Page 194

“Kylian?”

He stops but doesn’t turn around.

“Thank you . . . for yesterday.”

He’s so impossibly still that, for a moment, I think he didn’t hear me. Then, without turning around, he nods. “I’ll get you something dry to wear,” he grumbles, already moving toward the closet.

I force myself to move, stepping into the bathroom and letting the heat wrap around me. Inside the shower, I try to wash away the lingering chill, the tension, the confusion that seems to follow me, but even as the warmth sinks into my skin, it doesn’t reach the hollow space that has made itself at home inside me.

When I reluctantly drag myself from the shower back to the room, Kylian is standing near the window, his back to me, shoulders rigid.

I cross the room slowly, waiting for him to acknowledge me, to say something, anything.

He doesn’t turn straight away. When he does, his expression is carefully blank in a way that feels worse than his anger.

“I’ll be leaving for a few days,” he says, catching me off guard.

“Where?”

“I’m going to see Xavian.”

Hope sparks instantly. “You found Sable?” I ask, stepping closer, my voice lifting with something dangerously close to excitement.

His gaze flicks to me, and something softer moves behind his eyes. Then it’s gone when he shakes his head. “No,” he says. “This isn’t about your sister.”

My hope drops just as quickly as it came. “Then it’s still about my power? When my mother appeared in the field?”

“It’s more than that now. Draven knows about the spies I killed.”

My stomach twists. “So what does that mean now?”

“He intercepted our supply ship. He’s going to retaliate,” he replies. “There is a chance he knows I have a mage on the island.”

“You think he’s going to come here?”

“I believe war is no longer a possibility,” Kylian says quietly. “It’s inevitable.”

“And Xavian?” I ask.

“When Draven’s ships move, they have to cross Xavian’s waters. He needs to know what’s coming because, when Draven comes for Sangremere, he’s not going to stop,” he says. “We’re already low on supplies. I can’t send more men to Purgatory to restock when Draven is waiting to intercept another ship. I don’t know what’s coming, but I need to see what supplies we can get through Xavian first, and he needs to prepare his men.”

I nod slowly, trying to understand the scale of what he’s saying, but my thoughts keep catching on one thing.

“When are you leaving?” I ask, quieter now.

“Soon.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

His gaze snaps to mine. “No. It’s not safe.” He’s already turning slightly as if the conversation is over.

“I’m no safer here if war is coming,” I argue, stepping closer again.

His jaw tightens. “No,” he repeats, sharper this time. “You stay here.”

“Why can’t I come?”

“Because I need to get away from you!” he yells, his anger finally revealing itself.