A Twist of the Blade (Shadows & Crowns Book 2)

by S.M. Gaither

“There is nowhere you can go that I can’t find you,” he told her. “And when the time is right, I will find you again.”

“Afraid?” she muttered as she marched. “Who’s afraid?” Zev raised his hand. “Put your hand down, you idiot,” said Laurent. “What? She asked.”

“And it would be a pleasure to do it all over again—because my only regret is that I didn’t savor it the first time around. So I would make it as painful as possible for him next time. Break his bones slowly, one by one—a different bone for every time he laid one of his filthy fingers on you.”

“But that’s the problem with loving deeply, isn’t it?” she asked her hands with a bitter little laugh. “It means you have to hurt deeply, too. And that hurt can twist you up in unexpected ways.”

And he realized how dangerous his question really was. Because in that same instant, he realized that he would have given it to her. It didn’t matter what it was. It might have eventually meant the ruin of himself, of her, of kingdoms and crowns and gods alike, but it didn’t fucking matter. If she had asked for it in that moment, he would have given it to her, and the thought was so overwhelming that it nearly made him lose his balance.

“I don’t hate you. I just … want to.” He sighed, a corner of his lips quirking in a wistful smile. “I want you to hate me too.”

pain is not a competition. Everyone has their own battles. Their different hells. Different demons. And you don’t have to apologize for the things that hurt you, as I said, or for what you have to do to survive these things—not to me or to anyone else.”

You can be afraid, and you’re allowed to feel stuck … you just can’t stay there. You have to keep going until you see what’s on the other side of that fear.

“I love you,” he said. She dropped the bag she’d started to rifle through. “What did you just say?” “I love you. And I always have—in this lifetime and in every other.”

“I don’t know what happens next, either. But I am certain of one thing: If you are going to war, then I am going with you.”