“You can only choose one.” I heard the challenge in his voice.
“I can’t. Even if I want to.”
“You can,” he insisted.
The pain returned and I realized that it was because I was no longer drawing from him. As if I couldn’t let him inside any longer. I had to keep us apart.
“It hurts,” I said. And I wasn’t just talking about the pain from the magic. “I don’t know how long I can hold on.”
“You don’t have to. You can let go. I have you,” he said as he sat up, keeping me in his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck while he held me against his chest.
“Xander ... I ...” There was so much I wanted to say to him.
But I couldn’t.
“I know, Lia.” His words were so soft that I didn’t know if he had actually spoken them or if I’d only imagined them.
Instead of asking I took the coward’s way out. I didn’t turn the magic off and let it overwhelm me into oblivion.
Chapter Fourteen
My plan worked. When I woke up the next morning, I was in our bed but Xander was already gone. I had managed to avoid a conversation that probably would have destroyed all my good intentions.
I got ready for my day and went next door to Io’s room. Ahyana was braiding Zalira’s hair while Io read a book. When she saw me she held up a vial. “I’ve done it. The truth serum mixed with a compulsion element. Not only will Lysimache tell the truth, but she won’t be able to stay quiet and refuse to answer. It should work immediately and she’s going to confess every vile and horrible thing that she’s done.”
Furious Io was an unsettling thing. She poured it into a small vase filled with what I presumed was the fountain water.
“Where’s Suri?” I asked.
“She’s checking on Antiope,” Zalira told me. My stomach twisted with guilt. I needed to go visit her.
“How do you know it works?” I asked as I took the vase from Io.
“We tested it on Ahyana this morning,” Io responded.
“And let’s just say that she was a little too forthcoming, and we now know far too much about what she and Rokh have been up to,” Zalira added, sounding a bit disturbed.
Ahyana gave me a mischievous grin to let me know that she hadn’t minded in the least.
There was movement near the open door and I turned to see Xander walking by, heading to our room. My heart began to pound at just the sight of him.
“I’ve also been working on a formulation to break the physical link,” Io said. “Here. Drink this.”
I put down the vase she’d handed me earlier and did as she requested. I drank the bitter concoction down, struggling to not throw it back up. “That’s awful.”
“Taste wasn’t my primary concern. Give me your hand.”
I held it out and she swiped the end of a dagger across it, drawing blood. I hissed slightly and heard a loud “Ow!” coming from next door.
“It didn’t work.” She sounded so disappointed.
“Wouldn’t Xander have to drink it, too?” I asked.
“You’re right!” She shook her head, as if to help herself think more clearly. “I’ll go do that now.”
When she left I turned to Ahyana and Zalira. “She doesn’t seem like herself.”
“She didn’t sleep last night, either,” Zalira informed me. “She’s using her fortification potions to stay up all night.”
