where the thorns grow

CHAPTER TWENTY,

CHAPTER TWENTY | WHERE THE THORNS GROW

SHE MOVED CLOSER, coursing through the never ending waves of people as she neared Diego's position, choosing a blind spot behind both him and Rowan so that she wouldn't be seen. He didn't seem to have any other protection from what she'd observed all night. Somewhere through the conversation Diego had casually placed down the cup on the tiny table beside him and there he left it.

  Rhys moved closer.

  Closer. Positioning herself so that she'd just be in position to drop the powder in the cup without anyone noticing.

  Braced herself for it, walked forward with a purpose, as if she had a destination in mind and wanted to get there as soon as she could.

  The feather-light weight of the powder left her hand as she tipped everything in the tiny container in, then casually shoved the flask back into her pocket.

  Kept walking.

  No one noticed.

  Or at least, no one made any sign that they'd noticed it.

  Well, that was far easier than she'd thought it would be. Her heart was still thumping as she walked behind one of the temporary huts that had been set up to be used for stalls and the caterers, stopping temporarily to catch her breath, pressing her hand against her heart. She could feel it beating like a horse out of control.

  That was her mistake. Stopping.

  Because there came the voice she'd been scared of hearing for the past seven years of her life.

  "Hello, Rosalind."

✾

  ALTERCATIONS BETWEEN OLD lovers, Rhysa had decided long ago, rarely ended or even started well.

  She didn't turn. Instead she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for what she knew was going to come.

  She could practically see him fake a pout even though she wasn't glancing in his direction at all. He continued, in the kind of fluent Meliquean she hadn't heard for a long, long time, "What, are you really surprised I've figured it out? Please. Mask or no mask, I took one glance into your eyes and knew it was you. Why did you run?"

  She still didn't say anything. Because if he hadn't pieced it together yet he was far more stupid than she'd thought.

  Instead she quickly ran through the many mistakes she'd made in the past hour. There were quite a few, but mostly it came down to this:

First, not striking earlier. She should have done that. Should have gone for it the moment there was an opportunity. She'd had more time to observe this way, yes, but it also gave Diego far more time to notice what she was doing and realise what she might be trying to do. Because he had to have noticed a long time ago that she'd been watching him the entire night.

Second, letting him catch her in a space where there was no one around to diffuse the situation. If there was even just a single other person around he wouldn't have dared come to confront her.

But when she turned he was holding the cup. And a bit of the liquid was gone. Had he drunk it, then? Because he couldn't do anything to her here. That was good, that was good. If she could drag this on to tonight, she could still get him. It'll be risky, but she was going to die anyways, wasn't she? She might as well see this the whole way through.

  There was no point in pretending she wasn't who she was. Instead she plastered on a smile. "Diego."

  "Rosalind."