Page 37 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
“To kill him.”
“Kill whom?”
“Salizar.”
Harrow gaped at him. “What? No, you can’t kill Salizar!”
His eyes narrowed. He obviously didn’t like that.
“Raith, you can’t. We’re supposed to be escaping.” Harrow looked desperately around, hoping no one was there to see them and raise the alarm. This was the last thing she’d expected, and she hadn’t the faintest clue what to do.
Which was foolish, she realized. Of course Raith wanted to go after Salizar. He was a proud, powerful being, and Salizar had imprisoned and humiliated him. Of course he wanted revenge.
“You can’t kill someone in cold blood,” she explained. “If he tried to hurt you again, you could defend yourself, but you can’t just kill him.”
“Why not?”
She grasped him by the forearm, the muscle like a rock beneath her hand. “Because it’s wrong to take life. Only the Goddess gets to decide who lives and dies.”
“If he’s dead, there’s no more danger to you. Then you don’t have to leave.” He shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
A desperate laugh escaped her. He was explaining—the most she’d ever heard him speak—why she should be okay with him committing murder as ifshewas the one being unreasonable. She figured a change of tactics was in order. Obviously, he didn’t see the problem with killing, so she’d have to appeal to him another way.
Dear Goddess, she was glad Malaikah hadn’t caught up yet. It wasn’t long ago she was swearing to Mal that Raith was innocent. While she knew better than to doubt what the Water had told her, Mal likely wouldn’t have the same unshakeable faith. Still, Harrow knew with certainty that he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Look,” she tried again, “Salizar runs this circus. He started it, and it needs him to function. Without him, none of the people here would have jobs or places to live, and that’s a difficult thing for our kind to find these days. In the outside world, Elementals are shunned by humans, and there are very few places in the Territories for us to live safely. And some of us here, like Malaikah, are on the run, and their lives would be in danger. Salizar gives them protection and stability. You can’t kill him, Raith.”
Raith’s head tilted. His eyes were distant, and he seemed to be looking through her rather than at her.
They were standing in the middle of the fairgrounds where anyone could see them. To anyone else, Raith would look terrifying. Like death incarnate.
To Harrow, even as she was caught up in her anxiety, he was fiercely beautiful.
Now that he was liberated from captivity, a wildness surrounded him that called to her like nothing else ever had.
Freedom, the Water whispered.Destiny.
She craved it like a dried-up lake basin craved rainfall, and the strength of that craving terrified her. She was being sucked into a whirlpool of something she didn’t understand, the pull so powerful she had no desire to free herself.
Was this the dream? Was this why the deep had called to her? But what awaited her there? Salvation or her own destruction?
“Harrow. You and Malaikah can run the circus as well as he does. He is not irreplaceable.” Raith tugged his arm gently from her grip, and it became obvious that she hadn’t succeeded in changing his mind. Fiery eyes narrowed, he started forward again to fulfill his quest for vengeance.
She couldn’t let him do this.
“Raith,wait!”
He turned back even then. Reaching up, she grasped one powerful shoulder, and then she did the only thing she could think of to keep him from trying to leave again.
She rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
It was like kissing a statue.
If he’d been still before, it was nothing compared to this. His entire body went rigid, and he did nothing—didn’t respond to her in any way.
A little embarrassed, she pulled back, lowering to her flat feet. He just stared at her, his face expressionless. Of course he hadn’t wanted her to kiss him. He was thinking of revenge and wasn’t—
His clawed hands shot out, wrapped around the back of her neck, and then he stooped and pressed his mouth back to hers. The breath left her in a whoosh, and it was her turn to go rigid against him.
