“Show off,” I say.
He smiles and takes my hands in his. “Do you remember when I told you that I am a very different monster than I was before?”
An hour later,I finally understand why Vexar is meant to rule an empire. He’s smart, and it’s clear he has an excellent understanding of how to manipulate people. Honestly, it’s a little scary. Scary and sexy.Is it wrong to find Scary-Vexar so hot?
“And you think he’ll agree to that?” I ask.
Vexar gives me a dark, devious grin, flashing his long canines. “It is a deal he thinks he cannot lose.”
I’ll give him this, Vexar’s thought through everything, and despite the numerous variables, his plan issimple and solid. On top of that, he listened to my thoughts, concerns, and recommendations, and adjusted things accordingly. For the first time, I feel confident that we might actually survive this, and that realization stirs up a hornet’s nest of emotion.
Noticing the change in me, his demeanor shifts. His eyes soften, and he takes my face in his hands. “I know it is hard for you to trust, but please, trust me when I say we will survive this.” When I don’t respond, he adds, “Tell me where these tears are coming from,mek Lysaer.”
I’m crying? How did I not notice I was crying?
I quickly wipe my eyes. “Why do you keep calling me, ‘mek Lysaer’?” My translator says it means, ‘warrior first’, which I don’t get. “Is that like a pet name or something?”
He shakes his head. “Do not avoid my question.”
I groan. “Fine. I knew you wanted to keep us alive, but without a firm plan, I didn’t think it was possible.”
“Amara,” he says in that deep rumble that makes my heart pound, “my word is stronger than my axe. I have said it already, but I will say it again. We will not die here. Not you. Not me. Neither of us will die here. We will leave this place and live out very long, very happy lives. Do you understand?”
His pupils expand until there is nothing but black in his eyes, and I find myself getting lost in them. I wasn’t expecting to feel like this, but I guess I was holding onto more doubt than I knew.
“Do you understand?” he repeats, after I fail to answer.
I nod, my vision still blurred. “It’s a good plan.”
He kisses me and brushes his thumb under my eye, wiping up another escaped tear. “I have just as much brain as muscle, remember?”
I laugh through my brimming tears at the fact that he remembered my earlier dig. “You know, I meant that as a compli?—”
The sound of something metal in the hallway pulls our attention, and before I can register what’s happening, I’m on the bed and Vexar’s on the other side of the room, standing between me and the cell door, fully naked, looking like some sort of imposing god.
28
PROMISE
VEXAR
THERE’S SOMEONE IN the hall.
I move Amara off my lap and onto the bed before crossing the cell and positioning myself in front of the door. There are no voices, just footsteps. I pray this is a food delivery and not the guards, but I mentally prepare myself for the worst.
Gods, I do not want to leave her side. But I have to. There is no other option.
Discipline and control.
A small slot in the door falls open with a clang, revealing a glimpse of the darkened passageway beyond. I slap my palm against the door. “I need to speak with a guard,” I say in Vhorathi.
Bolts of fear flash through the back of my mind. I turn and find Amara, wide-eyed and shaking. “What is wrong?” I ask.
There is no response. No recognition in her eyes. Her heart pounds in my chest, and I am torn between comforting her and trying to communicate with whoever is in the hall.
Before I can make a choice, an intense instinctual urge pushes me to focus on our connection. So I do.
Chaos. That is what I find. Amara’s panicked chaos.
