“What? Why?”
“You heard what he said. He needs me alive.”
Cora took a step back inside the cell. “He only needs you alive to use as a bargaining piece.”
“Yes, and if he finds me gone come morning, he won’t send his summons for my father and King Verdian. He won’t meet with them for talks of peace.”
“I thought you didn’t want your father to surrender.”
“I don’t.”
Cora took another step closer. “Then why would you let yourself be used by Morkai?”
“So long as he has me as a hostage, we know his next move. We know he’ll proceed with the meeting.”
“How does it help for us to know his next move if Menah and Selay don’t? They don’t know he’s a mage. They will only know what the duke’s missive tells them. I guarantee he will make terms for surrender sound favorable. Not only that, but his magic…he can influence people’s minds. Change how they think.”
“I’ve gathered that,” Teryn said. “But, Cora, we’re both prizes to him. He needs me for negotiations. As for you…” His fingers curled into tight fists. “I don’t like the way he looks at you. The way he talks to you. The way he framed you for murder only to hunt you down now. I have a feeling he wants to do so much more.”
Cora pursed her lips to keep from telling Teryn he was right. Morkai had plans for her indeed, and she wasn’t sure she even knew the half of them.
Teryn spoke again. “If he finds this cell empty in the morning, discovers both his prizes are gone, who knows what he’ll do, when he’ll strike. I can’t leave, but you can. You can warn my father not to listen to a word Morkai says. Warn him of the duke’s true nature. Perhaps then we can beat him at his own game.”
She felt the wisdom of his words, and yet it did nothing to stop the ache in her chest. Now that she’d rid her heart of its icy thorns of hatred, it was left open to other emotions. His. Hers. Pain, regret, fear.
“I can’t leave you here,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Tell my father—”
“Come with me and tell him yourself.”
“—everything you know. Everything we’ve seen. Tell him—”
“No.” She reached for his wrist, closed her fingers around it. Her palm pulsed at their touch, no longer separated by gloves, and her heart thudded in a wild echo.
Teryn stepped in close, and for a moment, Cora thought he was going to agree. But his expression was not one of resignation. It was one of pain. “Tell him to let me go.”
She felt the weight of what he meant. He wanted his father to let him die. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. She knew Morkai intended to kill Teryn if the royals refused to surrender. Only now did that strike her as something she couldn’t bear. She almost wished she’d held on to her hate, for maybe then it would be easier to leave him. Easier to do what needed to be done.
She gripped his wrist tighter, took another step closer. “You stubborn son-of-a—”
Her words dissolved as he gave her a sad smirk and lowered his face to hers. In the next breath his lips were against her own, the kiss so sudden and startling she froze. Then a rush of fire swept over her, and she wasn’t sure whether it was renewed rage or some absurd flood of desire. Whatever the case, she felt her lips yield beneath his, felt her hand leave his wrist to cradle the back of his neck. She buried one hand in his hair while the other ran up his chest, resting on the curve of his shoulder. His arms came around her back, pulling her tight against him, as if even the slightest inch between their bodies was unbearable. She bit back a gasp, but it only made her lips part. His tongue swept against hers and she met it with a fervor she’d never felt before. Something small inside her shouted that this was hardly the time for a kiss, but a greater part of her banished the thought, consumed by a sudden need to taste him, feel him—
He pushed away from her before she realized what was happening. She opened her eyes, found a door slamming shut before her, heard the click of the lock snapping automatically in place. Catching her breath, she stared at the closed door and realized she and Teryn now stood on opposite sides of it—she in the hall and Teryn in the cell. All previous desire drained from her body as her mind reeled over what had just happened.
“You tricked me.”
“I did what I had to do,” came his muffled voice from the other side.
Her hands trembled, her skin still warm from where it had been pressed against him. “I…I despise you.”
“Good.” His shadow shifted behind the barred window. “Then it will be easier for you to leave me here. Go. And know that if we never meet again, I think you’re—”
She gritted her teeth, expecting him to say something patronizing likepretty,beautiful, orgreat.
“—formidable.” The way the word rolled off his tongue with the deepest respect and admiration made Cora feel as if he’d just called her the most desirable woman in the world.
Her anger dissipated. Not fully, but enough to clear her mind. The warmth from their kiss was gone, leaving her shivering in the cold hall.
