Page 91 of Promise of Darkness
“I don’t care if it’s a good idea or not. She took my… my magic from me. She took my memories. Everything.You.” Meeting his eyes, she tipped her chin up. “I don’t remember you. You say I loved you. You say I was your wife, but it feels like you’re talking about someone else.”
“Do you think I don’t see that in your eyes every time you look at me?” he snarled.
It wasn’t just me who’d lost something.
“How can I trust anyone when everything that’s ever been said to me is a lie?”
“I wasn’t the one lying to you,” he said.
I cross to the center of the tower, the sword weaving figure-of-eights in the air. “Really? Because it feels like a lie of omission. All these days, you’ve been flirting with me, smirking at me, driving me crazy…. Knowing what I’ve lost—what I hadtakenfrom me—for thirteenyears—”
“Do you think I enjoy it?” The muscle in his jaw ticks. “Having you look at me like I’m a stranger? Every year you tell me you won’t forget me, and every year when you return, you don’t even know me.”
“That’snotmy fault.”
“I know.” A frustrated sigh escapes him as he draws his sword again. “I know. But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change.”
“You said you have no doubt I’ll break the spell. It doesn’t sound like it.”
A growl curls through his throat. “I have faith in you. I have to, Vi. There is no other option.”
“There has to be something we can do. I won’t accept this. I won’t just hold my breath and hope for the best.” I can’t live like that. I need to do something, and if we fail, then at least we tried.
“Considering the alternative is watching your brains trickle out your ears, I don’t want to take that risk.”
“It’s not your choice,” I remind him.
And then I attack.
The swords meet in a clash of steel that vibrates up my arm. Maia help me, but he’s ridiculously strong. I’ll never beat him in a full-frontal attack.
I turn into a series of sharp ripostes and disengages, trying to lure him into a trap. But he’s prepared, and merely arches a brow when I suddenly lunge forward.
The truth burns: he’s toying with me. Not fighting me with all his skill.
Rage ignites within me.
A kick takes out the side of his knee, and I throw myself into a flurry of strokes. It feels good to let the anger wash through me. I don’t have to worry about pulling my strokes—it’s somewhat gratifying to realize he’s forced to use all his skill now to keep me at bay.
“Getting tired?”
A fierce smile flashes white teeth at me. “I could do this all day, my love.”
He lunges forward, forcing me back with a flurry of fancy footwork.
I don’t know where it comes from, but as I parry his blade, driving it toward the ground, I step into him, hooking my foot behind his calf. His body slams into mine, but he’s off-balance enough that I manage to kick his feet out from under him.
We both go down, the swords flying free. I hit with anoofand then I’m rolling. Twisting my hips to lock my legs around his and reaching for the dagger at my belt.
I put the knife to his throat with a snarl as I straddle him
For several seconds there’s only silence.
The urge to strike dies down, leaving me breathless. Leaving us both breathless.
“There she is,” he whispers, lying flat on his back in surrender.
There’s a moment where something inside me urges me to slash my blade across his skin, to see if he’ll still smile then, but somehow, I rein it in. I don’t know where this anger has come from.
