Page 37 of Powerful

‘Oh, I know.’

‘See, I’m a—’

‘Lover not a fighter,’ he finishes for me.

I beam. ‘Exactly. Which is why punching that guy in the face a while ago was the absolute last thing I wished to be doing.’

Mak shrugs. ‘He deserved it. And you needed the practice.’

That moment comes rushing back to me after being buried by the shock of everything that came after. The man’s black eye and visible fear at the sight of Mak. The pain shooting down my arm when my fist connected with his face – a feeling I never wish to experience again.

But when I’m suddenly reminded of Mak’s words to the man, my curiosity has me asking once again, ‘Speaking of that day, how did you know that man was lying when he said he didn’t recognize me?’

‘Dena, we’ve been over this,’ he exhales. ‘I just know.’

‘How?’ I urge.

‘This is ridiculous.’

‘Don’t make me scold you, Makoto Khitan,’ I warn with a wag of my finger.

‘Fine.’ He closes the distance between us easily. ‘I know because I ensured he would never forget what you looked like. Ensured that he would know exactly who you are and never take a step towards you.’ He takes a breath, his face close. ‘Except that he did. And I failed.’

I shake my head, mouth hanging ridiculously open. ‘W-What? What do you mean you ensured he would never forget what I looked like?’

He’s silent for a long moment before murmuring a string of words that have me further gawking. ‘I made him, and every other man I found, memorize every one of your features. I described the color of your eyes and the length of the lashes lining them. The warmth of your skin, and the specific curl of your hair. Your nose, your lips, your smile. Down to the very scar on your palm from one of my daggers, I made them memorize you. So, yes, he knew exactly who you were and still decided to ignore my threats.’

Silence stretches between us as I stare up at him.

His expression warms at the sight of mine, though I don’t miss the sadness behind his gaze. Even in the midst of mourning, he manages to muster the beginning of a smile. ‘I didn’t know it was possible to render you speechless.’

‘I just…’ I shake my head, trying to find the words. ‘I just can’t believe you would do all that for me.’ He smiles slightly as I continue, ‘And yet, you refuse to learn how to skip.’

With that, he’s pushing me away with a palm to the forehead. I beam, happy to be his distraction. His bright spot within the bleak.

‘I would argue that nothing I could do for you would top this humiliation,’ he says dryly.

My giggle follows him to the end of the alley.

And I clap when he resumes his attempted skipping.

CHAPTER 15Makoto

‘What did I say about sleeping in this shithole?’

She smiles, folding her long legs beneath her, looking impossibly comfortable atop the scratchy rugs behind the Fort. ‘Um, that you loved it and would be happy to stay again if it meant spending more time with me?’

I roll my eyes. ‘Those words certainly didn’t come out of my mouth, but I can’t argue with that last part.’

She flashes one of those smiles at me, the type that makes it hard to look away. ‘Good. Because I decided that we should visit the Fort on the night of each ball.’She tears off a piece of sweet dough from the sticky bun I surprised her with. ‘Call it superstition, but we were here the night of the first ball, and Paedyn is still alive and well. So I plan on continuing our tradition.’

Hera isn’t.

Ignoring that thought, just as I have been every day, I say slowly, ‘Well, a visit implies that I won’t have to sleep here, so…’

‘Oh, yes you will!’ she huffs. ‘It wasn’t that bad last time.’

‘My back is still sore.’

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