“No, tesoro mio, you don’t.” He gave her a cold, humorless smile, but there was something brittle in it. Something not quite as effortless as he wanted it to be. “I have seen everything, have been everywhere.”
“Have done everything,” Ravenna added.
“That’s right.” His voice was smooth, polished, detached. But she didn’t miss the flicker of something underneath it. He was motionless, tall and jaded, the whole of his attention fixed on her. Yet she could feel the weight of what he wasn’t saying. His control. His restraint.
And suddenly, that restraint infuriated her.
What awaste.Her temper flared, giving her courage to press, to corner him, to force him toseeher. “I wish you’d let yourself care,” she whispered. “To let yourselffeel, to have hopes and dreams.”To be human, she thought.
“I lost those a long time ago, Ravenna,” Saturnino said.
“What happened to you?” she whispered. “What ruined your trust in humans?”
Now it was her turn to wait. She didn’t move, she didn’t blink. Every line of him looked perfect, carved from stone. He was still touching her, a single point of contact that seared. Then, with agonizing slowness, he let his fingers fall away from her wrist.
“Life makes monsters out of men.”
“I don’t believe that.” Ravenna shook her head. “That isn’t true.”
“Oh, no?” Saturnino asked. “I know of a young woman from a small village, driven by duty and kindness, but now her eyes conceal secrets and lies, and if she isn’t careful, there will only be a shadow remaining of the woman she once was.”
She gaped at him. “What are you—”
“To avoid any misunderstanding, I was talking about you.”
“That isn’t fair,” Ravenna gasped, the fragile veneer of her resolve cracking. He had seen right through to the very heart of her, and it stole her breath.
“Everyone has a price. Everyone can be bought.”
“I wasn’t bought,” Ravenna said. “I wasthreatened.”
She couldn’t think straight as the weight of her choices bore down on her like stone. She was here to save her family, her neighbors,herself.But she didn’t think of how it would change her. Scalding heat gathered across her chest, stole around her ribs. The horror of the night caught up to her. Again, she had used her magic against a human being. She hadkilled.It was in defense, but that didn’t make it any less awful. Nightmares would plague her dreams.
Saturnino stared at her with a narrowed gaze. “You did what you had to do.”
“I know.” Tears burned twin paths down her cheeks.
He tenderly caught a tear with his finger and brought it to his mouth.
Her lips parted in surprise.
“I’ve never been able to cry,” he said.
She blinked up at him. “Ever?”
Without looking away from her, he dipped his finger into his mouth, tasted her grief. His voice was soft, softer than she’d ever heard it. “I wasn’t casting judgment. I was proving my point.”
“I’m doing what I have to,” Ravenna said. “All the lies I have told, the ones I will tell, are to protect the people I love.”
“As long as you don’t lie to me, then I don’t care what you haveto do.” Saturnino drew the hood of her cloak forward, covering her head. The cool pads of his fingers brushed against her temple. He continued in a soft, mesmerizing whisper. “There is one thing that has always been out of my reach. One thing I want above all else.” He leaned forward, his expression intent and ferocious. “And you, Ravenna, can give it to me.”
Dull amazement gripped her, as if his words were reaching across to her from a great chasm. What power didshehave that could give him what he wanted desperately? What could that thing be?
She licked her lips. “I don’t—”
“The Nightflame, Ravenna. Ineedit.”
“Magic doesn’t seem to bother you,” she retorted. “Why can’t you carve it out?”
