“Of what?”
I had to lower my gaze. “That you would die. I didn’t want that. And not because I thought I would die, too.” I was too much of a coward to tell him that his death would have destroyed me.
Too scared to tell him that I cared about him.
Because I knew where it would lead.
One of his fingers went under my chin and lifted my face so that I had to meet his eyes again. My breath caught at his expression, and my heart felt as if it might explode.
“You didn’t want me to die? I suppose that’s progress,” he said in that teasing tone of his that I was far too fond of. “You truly want us to work together?”
“Yes.”
Something flashed in his eyes and then he said, “It’s what I’ve wanted from the beginning.”
A flash of regret made my skin feel hot. I had been so difficult where he was concerned, holding on to my anger so tightly that I couldn’t see past it.
“We have the same end goal,” I said weakly, as if that were enough of an explanation.
He nodded. “We will have to do this without the council. They aren’t going to be of any help, especially with Erisa and Pelias feeding them misinformation. Which means I’m going to have to pay for everything myself—the armor, weapons, ammunition.”
“It’s a good thing you can afford it,” I said.
He gave me a half smile. “Have you broken into my treasury again?”
“Not lately.”
It felt surreal to be standing here with him, having this nice moment. The world was falling down around us, but we could still be us.
The us we used to be.
The us I suspected we could be in the future if things were different.
There was movement on the stairs behind us and I turned to see my adelphia joining us, all bearing different expressions at seeing Xander and me together.
I jerked my hand away and stepped back.
“There you are,” Io said in a false cheery tone. “We are going to get cleaned up. We may commandeer your washroom.”
Xander nodded and I felt his gaze while Io raised her eyebrows to me, as if to ask why I had been standing so close to her brother and holding his hand when I had just promised her that I would try and keep my distance from him.
He greeted my sisters as they passed by, and I was too embarrassed to do anything but just stand there.
I’d never been very good at staying away from Xander.
How could I keep this promise to Io?
“Lia,” he said, moving closer to me, and the blood in my veins seemed to sing with delight from his nearness. He was looking at my lips and they tingled in response. I wanted his kiss more than anything.
I wasn’t strong enough to resist him.
Io was going to be so upset with me.
As if my thoughts alone had caused it, the air was rent with Io’s wailing the word “No!” and we both sprinted down the hall toward her.
“Gone,” she choked out. “They’re all gone.”
Chapter Three
