Evvie and Corné had entered the temple to ready themselves for the Horned Gods' blessing.
My arms ached where my father had gripped them too hard. I didn't understand what had overcome him. His urging me to keep myself hidden was expected...but that other look, the one that had stayed his tongue with grief and guilt overwhelming his features, unnerved me.
It had felt like both an apology and a goodbye.
My mother tipped out a small white pill into her palm and swallowed it dry. Her eyes shone distant and glassy. "Byron, it's time, we'd better see to Evvie." He patted her hand as she linked it through his arm. "Come along, Nelle," she urged with a vapid smile.
I went to follow my parents when a shadow fell over me just before someone stepped in front of my path.
Glancing up, I was surprised to find it was Varen Crowther. In all my years, not even since signing that parchment promising me to his second-eldest son, we'd barely spoken, merely politely greeting one another when I'd attended the rare House Gathering. Though I'd felt his heavy gaze crawling all over me, just like his twin sister's, whenever we'd been in one another's presence.
Varen bowed—a swift and shallow gesture.
He was an imposing man, at six-foot-five he towered over my diminutive figure. The tuxedo did nothing to conceal the fact his body was quilted with muscles. Like his sons, he had a riot of wavy black hair, that was pushed back from his forehead and winged with silver. Also, like them, he was handsome, but his beauty was more weathered and brutal. The hard glint in those icy eyes, glowering beneath thick eyebrows, froze me in place.
His deep voice, like sliding gravel, rumbled, "You'll stand with us tonight."
My gaze narrowed on him.
Did I hear that right?
My father spun around to face Varen. His features twisted in outrage and he reached my side in three furious steps. "She's a Wychthorn. She'll stand by our side."
The intoxicating scent of cedar brushed over me just before Graysen appeared. His body heat singed mine as he shifted closer, but he completely ignored me and everyone there. He studied his fingernails, a bored gesture matching his tone perfectly. "She's a Crowther."
My scowl whipped to him—Like fuck I am!
Graysen merely raised one eyebrow at me, before his gaze swung to my bristling father as he opened his mouth to snap something. But my mother's bony hand on his arm stopped him. Her wide-eyed gaze swept between us all, lingering on Graysen. She'd always found it difficult to hold Graysen's gaze, but this time she met his empty eyes and inclined her head respectfully. Her lips were bloodless and her other hand had stolen into the pocket of her dress. I could hear a rattling sound as she rotated that small vial of pills between her fingers. When she addressed my father, her voice was papery-thin. "She'll remain with them."
