I pushed past him, dripping wet and shivering in my clothes—my tunic I might have put on backward, my laces undone on my trews.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.
I didn’t reply. I didn’t even put on my boots. I pulled open the front door, a breeze whistling inside, before closing it behind me. I ran down the steps, shock mingling with my own sense of guilt.
I heard him throw back the door, coming after me.
“Amaia, get back here,” he called.
Over my shoulder, I saw he was still naked, standing at the bottom of his dwelling as his cold gaze tracked me.
“We’re not done,” he said.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want you near me again.”
Frustration laced itself into his sharp exhale. “Amaia?—”
“Leave mealone!”
Then I was running toward the hatchery, the glow of the dome of the incubation room a welcome reprieve in the cold darkness of the night.
I could feel his eyes on me until I reached the hatchery door. When I slipped inside, I crumbled onto the floor. It was there that Syris found me, likely having heard a noise and coming to investigate.
“Amaia?” she breathed. “What’s happened?”
“N-Nothing,” I said, though it was obvious that it was a lie. Another lie…among many. Alaryk wasn’t the only villain here.
And I couldn’t quite meet Syris’s gaze when I said, “I’d like to sleep here again.”
“Of course,” she said quietly, her voice tranquil and hushed. I liked that about her. She was calm in the face of uncertainty.
Moak was a fool for seeing past her all this time.
“Come on,” Syris said, helping me up. “Your quarters are just as you left them.”
Chapter 34
ALARYK
I was sitting in the lounge in nearly pitch-black darkness, staring at the empty bed across the way.
My hand was wrapped around an almost-empty goblet of wine. The biggest goblet I had, trying to do anything to dull the sharp ache inside, to mute the rage, to forget thewrongnessI’d spied in Amaia’s eyes, to erase the words that ran on repeat in my mind.
I was exhausted.
I wasfuckinghurt—the familiar feeling of betrayal and loss cutting more than it ever had before. Like shards of glass against my chest, trying to dig straight to my heart.
And all I wanted to do was go after her. Drag her back to my bed, pin her beneath me, and demand that she tell me everything so I could understandwhy. So I could assess if I could get past it. Ifwecould get past this.
Because right now I didn’t know if I should exile her or demand her as my wife.
I still didn’t understand it. I’d caught a merest glimpse, a confession taking shape in her mind when I’d delved my magic deep, in the brief slip before she’d severed the connection. Therehad been a plan, one that she’d known before coming here. She’d been trying to hide it all this time.
Only Amaia was a terrible liar. I’d already known that, but during the meeting with Sarkin and Vaedrin, I could practically feel it seeping from her flesh.
A sound rose from my chest. One of restless ache and frustration.
Why couldn’t she just come to me?
