With one last lingering kiss, Leif rose from the bed, pulled on his clothes, and headed for the door.
This time, I relished in the calm of finally being alone.
I was summoned to Hansen the next day, unsurprised when I arrived and found him worse for wear. He sat at the table, instead of standing, his eyes had bags underneath them, and it appeared as if he had barely slept. His hair was the most unkempt I had ever seen it.
Still, he reached a hand in my direction, a book clasped in it. I bit my lip as I accepted it, not missing the way his knuckles were whitening with the strength of his grip.
I didn’t want to ask, but the empathy gift I had read into myself before was nudging me, and I knew it wouldn’t rest until I did. “Sir, are you sure about this? After?—”
He cleared his throat, rising from the table. “Yes. My son, who is a seeker, looked this one over.”
My mouth dropped open at the revelation. If Hansen had a seeker on staff, why was I reading? “You have someone else who can read?” My words were barely above a whisper.
“Just the one seeker, how else do you think I got these books?” He motioned to the one in my hands, which felt warm to the touch. “But I need him to devote his time to seeking, which is why I need someone else to read.”
Something wasn’t right here. The empathy magic I carried was quiet now, but something else in my chest warned me that Ineeded to keep pressing this. I had gone on for far too long simply existing, allowing these governments to use my abilities for their own gain. Allowing men to tell me what to do to benefit them. It ended now. “But you said your son?—”
“My wife, who was executed in the Purge, was the one who passed on the knowledge to him when he was young. Too young for him to be able to teach anyone or explore the depths of reading. I am just lucky he was born with the seeker affinity.”
The room spun. It still didn’t add up. “But why go through the effort of kidnapping me to read?—”
He arched an eyebrow. “And force my son to struggle to read a power that could curse him?” My mouth went dry and I felt my blood leaving my face. Hansen, noticing the expression on my face only chuckled. “Adis didn’t tell you then, that while most of these books contain harmless powers that can be ended on a whim, some carry a cost, one which isn’t clear until the reading is complete. While I agree the whisper situation we got ourselves into was less than ideal, I’m just glad it wasn’t something that couldn’t be negated.”
The book fell from my hands as everything he was saying sunk in. “But you would risk a curse on yourself?”
“Of course, my dear.” Hansen chuckled, which was wildly out of place considering the power I had just recently severed myself from. “A good ruler knows that the best gifts also come with the worst curses. I just won’t drag my son to the same fate. That’s called consent.” He clicked his tongue, indicating to the book where it rested on the stones. My stomach soured. I knew what he wasn’t saying. His son was too special, but me, a woman he had taken from a cabin in the woods in the middle of the night, was not. “Now, read. We have wasted two days already.”
I was still in shock from the revelations that I reached for the book as if I were in a dream, flipping open to the first page, and beginning my reading. Although there were words coming from my mouth, I wasn’t truly there, my mind comparingeverything I had just heard with what I had already been told. I truly hadn’t realized that reading could be so dangerous for me.
My attention torn between the open book in my hands and the mindless reading, I didn’t even notice someone else had entered the room during my reading. At least, not until my voice ran dry, and I looked up to request some water?—
Only for my gaze to connect with none other than Leif’s deep blue ones as he leaned against the wall by the door, a handsome smirk on his face.
“Leif.” My lips outlined the words as my chest warmed, but there was no sound behind them.
“Ah, yes, I forget you were already acquainted with my son.”
My world dropped out from under me.
CHAPTER 28
One moment I was kneeling on the floor, reading from a book that could possibly be cursing me, the next I was running from the room.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to go.
All I knew was that too much was going on, and the number of revelations in the past several minutes was enough to make anyone lose their minds.
“Runa, wait!” Leif called after me, but I didn’t slow my pace, running as fast as I could through the courtyard, past all the closed doors, back to my room.
My dress caught on something, but I didn’t care to look, yanking it free and ignoring the sound of a tear.
I crossed the threshold at last, turning to slam the door, wishing more than anything I could lock it. Desperate, I pressed my whole body against the door, hoping it would be enough.
“Runa!” Leif called through the door, not trying to enter. “Please, I can explain.”
“Explain what?” I screamed back, tears streaming down my face. “How you lied to me about everything?”
“I didn’t lie about everything! Runa, please open the door so we can talk properly.”
