Page 19 of Burning Ice
Mirel gagged, sputtered, liquid spilling from the corner of his mouth. Kylix’s hand caught his jaw and held it open.
“Swallow. Let me hear it.”
Mirel obeyed. His throat clicked.
Kylix laughed once. “Good. Even silence obeys me. What else will you learn to swallow?”
He caught a fistful of hair and pulled his head back. His knee pressed in, thigh against thigh. The jewel grazed the skin near his ear. Kylix felt the jump of pulse there and smiled into it.
“Look at me.”
Gold eyes met his. Bright. Furious.
“You will stay here until you tell the truth. I don’t care how long it takes.”
Mirel made a low sound. It vibrated against Kylix’s fingers.
Mine.
“You are mine now. Your lies, your stillness. All of it. I decide if you live or die. Do you understand?”
Mirel nodded. His eyes glazed with exhaustion. Sweat gathered at his throat.
“The better you are, the kinder I can be. Now, the ice. When did you first feel it?”
Mirel lifted a shoulder.
Kylix drew his fingers back and licked them clean. Mirel’s eyes widened.
“You taste good, little ghost. Tell me something else. Why the graveyard?”
Silence stretched until it hurt. Then a rasp, “…Always cold.”
Kylix hadn’t expected an answer. He took it anyway.
The apple gleamed in his hand. “What does someone dream of who lives with the dead?” he asked. “Someone finding you? Someone like me?”
Color touched Mirel’s face. “…No dreams.”
Kylix smiled. “Why Cyprian?”
“…Pulled. When I saw him.”
Kylix’s gaze sharpened. He leaned close, mouth near his cheek. “Pulled? You mean recognition?”
Mirel lifted one shoulder.
Kylix poured water into a glass. Clear drops formed at the rim. Mirel’s eyes followed, hungry. His tongue tried to wet his lips.
“One word. Earn it. Recognition?”
Mirel said nothing.
Kylix tipped the glass. Water spilled to the floor and hissed on the metal. “Then stay thirsty.”
He held out the apple again, pressing until juice marked his mouth. Then he pulled it back and bit into it himself. “Every word you starve, I’ll take from you instead. Until nothing’s left but silence.”
Mirel’s throat moved. A swallow he hadn’t meant.
