“I disagree.”
“You can’t disagree with a fact.”
“Whatfact?”
“Is there anyone else around?”
“No.”
“Then it’s a fact that our choice of partner is limited.”
A sneer twisted his lips. “We didn’t have to kiss at all. It isn’t like we’ve been stranded in the Scourge for years and are slaves to our baser needs.” He stalked toward me, then threaded his hand through my hair, tipping my face back up toward his. “Besides, I didn’t kiss you because you were my only choice, Amara. I kissed you because when you died, I wanted to die, too.”
I covered his hand with mine. “That’s called guilt.”
His eyes shone darkly. “I haveneverwanted to follow in the footsteps of the people I’ve killed.”
I knew Remo wasn’t angelic, but hearing him admit to having ended lives made me remember just how ruthless he was.
“When that cage let me out, I told myself that if you came back, I’d confess a whole bunch of things to you. Like how, ever since thatdilestung you, I haven’t been able to get you out of my damn head.”
My eyebrows squished together. “I was twelve!”
His thumb stroked my bottom lip. “I know.”
“You’ve . . .not hatedme for five years?”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“That’s ludicrous. You’ve never shown an ounce of interest in me. Or kindness, for that matter.”
“I hunted and killed thedilethat stung you.”
Okay . . .I dragged his hand off my mouth, because his caresses were distracting, then folded my arms. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been a first-classbagwato me. You told the entire school a drop of my blood would kill them if it got on their skin!”
“I was jealous. Guys were starting to notice you. They were starting to talk about you and your ridiculously gorgeous mouth and eyes, and it was the only way I found to efficiently detract them from buzzing around you. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know how to deal with my attraction.”
My eyes turned as round as the shell rafts that bobbed atop the Glades. “You destroyed my reputation because youlikedme?”
“Yes.” He linked his fingers together and cupped the back of his head, drawing his elbows close as though this were the most painful conversation he’d ever had. “Skies, Amara, I’m so fucking sorry. If I could go back in time and not act like a world-class, insecure jackass, I would. In a heartbeat, I would.”
“Here I thought I was just loathed by the entire kingdom.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
A beat passed, its silence awkward and loud. “Is it also the reason my personal guards rotate so often and aren’t allowed to speak to me?”
“No.” His lids reeled up. “That’s so they pay attention. I don’t want them distracted. Distractions costs lives. And your life, it’s . . .” His Adam’s apple was so jagged it seemed about ready to cleave through his neck. “It’s important.”
“No more than anyone else’s.”
His emerald gaze grabbed me, held me. “One of the scenes I saw in the elevator back in the second cell was your mother crying.”
“That’s a . . . rare occurrence.” I wasn’t even sure I’d ever seen her cry.
He disconnected his fingers from the back of his skull and let his arms fall back to his sides. “She’d just had another miscarriage.”
“She had many before I stuck around.”
