“This changes everything,” he went on. “Being near you…it’s dangerous.”
“Because I’m a Shadowblood,” she said bitterly. “Because despite what you say, you can’t believe that I could everchooseto be better than the darkness that marks me. Because you don’ttrustme.”
“Because I don’t trust myself,” His jaw tightened again, his whole body as tensed and rigid as his voice. “And if you remain here, I fear Iwillkill you.”
Caramyn blinked. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.” His eyes finally met hers again—and there was something feral beneath the restraint, something tightly leashed. “You don’t understand what you provoke. What youawaken.”
Fear crept cold along her spine. “What are you talking about?”
“I can’t make it any clearer. We will be the doom of each other if you stay. You’ve unleashed something…powerful…without realizing it by coming here. And the closer you are to me, the greater the consequences. The darkness you see in me…I thought I’d laid it to rest. But it seems in finding you, it has resurrected. And I’ve come too far to let it defeat me now.”
“So, in true Lightborn and Blackwynd fashion, you cast me out to spare yourself.”
His jaw flexed. “I’m trying to spare you.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
He whistled a precise string of notes that summoned Alofreise. He mounted his horse in one smooth, abrupt motion, as if afraid that if he lingered, he would falter.
“You can stay at the castle for one more night.One night. Then you can ride out with us when my men and I leave in the morning to ensure you’re a far enough distance away from here, where no more Cavren or other Shadow hunters can sense you.”
There it was. That damn confusion he stirred without end. He wasn’t banishing her here on these cliffs like she expected. He wasn’t leaving her to fend for herself. He didn’t want her dead.
And that was the matter of it—the way he could seem so cold and heartless one moment, and then the next a glimpse of concern or compassion would slip through. Like he couldn’t quite keep the mask from falling off fast enough.
He focused on her for a moment, and then the heartlessness returned. “Then when we’re far enough…we part ways. For good.”
“And you and your men will ride on to the Shadow Woods. And you’ll die trying to cross into them,” she said firmly, like cold, hard truth.
“Perhaps,” he said, his voice hollow. “And why would you care?”
It was an excellent question. Why would she care? Why would she care that Daemar’s son, who’d torn her from her Woods, locked her in a tower, interrogated her, and pinned her againstthe wall might die? A few weeks ago, she’d have been leaping at the thought. But now…now she knew the Asterious beneath the monstrous mask. The Asterious who’d begged her forgiveness, who tenderly wiped tears from her eyes, and who laughed alongside her during thrilling chases through the woods. At least, she thought she knew him…
“Idon’tcare. But just know you’re only giving me a headstart there. And when you get to the Woods, I’ll be waiting.”
The prince arched an eyebrow. “To do what exactly?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Her chest twisted with a hollow ache as she uttered the vague threat, but she was so furious with him, she couldn’t help herself.
“We leave at first light,” he said. His gaze sharpened, something dangerous flickering there. “Let’s get back before we run out of daylight.”
With that, he turned his horse away, and Caramyn gave a weak nudge for Frasya to follow, a sick feeling weighing on her as her heart and stomach twisted in knots. Mist had shrouded the forest like a veil now, and the grey mare and black stallion moved through it like phantoms, their riders merely ghosts in the silence.
Caramyn shivered more from her shame and anger more than the cold air against her Cavren blood-soaked clothes. Asterious would never trust her again, and she’d never see the court again after tomorrow. She had expected all of this eventually, but secretly she’d been foolish enough to hope for something different.
32
Right Back Where We Started
Asterious
Everything made sense. So why couldn’t his mind stop racing? It was clear that the woman covered in Cavren blood riding behind him was the reason he’d begun losing his grip on the beast. She was the reason it had all come back, and more vicious and bloodthirsty than ever. The reason it’d almost taken over when he fought the Cavren off her.
It was already difficult enough to keep his forbidden burning desire for her from unleashing the curse within. But her Shadow-touched blood explained why it was becoming impossible. With every accidental touch, every momentary brush of her skin against his, he felt that dark magic pulsingbeneath his veins, threatening to take over. And now he knew why.
He despised Shadow magic not because he feared it. But because he was at its mercy. Because it was the very thing keeping him breathing, at its cruel discretion. The reason he couldn’t face his sister again until he had a way to shield himself from its influence. He didn’t want to kill her. And he didn’t want to kill Caramyn.
