"Isn't it?" He catches my next punch, uses momentum to roll us. "You chose her life over your child's. I chose her safety over my freedom. We're both monsters who dress up our selfishness as love!"
"I SAVED HER!"
"SO DID I!" His fist connects with my temple and the world goes white, then black, then explodes into a thousand fractured pieces. I feel myself falling but I'm not sure which direction. "By giving her a way out if you became what Erlik feared! A failsafe! An escape from the monster who'd sacrifice his own son!"
We're both up now, swaying, covered in blood and mud and rain.
Around us, deathly silence. Every eye watching.
"Why interfere in my marriage?" I advance slowly, every step sending fresh agony through my broken ribs. "Why agree to this? You could have found a way to break it. You could have told me. Instead you kept it secret, kept her secret, kept waiting for what? For me to fail? For her to come running to you?"
"Because Erlik convinced me you'd destroy her." Yasar doesn't retreat. Doesn't flinch. Just stands there bleeding and broken and somehow still looking at me like I'm the one who should be ashamed. "That she needed someone who could understand shadow magic without being consumed by it. That I could save her from you."
"Save her by kissing her against her will?"
"Against her will?" Yasar's laugh is sharp, bitter, edged with something I don't want to examine too closely. "That's rich, cousin dearest. She kissed me first."
The world stops.
"What?"
"You heard me." Yasar wipes blood from his eyes, that sharp smile returning. "The binding was pulling at both of us, making her body move, making her lean in. She kissed me. I kissed her back." He pauses. "Because I'm only a man, and any man in my situation wouldn't be able to stop himself. Have you seen her? She's stunning."
I'm on him before thought catches up.
My fist connects with his face—crack. His head snaps back. I hit him again. And again. We go down hard, me on top, raining blows like I can beat the truth out of him, like I can beat the image of her lips on his out of my skull.
"She's—" Punch. "MINE!" Another. "Not—" His nose breaks again. "YOURS!
Yasar laughs through blood and broken teeth, and somehow that's worse than anything else he could do. "Tell that to the binding. Tell that to the magic making her crave my touch. Tell that to her lips on mine before I even?—"
I roar, wordless and savage, both hands finding his throat.
"Touch a single hair on her head again," I snarl, squeezing, "and I will make you wish Erlik never taught you to breathe."
His face is turning colors. Good.
But he's still smiling. Even choking, he's fucking smiling.
"Do it," he gasps out. "Kill me. See what happens."
"Gladly."
"The binding—" He claws at my wrists. "Works both ways. My life—tied to hers. You kill me—" Cough. Blood bubbles. "She dies too."
My hands freeze.
"Liar."
"Truth." His smile is vicious even struggling for air. "Erlik made sure. Kill me, the binding snaps. Violently. Takes her soulwith it." He coughs. "Three minutes. Maybe less. Before her magical core implodes."
I stare down at him. At my hands around his throat. At the impossible choice.
Kill him and risk her.
Or let him live.
"FUCK!" I release him, shoving hard. "FUCK!"
