Page 131 of A Liar's Twisted Tongue

In one quick movement, I shove him against the marble walls with all my strength and lift my dagger to his neck. “Tell them it was a lie, or I will slit your throat.” My eyes go wide with what I hope is perceived malice.

“Oh, how I’ve missed your daggers.” I’m infuriated that he sounds almost amused.

I hold the knife tighter, pressing into his neck and wondering if I could really kill someone again. The prince, no less, which would put me in a very tricky position. I already have enough problems on my hands. Then I think about the very real fact that I may have just killed two Folk again.

This is what it takes.

On top of all this riveting contemplation, the dagger is growing hot in my hands, so hot that I’m scared I am going to drop it. I feel that fire in my body, moving into my bones and blood. It’s not a feeling I like. It feels like power.

Like murder.

I kick Lucian’s knees and he falls to the floor, then I hold onto the dagger for dear life while I tip it to his neck.

“Do it or die, Aibek.”

“It would be a pity to die by blade,” he mocks me, and I swear I could do it.

I can do it.

“I’ll do it!”

He leans into me, pressing himself against the blade, and I even wince for him. “Burn me,” he whispers. Then he laughs. “You can do it, can’t you? It would be a shame to have spent all that time training to have you come out useless.”

His hand rises to my cheek, and I’m not sure if I’m about to lean into his touch or really go through with the whole slitting-his-throat thing.

But neither of those things happen when he grabs my wrist—his hand impossibly cold against my skin—and twists in an impossibly unnatural way. The dagger falls from my hand and I bite down against my teeth so hard I feel it in my temples.

Then I’m shoved to the wall, both my wrists being held over my head by only one of his hands. I look up to meet his eyes, then down when I can’t bear to see the malicious gaze.

He hates me.

That hate has me staring face to neck with a fresh burn mark the shape of my blade.

Something cold wraps around my legs—shadows. He’s pulled them from around us to subdue me. They’re our shadows he’s manipulating. At first, I struggle against his hold. Then I meet his eyes.

It doesn’t matter that his hands are on me in threat. There is still an all-too-palpable sensation to his touch.

He leans in so close to me that our noses touch. His eyes scan over my face, and I’m missing the days when my heart would hammer out of something other than the fear it’s pumping through my blood right now.

“Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you’re angry? You’d almost be terrifying if it weren’t for your broken magic. Unless… that was an act? In which case,” he smiles, “I’d be happily burned by you.”

I scowl.

“No?” he says, still smiling. “Alright. If you tell me how to wake Lilac, I’ll do as you wish.”

I grind my teeth. “I don’t know what happened to Lilac.”

“Then I’ll leave you with one last farewell,” Lucian whispers in my ear. “When I unravel, you’re coming with me.”

An alarm, similar to the one that went off when I first arrived at the school, shrieks through the hall. For the moment that Lucian is distracted, I butt my head forward with as much momentum as I can muster, aiming for his throat. A good enough hit could get him to let me go. Just before I make contact, his shadows pull my head back, hard, and his eyes are looking down at me again.

“Was it you?” I feel violated by his gaze. Like he knows something he shouldn’t.

“Was what me?” I seethe.

“The fire alarm.” He cocks his head to the side and my face grows immediately warm. I’m burning down the school, aren’t I?

He lets go of my wrists and picks up my dropped dagger. “Interesting.” He hands me the weapon. The hilt is melted to the shape of my closed palm. “I’ll only clean up your messes for so long.”

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