“You can turn that off now,” I told him.
“Turn what off?”
“You said Tillmar was desperate. So am I. I want to save Kair Toren, and you are using that as a lever. But you are down in the desperate ditch with us, Your Grace. No matter what you do or say, you are the Lord of Selva, and you’ll go to extreme lengths for the sake of your domain. You need the knowledge locked away in my head, and you know force won’t work. Death isn’t scary to me, and pain doesn’t frighten me either. Not anymore. No matter what the Butcher did to me, I told him nothing. He was cursing when I died.”
That wasn’t strictly true. I was terrified of pain, but Everard didn’t know that.
“You need my secrets, and you will offer whatever I want to get them. Wealth, status, your body. It would be so much more convenient if I was besotted with you. You would use me until I broke, and you wouldn’t feel much guilt about it.”
The Sleepless Duke studied me. “We’re finally putting all of our cards on the table, then?”
Not all of them. I was still keeping back who I was and where I came from, but I no longer felt bad about it. Why should I? He had lied about where he came from and who he was.
“Why not? Let’s get it out in the open. You told Solentine that I was yours. I am not. I will never be yours.”
He laughed.
Oh you bastard.
“How does that work in your head, exactly?” I asked. “Are you sitting on your throne in Wilkair, while I’m standing demurely to the side, gazing at you in adoration with all my Kair Toren plans forgotten? What a wonderful future that would be, me helping you as you plot alliances and find the most advantageous wedding partner, all the while reassuring me that I’m the one you truly want. Will I be standing just like that for years, until my knowledge is finally exhausted, and you discard me?”
“If you are ever standing by my side, it will be because that’s where you are supposed to be. It is where you belong, Maggie. You just don’t know it yet.”
Argh. “I’m going to the Garden with Solentine tomorrow.”
“Sleep well, my lady.”
Fuck off.
I shut the door in his face, locked it, and heard him chuckling on the other side.
I pulled my dress strings apart, dropped the gown on the floor, and collapsed into my bed. Sushi immediately curled up by my feet.
“If he comes into the room, bite him,” I told her. “I’m counting on you.”
I closed my eyes and passed out.
CHAPTER32
Breakfast was over but I was still in the kitchen, sipping my second cup of tea, because Shana had served geskirin honey. It had a slight citrus flavor and once I loaded my tea with it, I couldn’t stop drinking it. Clover sat at the other end of the table, embroidering a length of green fabric.
I missed orange juice. The fresh-squeezed H-E-B kind. I missed tacos. I missed coffee.
I missed my family . . .
I took another sip of tea.
Kaiden popped into the kitchen and slid an envelope in front of me without a word.
I pried the flap open and pulled a single piece of paper out.
I need your help.
G
There was only oneGwho had interacted with me enough to ask for my help.
“Who brought it?” I asked.
