Page 76 of Deadly Alliances

But she was already gone, her footsteps disappearing down the passages. And I didn’t want to risk snapping the guards out of whatever trance her siren song put them in.

Char shifted behind me, and a different sort of agony pierced through me. She shouldn’t be in this cell. Being Hadrian’s prisoner, half-starved and surrounded by poisonous lead, was made worse knowing Charlotte suffered too. And it was my fault.

If I had stuck to the plan, if I hadn’t gone rogue and infiltrated the castle in search of Arya, she wouldn’t have had to come looking for me. She could have gotten out like the rest of our unit.

Though, who knew how far they could’ve really gotten. Hennessee was the only dragon who wasn’t captured, and there was no way he would’ve been able to carry the other three soldiers himself. They would’ve had to run on foot, and the fact that they weren’t in this cell with us wasn’t proof they escaped with their lives.

Char’s teeth chattered, and I scooted toward her as quickly as my severely weakened body could, trying to pull her into my broken arms. The least I could do was try to keep her warm.

“How are you holding up?” I asked, feeling her stiffen but then relax against me. I felt warmer already and hoped she did too. “I–I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” My voice cracked.

Her shivering stopped, and I thought she might’ve fallen asleep because she didn’t answer right away. But then she cleared her throat. “She’s pretty.”

“What?” I asked.

“Arya,” she replied. “She’s pretty. I can see why you fell for her.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“But I don’t think you activated the curse,” she said, her voice breathless like she’d only spoken half a thought.

The edges of my torn heart burned painfully, and I stiffened, shaking my head. “Thanks, but I have to disagree with you. I saw the look in her eyes the instant the curse was triggered. I felt it, and then saw the change inher. So much hatred. All the potential of whatever we could’ve been, snuffed out just like that.”

“If she hated you, she wouldn’t be trying to get you out,” she said softly.

I snorted a sardonic laugh. “You don’t know Arya. She’s a persistent martyr, even for those who’ve wronged her. The fact that she’s risking her life for me doesn’t mean she likes me. It just means that she’s a good person.”

Charlotte twisted in my arms so she could look at me. I loosened my grip to give us both space. Dark rings circled her eyes, almost looking like bruises. Her blonde hair snarled and tangled inplaces.

I figured I looked similarly terrible and rubbed some of the dirt from her cheekbone without thinking. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you,” she said, suddenly motionless.

I dropped my hand.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered, but ducked her head the second the words left her lips, like she wanted to take them back. “Sometimes I feel likeItriggered the curse a long time ago.”

My mouth went dry, my posture going rigid like a statue, and suddenly our proximity felt all too intimate. I wanted to put distance between us, but we both needed the body heat to survive. I wasn’t prepared to have a conversation like this with her, wasn’t ready to hear that she felt anything more for me than brotherly love. Not here, in this dungeon where we were both likely going to die.

“I’ve always accepted it, you know?” Her eyes lifted to mine and she let out a shaky laugh. “And I know we’re young, but I’ve always accepted and looked forward to the eventuality that one day it would be you and me against the world.”

My heart squeezed with guilt. Because even though we were probably about to die, I couldn’t give her the comfort or reassurance she needed. “Char—”

“I’m glad we were so close at school before I left,” she interrupted. “I thought at least we’d always have that friendship foundation when either you or I...”

“What? Got married and triggered the curse?”

I dropped my arms and scooted a few inches away so we were no longer touching, but my temperature drop at the loss of contact was almost tangible. I knew she felt it too, and hoped we couldget over this emotional hurdle before either of us froze to death. I had to talk some sense into her, shatter this romantic fantasy of hers in the nicest way.

“Have youseenmy parents? Do you think my mom ishappyto be crazy about my dad when he’s so indifferent to her?”

“He respects her,” she said, though her argument was weak. Still, she scooted closer to me again, moving quicker than I could have. “Which is a sort of love.”

“Char—”

She pressed a finger to my lips. “Do you respect me?” she asked.

I stared unblinkingly at her as confirmation that I did.

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