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I may not have known much, but I knew something was missing. Something so important, a shock of grief battled with my rage. Someone had taken something from me. Something I desperately needed.
This hits different after reading the last few chapters.
A shadow slips into the stables and I wrestle my sword from my sheath. Calysian steps toward me. He angles his head, lifting one eyebrow. “Leaving me for dead?” he drawls. “Ice cold.”
“I may not remember much, but I remember this: I’m Madinia Farrow. I don’t need a hulking brute to keep me safe. And I don’t need a liar trying to fool me at every turn.” Harnessing my temper, I blow him a kiss. “Thanks for the cloak.”
Neither of us speak. I bury my rage beneath grim determination. And only one of us is surprised when we stumble upon the troll.
Still, he seems content, as though he’s already decided I’ll fall in line with his demands. He truly is an idiot.
“He’s very handsome,” she whispers, and Calysian pretends not to hear, although I catch his smile. “Looks aren’t everything,” I mutter.
“Madinia.” “Why?” “So I can kill whoever hurt you.”
The brute sprawls over most of the bed, forcing me to lay far too close to him or risk rolling off the edge of the mattress. Fine. He may as well be good for something. I wiggle my toes between his calves. He jolts. Curses. “You believe those blocks of ice will force me from this bed? You must be jesting.” The man radiates heat like a furnace, and he thinks to deprive me of it? I don’t think so. Smirking, I wedge my toes in even further and close my eyes. “Goodnight.”
“Then I need you to care about these kinds of problems.” “Why?” “Because only one of us can be emotionally stunted, cynical, and detached. And I’ve got that covered.” I give him a humorless smile. He ponders me. “That’s remarkably self-aware of you.”
And even without my memories, I know she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
When I don’t reply, she lets out a laugh. It’s the first true laugh I’ve heard from her, and the sound makes the world seem brighter, sharper. It’s a warm caress that leaves me wanting more.
Eamonn swoops close to the surface of the water. “He’s drowning!” I kick off my boots. “Perhaps if you squawk some more, you’ll annoy him into regaining consciousness.”
“He wouldn’t have wanted you to jump in after him,” Eamonn says. “He’s used to me denying him the things he wants.” Calysian’s eyes slowly open, dazed and filled with pain. But his gaze drops to my mouth. “She speaks the truth.”
“He will never take you,” he vows. “If ever such a thing was to happen, I would come for you. And I would kill him.”
“Because this universe has laws. I know this in my bones. And one of those laws is that Madinia Farrow is no one’s captive. She is no one’s victim. You know this, despite your terror telling you otherwise.”
I slam my hands against his chest, wrenching my face away. “This isn’t happening.” Calysian raises his head, giving me a slow smile filled with dark promise. “Oh, it’s happening.”
“You never should have let me taste you. Now I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine.”
When I don’t deign to reply, he throws up his hands. “Who do I think I’m talking to? You reject any plans you haven’t chosen. You probably wonder to yourself ‘what would Calysian prefer for me to do,’ and then you do the exact opposite.”
“Bold of you to assume I consider you at all while making my decisions. Will these hysterics last long? We need to leave this place.”
Calysian lets out a choked laugh behind me. “Gods, woman. Do you have no fear?” I glance over my shoulder. “Yes. I fear that you’ll continue to draw this interaction out even longer. Leave.”
Snatching the reins from her, I resist the urge to slap her on the arse the same way I just slapped Fox. She would likely disembowel me.
“Stay alive, Calysian.” His expression turns almost tender. “Would you mourn me, sweetheart?” I level him with a hard stare. “No. If you left me alone in this place, I would curse your name and spit on your corpse.”
“This is a one-time occurrence.” I lay the rule down in the scant inches between our bodies, and he steps forward until we’re pressed together, those rules crushed. “I’ll allow your delusions.” “I’m serious. If I have to kill you, I will.” “Of that, I have no doubt.”
“You’re not dying.” His voice is strained…shaken. He’s ignoring the facts, turning to delusion instead. Gods. Clearly they’re not all that different from us.
I’ve secured everything we need for our journey, including new clothes for Madinia, who looks vaguely bewildered when I drop them on her bed. No one has taken care of this woman before. And that knowledge sets my teeth on edge.
I search her face, but there’s no sign of the confident, occasionally arrogant woman I know so well. This is a deep insecurity. A fear that she is somehow not enough. Fury roars through me with such strength, it leaves me shaken.
Her hair is tousled, her skin flushed with sleep, and when she leans forward to press a gentle kiss to my chest, I almost claw through my skin, crack open my ribs, and hand her my beating heart.
“Knowing and understanding are two different things.” “And what exactly do you understand?” “You’ll still be alive when I’m dust beneath the earth.” Realization flickers across his face, quickly followed by…grief. “Madinia.”
“I don’t want to be this way, Madinia.” His voice is rough, but I can hear the thread of vulnerability beneath. “I didn’t want this to happen.” I don’t answer. Because it is happening. And it will continue happening until the man I knew as Calysian is gone. A hot tear slips down my cheek, and I close my eyes.
“Eventually, one of our spies returned with a story about a red-haired witch who was killing men and displaying their corpses in a garden of thorns. We knew that couldn’t be you, but we figured…” He trails off, staring at me. Asinia’s mouth drops open. Rythos lets out a booming laugh. I wince. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
“Tell me you don’t want him.” My heart thuds. “I don’t want him.” “Tell me you want me.” “I want you.”
“Faster,” Madinia demands, and despite the danger, despite my irritation with her, I almost laugh. “Quiet, harridan. Let me save us in peace.” She struggles, attempting to wiggle free, and I slap her arse. A feral snarl. “I’ll kill you.” “That will need to wait until I’ve finished saving your life.”
“Next time, give me a little warning before you hurl me into oblivion.” “Noted. You’re welcome.”
“They’re going to find us. You need to move.” “I’m not leaving you.” She gives me a sneer that makes me want to crush my mouth to hers. When she elbows me, I drag my gaze from her lips, meeting her narrowed eyes. “Don’t baby me, Calysian.” “I’m not. If I stay with you, I can use you as a shield when my ward fails.”
“You’re a cold, calculating woman with a deep ruthless streak. I’ve always known that about you. And I like it.”
“It’s taking everything in me not to kill you right now.” A cold, dark presence spills across the clearing and goosebumps form across my skin. “No need, sweetheart. I’ll do it for you.” Calysian’s voice is low, filled with the promise of endless pain.
“Believe me, I don’t want to protect him. But we need to consider all our options.” “I see two options. Personally, I’d like to beat him to death, but I know you’re partial to fire.”
Cold rage fills Calysian’s eyes. “You never should have touched her. And you definitely shouldn’t have caged her. Remember that as you succumb to what is sure to be an agonizing death.” His smile is dark and feral as he leans close to Kyldare, lowering his voice to a whisper. “As you die, your last thought will be this: Harming Madinia Farrow was the biggest mistake of your life.”
Panic slides across Eamonn’s face. “She is the other half of his soul. You do this, and he will take his revenge.”
