Page 117 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“Not even Fabrian?” he asked.
“Gods no.” He’d tried creeping into my room once, pretending he’d gotten lost, but had received the tongue-lashing of his life from Allie, who’d come to comb and braid my hair. Fabrian hadn’t known it then, but Allie had probably saved his life. I would have killed him, out of fear if nothing else, if he’d raised a hand toward me. He’d lived for a few more days, until Zandyr had ridden the world of him, but still.
Zandyr hummed. “Curious. Serpents have strange rituals before marriage. Something about serenades and massages and talking aboutfeelings. Oddly romantic for a Clan so focused on gains.”
I turned to him, tucking my hands underneath my head. We’d shifted to whispers, little breaths sprinting over the pillows. “How do you know?”
He hesitated. “Do you really want me to tell you?”
“When have I evernotwanted to find out something?”
“Curious as a cat.” His weighty chuckle rocked the bed. “After you vanished and everyone thought you dead, some wanted your place by my side. Not all of them were from my Clan.”
“Wooed, were you?” A jab of molten fury ignited in my chest. But as fast as it had appeared, it vanished into a chill down my spine. “I wonder if all those women knew what they were truly signing up for.”
Zandyr came with the crown and a throne, and both brought responsibilities only the truly powerful and selfless could withstand.
“Do you?” he asked, suddenly serious. The tension in the room rose again. “I have done horrible things, Evie.”
My name melted from his lips. It sounded like another caress.
“And I will do more. Many more. It’s the life of a Clan heir.” He stopped breathing, as if waiting for my reply before continuing.
“Do you enjoy doing those horrible things?” I dared to ask.
“No. I do what I must, rarely what I want.”
I sighed once more, dragging myself deeper into the state of relaxation I’d been missing. “I’ll have to do horrible things too, won’t I?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “All I can promise you is I will do everything in my power to keep horrible things from happening to you.”
He lulled me to sleep with that promise. If he’d whispered any other reassurances in the dead of night, I didn’t get a chance to dismiss them as pretty words, though I still wanted to believe.
I woke up feeling better than I had since coming to Phoenix Peak. The mattress was somehow harder and more inviting than before. It didn’t smell like me, either, and the sheets had ended up wrapped around my shoulders.
I blinked awake.
Sheets didn’t have fingers and theydefinitelydidn’t feel like a comforting weight against me.
Zandyr was embracing me.
My head rested on his chest, his right arm wrapped protectively around me. His large palm cradled my head protectively. I inhaled sharply.
“Good morning,” he murmured, the sound pulsing through my body. He unraveled himself from me, sitting up on the bed. “How did you sleep?”
Like a baby. “Well.”
“I did, too. I guess we have our answer, don’t we?”
We did. Damn it.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
EVIE
In the following days, we fell into a weirdly comfortable rhythm that would have driven me wild with questions only a few weeks ago.
