“Why?” he demands.
“To help Sophia.” My voice is hoarse.
“No one can take her from Vorak. And Vorak will not harm her. I told you this already.”
“You were wrong. I felt her in my mind. She was terrified.”
He frowns. “And now?”
“Now I can’t feel her at all. It’s gone. It went dark when the ring went dark.”
“I warned you that the Stone gives all or nothing. It expects obedience,” he grunts.
“What about Sophia?”
He waves a hand. “Terror is expected in a captive female. Vorak would harm any of my men, but he would not harm his mate. The High Lord would order him killed for it.”
“What the High Lord doesn’t know can’t hurt Vorak,” I say.
“The High Lord would know,” Rythar says darkly. “Vorak is not strong enough to hide such a thing from him. Or from me.”
“But she hates him,” I say weakly. Whatever’s happening to Sophia is happening without me, and nothing I do in this room will change that.
He rubs the back of his neck, thinking. “Do you hate me?” he says softly.
My stomach tightens. “I hate being trapped.”
“That is not what I asked,” Rythar says patiently.
I huff in frustration.
His mouth curves, just barely. “Do you find me unsuitable as a mate?”
That’s gotten complicated lately, but I can’t tell him that. “I haveorders. I was supposed to continue thehumanrace. Not your race.”
“I asked your opinion.” He steps closer. “We are not arguing about what orders say.”
“It’s an extremely relevant answer.”
“It is a shield,” Rythar says.
My mouth opens. Nothing useful comes out.
Rythar studies my face, then drops his voice. “Do you find me ugly?”
This is ridiculous. Even his frown is unfairly handsome. I inhale. Exhale. I should tell him yes. It would be easy. Useful. Clean.
“No,” I admit reluctantly.
His eyes flare.
“No?” he says.
“Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” I warn him.
His skin tightens as he flexes muscle. It’s subtle, but I think for him, it’s as close to preening as he gets. “You think I am pleasing to look at.”
My eyes drop down, then quickly up again to his face. “I think you’re still naked in the middle of an argument.”
