“Maybe if you stopped hiding and talked about it—”
“What is there to talk about? I stabbed you!”
“Yes—but— Well, did you even want to stab Bash?”
“No!”
“Then, what were you thinking? Why did you pick up the sword?”
His eyes flicker wildly. “Idon’t know,Fliss! I don’t know! I was just—I was so angry, and I saw him glance at it and—I didn’t think—”
“Exactly! You didn’t do it on purpose, right?”
“Of course not! But I still hurt you! You could have died—”
“I didn’t. Your mum said I’m almost fully healed.”
“That doesn’t change what you went through. Because of me.”
“Will—”
“You recover from this, and then what? What could possibly make up for almost killing you, Fliss?”
There’s barely a breath of distance between us and it wipes my mind blank.
“I—I—” I stammer, incapable of finding the words.
The flutters in my stomach dance against the bandages.
He’s as close as he was that day on the coastal road home from Mithian. He’s right there, warm breath and searching eyes. Desperate for an answer. He should be able to see it on my face. Surely. He must know what I want. Who I want. How I want him to shut up and kiss me and forget this whole ordeal. His eyes fall to my mouth. I watch him swallow. Watch his eyelashes flutter. My heart pounds in my ears andoh my gods, please, finally—
I catch the exact moment he decides against it. There’s the barest twitch between his eyebrows, a flicker of hesitation, of…fear.
Willoh Vane steps away.
The disappointment is a plunge into an ice-cold lake.
He leans on his hip and that ridiculous mask of sarcasm takes over.
“I suppose it was only a matter of time. I have quite the track record of destruction,” he says, but he doesn’t sound so confident this time. I think he really believes it.
“Will…”
“You’re about to tell me that’s not true, aren’t you?”
“It’snot.”
“Just because you think something is true, doesn’t make it true for everyone, Fliss. You told me that you’re able to voice your opinion. This is one of those times. I mean, look at the facts. You, Bash, Pigeon…all of you and more have ended up hurt because of me.”
A hazy memory knocks at the edge of my mind, and I screw my face up in concentration, determined to remember. Bash stilling the guards and holding Card back. A rush of wind and the night sky. A lot of the past week is a jumbled blur but…
“Wait. Bash let you go. He let you bring me here.”
“Yeah,” Will scoffs. “Probably the first sensible thing he’s done in years.”
The words pour out through the gaps in my memory. “No. He knew it was the right call to make. Deep down he still trusts you. He knows you’re a good person at heart and was confident you’d do the right thing to save me.”
Will starts to shrug but freezes the same moment I do. He stares, wide-eyed, at the fact. At the truth.
