His deep-water green eyes pierced her. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“They were liabilities and posed a risk to the family.”
She inhaled sharply. “But—”
“That’s enough, Ravenna,” he said silkily. “You have a job to do. Never forget the reason why you’re here.” He took a step closer. His boots graced the hem of her gown. He used his index finger to tip her chin upward. A light, icy touch. She was close enough to see the murky depth of his eyes, close enough to watch his pupils dilate. “It must be theonlyreason. Do you understand?”
Ravenna lifted her chin and moved her head away a fraction of an inch. The place where he’d touched herseared.She stayed close, and she let his breath wash over her again.
“It isn’t to save your brother, or to find a way back home,” he said softly. “It isn’t to prove yourself to Volterra so that they might finally accept you for who you are. You are here to do work. Nothing more. Stop fighting me with your questions and your scheming.”
“I’m not scheming—”
A muscle in his jaw leaped. “Stoplying.”
Ravenna licked her dry lips and Saturnino registered the movement. His attention locked on to her mouth. His expression turned grave and still. Heat bloomed between them, potent and alluring. Her senses understood the danger she was in before her mind did. Saturnino could pull her into his arms in a moment, drawing her to the dark.
But that way led to madness and despair.
She fought against it with everything she had. Ravenna stepped away. “How much progress did the other sculptors make?”
Saturnino breathed deeply, as if he needed air that hadn’t been tainted by her scent, her presence. He gestured to the virgin stones. “See for yourself.”
Ravenna turned, studying each block with a critical eye. The magic dragged across her skin, a cold hand capable of destruction. She felt its warning in her bones, as if the magic whispered directly into her ear, a menacing hiss:sssssstay awaaaaay. Ravenna shivered, casting an uneasy glance toward the workbench.
“What is it?” Saturnino asked. He stood at the edge of the torchlight, half in shadow. “What do you feel?”
“The magic is possessive, formidable. A troll guarding a bridge. I’ve never felt anything like it,” she said in a hushed whisper. “It does not wish to be disturbed.”
“Do it.”
“The magic is powerful. Ancient like themountains, the sea itself,” she protested. “I need time—”
“You don’t have time.” Saturnino’s gaze was fixed on her, intense and unyielding. “Do it, Ravenna.”
She glowered at him, her dark magic coiled tight, readying to lash out.
Their wills clashed, immortal against mortal.
He drew close, out of the shadows, firelight dancing across the planes of his face. “Do you want to end up like the other dead sculptors?”
Ravenna exhaled sharply, fear smothering her anger down to ash. It coated her skin, her tongue, crossed her vision. “If I can’t do it, will you kill me?”
For one torturous beat, Saturnino didn’t answer. They stood facing each other, enemies preparing for war. He was coldly formidable, all traces of humanity wiped clean off his features. An immortal gazed back at her, and she was again reminded how different they were. He was made of moondust and time eternal; her flesh and bones were dust and rock.
“Do the work, Ravenna.”
He wouldn’t revealanythingto her, and it was the not knowing that made a slow curl of fear wreathe through her. But then she thought of his attempts to soften her, to lure her closer in his game of seduction. He was a bastard for doing that to her. She tilted her chin upward angrily, a way to combat the clawed terror circling around her. “If you’re threatening me, I suppose I can count the seduction as over?”
Saturnino loomed in front of her, tall, dark, and grim. He said nothing; she would have preferred one of his insufferable winks. But gone were his quicksilver grins, the amusement lurking in his eyes as they verbally sparred.
“I wouldn’t say so,” he murmured.
Ravenna picked up a chisel and mallet. The imaginary chessboard sat between them, but that game was for children.
Now she had to fight for her life.
