“Did I interrupt?” I ask.
“No, of course not.” He stands. “Should I send for dinner?”
“What’s your game here, Caiden?” I move closer to him, half expecting him to flee.
“What do you mean?” He matches me by closing the distance between us.
I hold my ground, unwilling to be the one to fold. “You know exactly what I mean.”
“If you’re referring to me being kind to you…”
“And kind to my friend,” I say, then add, “after being the one who put her in danger in the first place.”
“I keep telling you, I take my role as your husband seriously.”
“That’s a lie. You were bedding other women without qualms,” I point out.
“And not a single one of them helped me forget you or that you wanted nothing to do with me.” He steps back, then turns away from me.
I tense, confused by his reaction. I can’t read this man and that fucking terrifies me.
“What if people can be better than they were taught to be?” he says quietly.
“Are you saying you’ve changed? That you’re not the same man who killed Katherine and sent Anya away when I needed her the most? The same man whoforcedme to marry him?” I don’t believe him. I can’t. He hasn’t given me a single reason to trust him.
He faces me then grabs his book. “I’ll sleep in your quarters. You can have mine as long as you like. But I want to ask one thing of you.”
I scoff. “I knew it. I knew there was a reason for all this.”
“Let me help you with your magic,” he says.
“What?” That was the last thing I expected him to say.
“I heard what happened with one of your ladies. I know how devastated you’d be if something worse happened to her.”
I think back to Matron Lara’s warning. Caiden has the same kind of magic as I do; it makes sense for him to help me.
Don’t fight it, Mara’s voice floats around me, and I glance to the fireplace. The flames are normal. When I look back at Caiden, I can tell he didn’t hear anything. Just me.
With a sigh, I nod. “Alright. Yes. I’d like that.”
“Good. I’ll send Yasmin to watch over Anya after breakfast and we can begin then,” he says.
It’s a reasonable request that must have ulterior motives, but it benefits me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I sit next to Anya until she wakes from her nap. In an effort to keep her spirits up, we reminisce about our favorite festival days and the way our old apartment always smelled like brown sugar on Saturdays when the cafe below us made sweet rolls. Back then, we couldn’t afford to eat the treats and now, I could order as many as I want. I adjust my position in my seat as shame makes my face hot. Some days it felt like I traded in a vow of revenge for luxury.
When Anya starts to yawn, I find the salve and help her prepare for the evening. “I might not be here when you wake if you sleep late,” I say casually.
“You’ve been here since I got back, it’s alright if you need to step out.” She pulls her blankets up to her chest, then smoothes them out.
“I told Caiden I’d work on my magic with him.” I don’t know why it was so hard to tell her, but as soon as the words are out, I’m relieved.
“You must have left the part where your magic manifested when you were catching me up.” She lifts her eyebrows and gives me a judgmental stare.
“I know but you’d been through a lot.” With a sigh, I begin with the shadows appearing in my bedroom, skipping the part with Brevan. Nobody but the two of us needs to know that story.
As I continue, her jaw practically on the table as she listened.
