He tipped his head. “When the emperor asked me to come to Esperance, I didn’t hesitate. I couldn’t. It was the first mission he’d extended after I’d returned from Harvari.” Tension coalesced inside him, but his tone was carefully measured as he said, “I didn’t really care what the assignment was. I just needed to do something. Prove that I was . . . capable.” The slight hesitation, paired with the darkening of his emotions before he said that final word, made her believe he’d been about to say something else. Something worse. Something far more raw and painful.
An answering pain sliced through her heart at the thought of this strong, extraordinary man feeling in any way inadequate.
He rarely spoke about his time in Harvari. She knew he’d been there for two years, and that he’d been gravely injured. It was what had brought him home from the warfront. Her stomach twisted as she recalled the scars she’d seen on his body, and she couldn’t help but wonder just how close to death he might have come—or how often he’d been in mortal peril during those years.
“I had no idea what coming here would mean for me,” Carver continued, interrupting her thoughts. He met her stare, and he seemed to peer into her soul as he said, “I had no idea that I would find you.”
His words—underscored so powerfully by his emotions—stole her breath. Devotion, admiration, loyalty, desire . . .love.Her heartbeat quickened. He hadn’t spoken the words, yet they hovered there, warming the air between them.
“Esperance feels a bit like a different world,” he said softly.
“Yes.” That’s exactly how it felt. “It feels safer here,” she admitted.
Carver studied her with eyes that seemed to see far more than anyone else ever did. “I’m going to keep you safe, Amryn. Nothing outside those walls is going to change that fact.”
Her heart warmed at his promise of protection, but he was wrong in at least one sense—everything was about to change. “You were right, though. About Esperancebeing like a different world. The whole time we’ve been here, we’ve been isolated from the rest of the empire. Now we’re going to rejoin it, and . . .” She lifted one shoulder, suddenly self-conscious under his penetrating gaze. “I guess I’m not ready to face everything that’s waiting out there.”
The list was long, but she was especially nervous about going to the emperor’s palace. The only place more dangerous for an empath was perhaps the High Temple in Daersen, which was the capital of the church and home to the Order of Knights. Then again, Amryn didn’t think there was a single place in the empire she could truly be safe. Not when she’d made an enemy of the Rising. Tam in particular was a terrifying threat. She knew Amryn was an empath.
Amryn was trying not to think about the implications of what would happen if Tamwascaught, but it was hard not to. Tam could tell everyone Amryn’s secret. Fear made her gut clench, though she knew there was nothing she could do about it. After what Tam had done to Argent, she would be the most wanted criminal in the empire. It was only a matter of time until she was found.
Of course, Amryn was also concerned aboutwhohad told Tam she was an empath. The list of possibilities wasn’t long. Before coming to Esperance, only three people had known the truth.
Rix—her uncle who had raised her.
Tiras—her brother who had saved her life years ago only to abandon her.
And Ferrin Lukis—her father who had already betrayed her once before.
She knew it hadn’t been Rix. He had been protecting her since she was a child. He had guarded her secret so zealously, he hadn’t even shared the truth with his best friend, Torin. That left only two possibilities, and she wasn’t sure which was more terrifying: her father, or her brother.
But it wasn’t just the thought of physical danger that made her reluctant to leave Esperance. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Rix and Torin that she had betrayed the Rising. They weren’t rebels, but they were sympathetic to the cause. They were the ones who had asked Amryn to take part in the Rising’s mission in Esperance—and she’d told Carver that. In betraying the rebels, she had also betrayed the two men who had helped to raise her. Argent and Carver had both promised that her uncle and Torin would receive fair trials for their limited part in things, but there had been no other guarantees. What if they were arrested?
Her stomach cramped. Because even if they weren’t branded as traitors by the emperor, she didn’t know if Rix or Torin would ever understand herchoices—or her feelings for Carver, a man they considered an enemy. Even if they never truly blamed her for what she’d done, she worried about hurting them.
Carver set his mug on the stone railing, the softclinkpulling her from her spiraling thoughts. Her heartbeat quickened as he turned to face her, his long fingers reaching out to brush back a curl that had fallen loose from her braid. “There are a lot of unknowns,” he said, his blue eyes searching hers—as if he could see every fear that had woven through her. “But you don’t have to face anything out there on your own. Not anymore.” His calloused thumb slid over her jaw, leaving a trail of tingling warmth behind. “We may have come to Esperance alone, but we’re leaving it together.”
His words were a comforting reassurance. A promise she’d needed to hear. Some of the tension in her shoulders eased.
Carver placed a light kiss on her forehead, just as the first rays of dawn broke free. When he drew back, his bronzed skin glowed in the rising sunlight. “We never got to finish our conversation last night.”
“We didn’t.” Felinus had interrupted, and then, well, everything else had happened.
“We won’t really have privacy as we travel.” Carver’s forehead creased. “I know we don’t have a lot of time now, but is there anything I need to know before we reach Zagrev? About Tiras, or anything else?”
The mere mention of her brother made her skin chill. There was so much Carver needed to know about empaths in general, and her brother in particular. But Carver was right—they didn’t have much time at the moment. Certainly not enough to cover everything.
“I think everything can keep until we reach the capital,” she told him.
Carver took her hand, his fingers threading between hers. He squeezed once, his grip strong, yet gentle. “I want to know all of it,” he told her. “Anything you want to share with me, I want to hear.”
The words were filled with pure acceptance, and she was once again surprised by how well Carver was handling the truth about who she was. He had been raised to fear empaths. To believe every nightmarish story about how they could tear into your mind or kill with a single thought. That they were unfeeling. Inhuman. But he still looked at her like she was beautiful. Still touched her easily, without fear. Still felt a burning need to protect her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. It was the only thing she could think to say, though it failed to capture the depth of her gratitude.
He held her gaze, his voice soft as he said, “Thankyoufor trusting me. I promise, I’ll never give you a reason to regret it.”
Some might have called her foolish, but . . . she believed him. Carver Vincetti may be the emperor’s favored general, a man known as the Butcher and feared throughout the empire and beyond—but he was also her husband.
