He doesn't answer. Not with words. He just keeps coming, slow and deliberate, until he's close enough that I have to tilt my head back to hold his gaze. My breath catches when he lifts a hand to my face. His fingers splay along my jaw, warm and rough, and his thumb finds the hollow of my throat where my pulse beats wild and frantic.
I should push him away. I should burn him where he stands. But I'm frozen, just like I was on that bridge, and some traitorous part of me doesn't want to move at all.
His lips curve into a slow, wolfish smile. He lowers his face until his lips hover a breath from mine. Close enough that I can feel the heat of him, the promise of something I refuse to name.
“It's different,” he murmurs, “because I didn't have you before, Menace.”
Then he drops his hand and pulls away. Turns without another word and walks toward my apartment like he owns it. Like he owns me. I stay pressed against the wall, heart in my throat, long after he disappears inside.
The night air is cold against my flushed skin. The moon remains hidden behind the endless clouds. And somewhere deep in my chest, in the place where the bond has taken root, I feel a flicker of something warm.
I tell myself it's anger.
I almost believe it.
Chapter Twelve
Iclean my cuts and change my clothes, but my skin still crawls with the memory of cold fingers on my jaw. My private quarters suddenly feel too small, so I grab Jordi’s maps and notes and tell Malachi we’re leaving. It's what my brother would do, after all. Hunt for answers instead of hiding from them.
We take the backroads to avoid the flood of visitors, and I focus on the faint sounds of waves crashing against the cliffs and the calming scent of the ocean breeze.
“What happens when the curse is lifted?” I ask after a stretch of silence.
“The rot will stop. The land will grow rich again, the lakes and streams will run pure, and the Shroud …” He pauses, something flickering across his face. “The Shroud will cease to exist. It may take time, but the kingdom will finally begin to heal.”
“And Lunaris will rejoin Tenebris.”
“Yes.”
I frown. “What will happen to the residents here?”
“What do you mean?”
“The people who live in Lunaris came from elsewhere. They wanted peace. A life without pain.” I swallow. “That's why they traded their memories.”
He raises an eyebrow, and the judgment in that single gesture makes my hackles rise, my sigil flares hot against my skin.
“You may not believe that, but it's the truth.”
“I believe that's what you believe.”
The condescension in his voice makes me want to hit him. I bite my tongue and force myself to breathe. “Either way, what will happen to them?”
“I don't know.” He shrugs, and even that gesture feels dismissive. “I don't understand how the memory trade works, and I don't know enough about this place to give you an answer.”
We walk in silence. The night presses close around us, thick with salt air and the distant murmur of revelry from the square. When I speak again, my voice sounds smaller than I intend.
“You already have Draven and Kage. Technically, you don't need me for anything.”
“Weare bound together until Mortiana deems your debt paid.”
I nod, conceding that much at least. “Have you ever been bound to anyone before?”
He scoffs. “No.”
“So you don't know what will happen to me if we fail?”
He casts me a sideways glance, sharp and assessing. “You didn't think to ask that before you made the bargain?”
