But I didn’t stop talking.
“I see your greatest fear, you know,” I said.
Pharis’ head whipped back toward me, but he studiously kept his eyes on mine, not allowing his gaze to drop to my bare skin displayed so shamelessly in front of him.
“I’ve known it all along,” I said. “But my gift has only gotten stronger thanks to all the training and practice you’ve provided. You’re afraid no one could love you once they know you fully, that you don’t deserve it. That you’ll always be alone.”
Pharis looked like he’d been slapped, his cheeks red and his eyes round.
“You don’t have to be alone,” I told him. “I’m willing to stay with you. But you’ve got to stop keeping me at arm’s length and actually let me in.”
“You’re wrong,” he said. “I don’t fear being alone. I want to be.”
I lifted an eyebrow.Care to confirm that mind-to-mind?
Pharis only glared at me, and it was all the confirmation I needed.
“That’s what I thought,” I said.
I held out my arms and tried to take a step closer, but his glamour held me in place.
“You’re letting your fear win,” I said. “I thought you were braver than that. I know you carry guilt over your mother’s death, but you can be free of that shame anytime you decide to be. You are worthy when youdecideyou are.”
“I told you, you’rewrong,” he insisted. “Your fledgling glamour isn’t as foolproof as you think it is.”
I let out a laugh devoid of any humor. The pitiful wretch was just going to stand there and keep lying to me, when it was so obvious he was desperate for the love and acceptance I was offering.
“Fine. Then let me go,” I said, dropping my arms. “You said I could leave when I was healed. Then when I was healed, you said I could leave when I was trained. And then it was that you needed my glamour. You’re out of excuses, My Prince. I’ve done everything you’ve asked. If you don’t want me, let me go find someone who will.”
Pharis maintained his baleful glare, obviously furious with me for my ultimatum.
“I still need your help,” he said.
“Well I’m through giving it. I believe I’ve already paid my debt to you for saving my life.”
I wasn’t sure if he’d realized it, but Pharis had moved several paces closer.
“Three times,” he growled, displaying the debt count on his fingers. “I’ve saved your life three times—at least.”
I jutted my chin up at him. “How much indentured servitude does that equal then? How many weeks, months,years? How long? When exactlydoyou plan to let me go?”
After a long, tense silence, he said, “When I’m ready.”
But another word came through mind-to-mind, distinctly in his voice.
Never.
Finally. The truth, I said.
Pharis’ eyelids flared in shock, as if he hadn’t meant for me to hear the real answer. I guessed I wasn’t the only one who leaked thoughts when they weren’t careful.
“But it’s not for the reason you’re thinking,” he said. “You know too much. You’ve seen too much. I can’t take the chance you’ll tell the King what I’ve been up to.”
“You can do better than that,” I chided him. “With Sway like yours, you could easily order me not to tell anyone what I’ve seen. What if I vow mind-to-mind that I’ll never go back to the royal city? I won’t give your father the chance to find me.”
He looked at the ground and rubbed one eyebrow with his thumb. “No. It’s too risky.”
“So Iama prisoner after all,” I said. “Though for the life of me, I can’t imagine why you keep me around. If you refuse to let yourself have me, then why not let me go?”
