Page 17 of The King's Man 3

When my coughing subsides into a small hiccup, I’m still clutching him, trembling. “You—you—”

His golden aura envelops me, and he presses my forehead and chest as he unblocks my meridians.

Pain throbs from him sudden and sharp, and I immediately shift off his leg—

He steers me right back, eyes flashing with insistence. “That’s not the pain I feel right now.”

The life-shortening tea.My hands clench even tighter around him. “Did Florentius...” I choke on the rest of the words.

“Yes. I got your message.”

“But—”

“I hid the poison halting pill in my cloak and took it once the vitalians were gone.”

Quin’s fingers comb through my hair, steady and deliberate, removing every grain of dirt as if that might remove my ordeal from my mind. His hand lingers a moment too long before he pulls it back. “You hesitated.”

I glare at him. “There were so many ways this could have failed. I feared it had.”

“I had to make them believe they’d succeeded.”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t all an act. Not your expression during my execution... Disgust, anger. Hurt.”

“Don’t forget hate.”

“Quin—”

“Not aimed at you.”

“You turned away from me.”

His jaw tightens. “I couldn’t . . .”

“I really thought I’d die. At least you’d have been with me at the end.”

“Is that my role?”

I open my mouth and snap it shut. Laugh at myself. “I have difficulty treating you with reverence.”

“Why?”

“Is this an inquisition?”

“Yes.”

I scoff, even as I tremble in his arms. “Should I feel reverence for the man who buried me alive? Even if he is the one topull me out?” Quin’s lips twitch, but whether it’s irritation or amusement, I can’t tell.

I stir sharply. “Get us out of this pit.”

“You certainly don’t hesitate to claim authority with me.”

“You’ve had plenty of chances to get rid of me. You mustn’t mind it too much.”

Something in Quin’s expression shifts along with the swell of his chest. But he simply commands the air to lift us from the pit, setting us down on a log among a dozen dirt mounds.

Beyond, more grassy mounds stretch out, and I shiver.

I jerk my head to Quin, who is sweeping soil back into the grave with twisting winds. “You gave me a fake-death spell?”

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