Page 119 of Prince of Shadow and Ash

“I said I didn’twantto harm her. An unavoidable side effect, I’m afraid. And now she can’t die, just like you. So she’s not inmortaldanger.”

If Regulus could have gotten in more than a step before the sorcerer crippled him with pain or took over, he would have lunged at him. Cut his head clean off; thrown him out the window. His tongue stuck as he looked back down at Adelaide. She sat motionless, her back curved and shoulders hunched. He swallowed back his rage and guilt, but his hands still trembled as he grabbed her shoulders and helped her to her feet.

“Let’s go,” he whispered.

She didn’t respond. Didn’t look up from the ground as she blinked against tears.I shouldn’t have brought her. I shouldn’t have obeyed the last two years. This is my fault.

Regulus guided Adelaide out of the tower, across the dead ground to where their horses waited, pawing the ground and glancing around.

“I’m sorry.” The words came out strained. He closed his eyes, the fright on her face too much to bear. Shame blazed across his skin.

“Regulus.” The gentleness in her voice cut deeper than any wound he had ever received. “Look at me.”

He forced his eyes open. Trapped breath pushed against his ribs. She looked into his eyes.

“This isn’t your doing.”

The breath wrenched out of him in a pathetic sob. He drew her to his chest, and she wrapped her arms around his bulky armor. “I’m sorry. I should have protected you. I’m sorry. Adelaide, I’m sorry.” She quivered while his tears soaked into her dress. Her tears splashed onto his neck. “I’m so sorry.” His throat was raw from trying to swallow back his sobs.

“Stop,” she said. “Please.”

He held her and hoped that somehow, she was finding comfort in his iron embrace. He took several deep breaths, his lungs burning. Slowly, he straightened.

“I’m—”

“If you apologize one more time, I will punch you.” She smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “You didn’t do this.”

“I brought you here.”

“Icamehere. I chose to come. Because I believed you were a good man. Because I loved you.” Adelaide brushed her fingers over his wet cheek. “I still believe that. And I still love you.”

Joy warred with overwhelming guilt. He pulled her hand down and turned over her arm to see the mark. How could she forgive him? How could he forgive himself?

“Regulus?” Doubt crept into her voice.

He leaned down, lifted her arm, and kissed the mark with the salt of his tears still on his lips. “I love you.” He pulled her sleeve down. “I. Love. You.”

“Great!” The sorcerer’s shout drifted down from the opened window above them. “Now go before I lose my temper!”

They rode for a few hours before he stopped Sieger in the dark forest. “We’ll camp here.”

Adelaide’s eyelids drooped. “But the sorcerer—”

“Can wait.” He dismounted and tied Sieger to a low-hanging branch of a tree. “We’re still on our way. We’re still planning on getting what he wants. But we have to rest.” She yawned. “Youhave to rest.”

“Mm, fine.” She dismounted and tied Zephyr next to Sieger. Regulus pulled his cloak from his saddlebag and held it out to her. Even in midsummer, the nights were chilly this close to the mountains. And winter was already on the peaks. He should have asked Harold to pack extra gear.Idiot.She took it, and he sat down with his back against a nearby tree. She still stood, watching him with the cloak in her hands. “You’re not sleeping like that?”

“Like what?”

“In that armor.”

He shrugged, the armor rasping and clinking. “I always do. Can’t get it off.”

“Hmph.” She created an orb of light. “Stand up.”

“Ad—”

“Now.” The authority in her voice brought him to his feet like a scolded schoolboy. In the bluish light, she looked for the straps securing his pauldrons.

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