Page 66 of The Rebel and the Rose
Nadia stepped in close, her dark eyes flashing. ‘Tell us, Seraphine. Are you planning to kill the prince, or work with him against the king? Againstus?’
‘Back off, Nadia,’ said Theo through his teeth.
‘I don’t know anything about Prince Andreas,’ said Sera carefully. ‘I didn’t even know he existed until a few days ago.’
There. An easy truth. Something she could sell.
Nadia curled her lip. Not buying it.
Ransom had gone silent, his gaze on Seraphine’s face, like he was searching for the same betrayal that seemed so apparent to Nadia.
‘I don’t know anything about Andreas,’ Sera repeated, this time with bite. ‘I have no idea what he’s capable of.’
‘Just like we don’t know what you’re capable of,’ Nadia shot back.
‘That sounds a lot like your problem.’
‘Not if we kill you too,saint.’
Sera’s cheeks were prickling, her magic rearing up at the threat.
She squeezed her hands into fists.Not now.
Too late. She felt her eyes flash, glimpsed the golden glint in the reflection of Nadia’s pupils as they widened.
Nadia canted her head, her lip curling. ‘Exactly what kind of saint are you?’
Fontaine’s tarot cards flashed through Sera’s mind:Stone Maiden, Necromancer, Silver-tongue.
She wanted to scream,I don’t know!
‘A confused one,’ said Ransom, with dawning realization.
‘Let her talk,’ said Nadia without looking at him. ‘Whatexactlycan you do?’
Sera sensed what this was really about. Or rather,who. ‘Why don’t I save us all this mindless interrogation. I’ll tell you what I don’t do,’ she said, slowly, even viciously. ‘I don’t steal bodies out of graves.’
Nostrils flaring, Nadia took a step closer. ‘Why don’t I believe you?’
‘Because you have deep-rooted trust issues?’
Too far. Too much. Nadia was angry, still grieving. Sera was on the back foot, andpissed.
The tension was so thick it was clouding her head. Sera needed to get out of this room and breathe.
But Nadia blocked the doorway. Her eyes were wild now, her breath hitching. ‘It wasn’t enough that you killed him, you had to wrench his body from the earth, too.’
Sera narrowed her eyes, the last of her patience evaporating. ‘Drop it, before you really start to piss me off. Whatever happened to Lark’s body hasnothingto do with me. Maybe you should have kept a better eye on it.’
Nadia jerked like she had been slapped. ‘How dare you!’
Sera would have regretted those words if her blood wasn’t boiling. A part of her knew she should slow down, take a breath – and a walk – but her tongue was loose and that fire inside her was hot, so she said, through her teeth, ‘I’ll do whatever the hell I like. You can’t stop me, Dagger.’
Nadia pounced, fast and hard. Sera was on the floor, half winded, before anyone in the room even registered the hit.
Nadia pinned her there with her knees. ‘Say that again,’ she hissed, jamming the side of her face into the wooden boards. ‘Idareyou.’
Sera bucked madly. ‘Get. Off. Me!’
