“No. Like I told Olm,shouldI give up? Would that please you?”
“That bastard should be bound and chained and he should stop talking to you.”
“Olm,” I say, “has been a steadfast friend so far, in contrast to you.”
Roane gives a short, bitter laugh. “I deserved this.”
“Yes, you did.”
He nods and, in the dancing flames, the blades of his sharp cheekbones lend a frightening hollowness to his face. I have topress my hands to my sides to avoid reaching for him, to trace the lines of his face, to ask if he’s all right, too.
Stop acting like a love-sick little girl. You’re not in love or anything. You can’t be. Not with this asshole.
“I’m going to the sanctum,” I say. “Is the door open?”
“Yes, but I’ll go with you.”
“I don’t want you looking over my shoulder,” I protest.
“Too bad,” he says. “It’s too dangerous for you to be inside alone.”
“Because the monsters might escape?”
“And because of the quakes,” he admits.
“They have been getting worse.” Ardruna steps out of the darkness to join us. “Talton says a huge rift has opened in the plains.”
“Oh, fuck.” Roane sways on his feet. “Fuck.”
Alarmed, I catch his arm. “Careful.”
He shakes me off. “I don’t need your help.”
“Yeah,” I say bitterly, “you’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t want me around. I wasn’t going to let you fall, though. You saved my life before. I won’t forget that.”
“That doesn’t make us friends.”
“Don’t worry,” I say frostily. “Saving you from falling and breaking a bone doesn’t mean anything. We can resume our healthy relationship come tomorrow, you glaring at me and wishing me gone, and me cursing the day I found the book and came here.”
He blinks. “You’re really cursing that day?”
“Sure. Don’t you?”
“I can’t…” He grimaces. “When I saw you, I thought you were a vision, a dream…”
How odd.“Roane? Are you all right?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Yeah. Go with Ardruna.”
“What? No.”
“You don’t get a say. I said, go with the lioness. She will accompany you to the sanctum.”
“And where will you be?” I demand.
“None of your business.”
Fuck’s sake. I turn away from him to hide my face and the tears gathering in my eyes. Using anger against him isn’t working out. It only serves to make my heart heavier.
