Page 137 of Thief of Souls
“Making friends.” I stagger over the doorstep. “Where’s Soraya?”
“Sleeping.” He jerks his head toward my bedroom. “I healed her with my blood and put her to bed.” His eyes narrow. “Where have you been?”
There it is.
The first thrust of the knife in this game of parry.
“Somewhere safe,” I tell him, because I haven’t entirely decided what I’m going to share with him. Somewhere in my head, I’m still trying to sort out what this revelation about Falion means.
He prowls back into his bedchambers as my dry tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth. I follow him slowly, uncertain whether I’m truly welcome here. If he put Soraya in my bed then does he mean for me to stay here with him?
My heart skips a beat. I never meant to be here once my deception was discovered. Until Keir told me that story and made me question where the horn truly belongs, I was planning to slip away before he could confront me.
I’ve never had to face the consequences for my actions before. Not like this. I’ve never had to stare a prince in the eye and beg for forgiveness. I’ve never… wanted forgiveness before.
And I can’t read him.
What is going on in his head? I want to be ill.
“What?” he finally asks.
“You’re… not as angry as I expected you to be.”
His expression is cold. Stark. Unforgiving. “Oh, I’m angry.”
“I told you the truth of what happened. I changed my mind. I was going to give you the horn. I was going to let you throw it in the deepest trench in the ocean, if you wanted to keep it secret—”
“But?”
“Then I saw Soraya’s chest. I saw the blight spreading through her.” My voice drops to a whisper. “It’s a wasting sickness that afflicts my kind—the backlash of the curse that transformed us. It’s brutal and unforgiving, and I’ve seen what those who suffer it go through. It will eat away at her, inch by inch, until there’s nothing left. Thereisno cure. Do you know what they do to those afflicted with the blight? They kill them, Keir. A quick knife across the throat is the cleanest death we can offer them, but there’s another truth my father wants to keep hidden…. Every year the blight affects more and more of my kind. It’s not contagious—not the way an illness is—but there are some factions at the Court of Shadows who think my father’s stranglehold over the court is what is causing the increase in cases. He’ll have her killed if he sees the rash.” I swallow. Hard. “The only way to stop the blight from spreading is to break the curse that ties us to this flesh. I have to give my father the horn.” It’s the only way I can save her. “I have to find the cauldron for him.Please. Please understand. It was never about betraying you.” I give a bitter laugh. “For the first time in my life, I was actually tempted to give you everything you wanted, even if it cost me. But she’s the one price I won’t pay.”
The harsh line of his shoulders doesn’t soften. “I never asked you to pay such a price.”
“You want the horn—"
“I don’tcareabout the fucking horn. Do I want to keep it out of the hands of those who will abuse its power?Yes. But if it takes its place in the world, then I will deal with it.” Hot anger flashes over his face. “I understand why you made the choices you made. You love her. She’s your sister. I understand that. Do you know why I’m angry, Zemira?”
I’m a mess of confusion. “Not really, no.”
“I’m tired of the lies,” he says, advancing upon me. “I’m tired of being right here, only you won’t look to me for help. I told you everything; about my past, about Igrainne, about Arianna. Do you know how many times I’ve breathed those words in the past three thousand years?Never. I told you because I wanted you to understand. I wasn’t telling you that youhadto give me the horn. I was asking you to trust me. I was asking you to share your side of the story, so we could work through a solution together. You want to save your sister? Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me about her? About this blight? You think I wouldn’t care? You think I wouldn’t help you?”
The words take me like a fist to the throat. “I….”
The harsh line between his brows deepens as he hears my hesitation. Somehow, he’s backed me against the door. “Don’t you dare insult me like that.”
“I’m not insulting you! Have you ever thought that maybe the problem is me?” I shove at his chest. “I don’t know what you want of me. I don’t understandany of this.”
His eyes blaze. “You know what I want of you. I told you once”—he presses his fingertips on the wall on either side of my hips—“that I was searching for my truemate.”
There it is again, the panic clawing its way up my throat. “I can’t be your truemate.”
“Why?” His breath whispers over my lips, his expression savage. “Because your father has your soul?”
I rear back in shock.
“Soraya warned me away from you. She told me everything. She thinks I’m going to get you killed.”
“I….”
