“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking you need to take this a little more seriously. You’ve got magical objects calling you queen—Arden herself said the same thing. These things have weight.”
“Zadyn, I’m no queen.”
“You really don’t see it, do you?”
“What?”
“The kind of power you hold—the things you represent.” His thumb brushes over my cheek, light as a whisper. “The effect you have on people.”
I laugh even though I don’t find the notion of me being the rightful queen of Solterre funny. At all. I can just file that along with the list of absurdities that have recently been proven true and call it a day.
“My turn,” I announce. “Why did you stop me from killing Mal when I had the chance?”
Zadyn sighs. “Trust me, his days are numbered.”
“Then why stop me? He would have been one less thing to worry about.”
“We didn’t have much time, and I needed to heal you. And honestly, I didn’t want you to have to feel everything that comes with taking a life. I know you. The guilt would have eaten you alive.”
“I’ve killed before, Zadyn.”
“The Stryga don’t count. They’re undead. Taking a person’s life is different.”
“You’ve done it.”
He shifts on the bed, his hand falling from my face. “Do you hear yourself right now? Yes, I have done it. When I was left with no other choice. Which is why I intend to protect you from doing the same.”
“Do you hearyourself? You sound so self-righteous. I don’t need you to protect me from anything. He needs to be dealt with one way or another.”
“And I intend to deal with him,” Zadyn claims. “Thoroughly.”
“No,Iwant to deal with him. He’s mine. That traitor almost killed Kai.”
He would have killed me if Kylian hadn’t stopped him. I still remember the murderous glint in his eye after I tried to peel Ilspeth’s face from her skull.
There’s a light tease in Zadyn’s voice as he says, “So I should just lie back and let you loose on the world?”
“Maybe then we could get some things accomplished.”
“You’re not a killer.”
“I will be before this is all over.” I run my fingers over the fur throw. “War is coming. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the people I love.”
“That’smyjob. And I don’t care if you want my protection or not, Serena. Because you have it. And I am going to do my best to ensure you don’t ever have to do anything you’ll regret.”
“Worried I won’t make it to heaven?”
“Not really.” He shrugs. “Heaven or hell, wherever you go, I’m going too.”
His words pluck one of my heartstrings. I can feel it vibrating throughout my entire body.
“You can’t stop me, you know,” I whisper.
“You don’t think so?” He gives me an arch look before launching forward, attacking my sides with jabbing pokes. “Huh,Chair Girl?”
“No!” I squeal, attempting to shove his hands away. I finally get a hold of his wrists and force him to look at me. He shakes his head, one dimple popping as he gives me that boyish smirk.
