I take it.
His fingers close around mine. Blood-warm. Blood-wet.
I hold on tighter.
We leave.
The crowd parts around us—no one wants to be near the god who kills laughing, near the woman walking beside him with her breath coming too fast and her thighs pressed together and her head full of thoughts she's never going to say out loud.
To hell with it.
Let them watch.
Let them whisper.
I don't care anymore.
Eh, that's a lie. I care. I just can't make myself let go of his hand.
"You're not afraid," he says.
"Nope."
"You should be."
Probably.
“Yup. But strangely, I know you're not going to hurt me"
"No." Immediate. Certain. "Never."
"I'm not running," I say.
Koshin looks at me. That focused attention, that weight of his gaze that makes me feel visible in ways I usually run from.
"No," he agrees. "You're not."
We keep walking through the winding streets of Arkenhold, past market stalls. His hand stays wrapped around mine, blood drying on his knuckles, and I should be thinking about the dead man. About what it means that a Coin enforcer died in Discord's territory. About consequences and retaliation and all the ways this could go wrong.
There's no coming back from this.
"War is here."
Renan's voice. I've barely cleared the inner gates—Iowyn's hand still in mine, her fingers twitching because she's noticed the eyes tracking us across the courtyard. Two initiates by the fountain. A handler near the gates. Someone on the third-floor balcony.
I don't care about any of them right now.
"Where."
"The Hollow." Renan's jaw is tight, his gaze fixed past me. "Didn't request an audience. Showed up twenty minutes ago with his full entourage. Set up like he owns the fucking place."
"Who let him in."
"No one let him. He walked in." Renan's mouth twitches. "Want me to start something? I can start something. Give me ten minutes and a distraction."
"No."
"Five minutes. No distraction."
