Page 82 of I Summon the Sea

What do you want?I gesture at him, caught between rage and confusion, like every time he’s around.Go away. Leave me to my misery.

“Wait.” He reaches for me, but I step back before that strong, marked hand touches me. “What happened to you? Why are you here? Why…?” He makes a frustrated sound. “You remind me of someone, and if… If I found you a pen and paper, would you tell me something, anything…?”

I press my lips together and look away—or try to. His presence tugs on my senses. I had wanted that pen and paper to ask questions, not to give answers. And I won’t be spilling my secrets to him, of all people.

Then I remember that show of shadows and pain in the banquet hall and shudder.

… shadows crashing into the walls, a roar in the air, fanged mouths and wings…

I start walking again, away from him—why is it so hard to walk away from him?—shaking out my hands. I want to hit something. I want him to leave me alone so that I can find the courage to do what must be done.

I want to stay and find out all about him.

“Rae.” Again, he catches up with those damn long legs of his. “What’s wrong?”

What’s wrong?I whirl on him, shove at that damned rock-hewn chest.Me! I’m wrong.I slap at my own chest, feeling tears prickle the back of my eyes.I’m a failure. I’ve failed everyone I’ve ever loved?—

He catches my wrists. “You’re strong.” When I start shaking my head, he tugs me closer to the heat of his tall body. “I saw you on the barge and in the games. You’re so strong.”

I shake my head. Someone else had called me strong before, and he was proven wrong.

Pulled up against Jai’s body, I feel my thoughts scatter like sparrows, flitting away and vanishing. His eyes are black velvet, his gaze hot like fire. From his chiseled jaw to his high, black-marked cheekbones, the black hair tumbling on his forehead and grazing his cheeks and corded neck, he’s handsome enough to melt a woman’s mind.

Those broad shoulders cutting off my view of the hall beyond—of the palace and our current situation—should be outlawed as a hazard to female safety in all of the Nine Worlds.

Not fair, I think.Why can’t I think straight around him?

A man who can control shadows and talks to dragons doesn’t need to be so stupidly pretty. How many weapons does he need in his arsenal?

“We have to talk,” he says, his voice dropping into a honeyed rumble that sinks into my bones. “Tell me how you lost your voice. Show me. Show me how to help you get it back.”

How can he wear two faces, switching between them without effort? Every time I thought I liked him, every time I thought he was on my side, he tried to throw me to the fish. Wasn’t it only today he told the guards to kick me into the sea?

He has to read the doubt on my face because he releases me, gaze shuttering. “I know you have no reason to trust me. I’m not… consistent.”

A huff of laughter escapes me.You think?

He’s the last person I can trust, second only to the fae king. He has shown me kindness but strikes like a viper when the mood takes him, but more dangerous still is the way he makes my blood sing, the way my body arches against his, and the ache between my legs that begs for him.

I step away from him, shaking my head.

His jaw clenches. “Rae, believe me, I’m trying to control him.”

Who?

“The other soul I carry in me.”

Other soul? Is that what we’re calling our darker side nowadays?

“You don’t believe me.” His frown deepens.

He’s right; I don’t believe him. Why should I? This is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard in my life.

Look, I also hear a voice in my head sometimes, but at least I don’t pretend it’s not mine.

He tips his head back, looking at me from under his dark lashes. “Fine, don’t believe me. I don’t give a damn. You think I’m a cocky bastard, behaving badly, then that’s what you’ll get.”

What?

---