Page 163 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

“I’m sorry.” Loche shifted so he faced her, his bent leg still touching the side of hers. “I should have told you, but I realized immediately you weren’t involved, and I worried that if your reaction wasn’t real, others wouldn’t see it as clearly as I did.”

She searched his eyes, the cloudy gray mirroring the brewing storm outside, worry and caution simmering in them.

Lessia didn’t know why she trusted this man so easily, but she believed him.

And even if she hadn’t…

She needed him.

She drew a shallow breath. “I know. I understand why you did what you did.”

Loche nodded and placed a hand on her knee, his fingers absently drawing small circles that awoke that yearning in her veins again.

She pushed the thoughts aside. “You showed me that cave because you suspected something like this might happen.”

His jaw twitched. “Yes. I wasn’t sure who the spy was, but Zaddock told me that the guards who attacked you seemed to hesitate when they realized who you were. I guessed it must be someone close to you unless you were involved yourself.”

Unease roiled in her gut.

She hadn’t thought Zaddock noticed.

Swallowing, she gripped his distracting hand. “I need to get the children out of here.”

“They can go to Geyia and Steiner.”

She released a breath.

She had trusted that he would say that, but hearing it relieved some of the weight pressing on her chest.

Loche tugged on her hand until she moved closer, shifting her onto his lap.

“Amalise will be taken care of.” His eyes burned into hers, a flicker of pain shining in them. “Zaddock will also be banished, and he’s promised to ensure her safety.”

She stiffened in his arms. “Why?”

Loche offered her a sad smile. “You weren’t the only one who had to make an impossible choice.”

She was about to ask what his choice was, but the way his eyes trailed over her face, as if he was memorizing every single one of her features, told her everything she needed to know.

“It was me or him.”

Loche crushed her against his chest, his whisper barely audible. “If I won, I could banish either you or Zaddock. I couldn’t bear for it to be you. Not just for myself, but for you to once again not be welcome.”

A lump formed in her throat at the shudder that ran through him.

She couldn’t believe he’d chosen her over Zaddock.

She didn’t deserve it.

She’d need to leave anyway.

And Loche would have no one.

The guilt that overtook her nearly made her scream.

She wanted to crawl out of her own skin.

Erase the person she was and every action that had led her here.

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