He was seeing me.
But too late–and not enough.
“And I kept that from you.” His tongue darted out to lick his lower lip, remorseful and hesitant, but not backing down. “I have betrayed your trust. But I need you to pay attention.”
He leaned forward, completely unbothered by the blade at his throat. My heart trembled in tune with my breaths.
“You’re my partner. My equal in every way. And I should have honored that, not made you think, even for a second, that you weren’t. I regret that I hurt you. I should have found a way–”He sucked in a breath, as if steadying himself. “But I had to keep the truth of the wedding a secret.”
The barest warmth which had begun to bloom inside of me froze once more.
“Blood oaths were involved. The kind that could ruin the Blood Brotherhood,” he said gently. “Your heart is amazing and I’m glad this world hasn’t yet cleaved it out of you. But if you would have known, you would have warned the Lost Daughter. The same Lost Daughter who is in the Capital where Banu and Valuta reside in. She needed to be protected.”
“At the price of her heart?” And mine.
“Yes.”
“So she’s just the sacrificial lamb?”
He clenched his jaw. “No. She will be the Blood Brotherhood queen. She will rule.”
Hope fluttered in my chest. I squashed it down. Hope had a weird way of hitting me where it hurt worst.
I frowned. “What about Banu and Valuta’s daughter? She has the crown.”
“For now,” was all he said.
Alarm bells rang in my ears.
I pursed my lips to keep from yelling. “What doesthatmean?”
“I cannot reveal more,” he said and it seemed to physically pain him. I told myself to rejoice. I couldn’t. “This way, everyone, especially your cousin, will be safest, I promise you. Nobody can know. Especially not the Lost Daughter–”
“Her name isEvie.” I bared my teeth. “And youwillrespect her. Not because she is now your queen and could raze this whole crater to the ground if she wanted to, but because she’s my cousin.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” he said with absolute certainty.
“No. But don’t try one of the most powerful women in all of Malhaven. Do not mistake kindness for weakness.”
“Respect is earned,” he said.
“It can also be destroyed much easier.” I dragged the blade away from his throat, trying to ignore the red point I’d left on his skin, and rose above him. “And you have lost mine.”
I saw the hope shattering in the sparks erupting from his eyes. But I turned around, willing myself to be glad of it.
The game was over.
We’d both lost.
As I raised my leg to jump off the table, he rushed and caught me in his arms, twirling me around.
My lips parted in surprise as I looked up at him. All his carefully choreographed calm had splintered, leaving behind only the same wildness which beat through me. My soul instantly recognized his.
“We’re not doing this again,” he said, voice leaving no room for argument, even as I heard the break in it. “You want to fight, we fight. We don’t stomp away and pretend the problems don’t exist.”
I stared up at him, this big, fearsome warrior, the one they called the Shadow, because nobody really knew him.
Neither did I, not really.
