The Oleander Sword (The Burning Kingdoms, #2)

by Tasha Suri

She did not want to love Priya the way Priya loved her—that devotion, that terrifying gravity that took a person to their knees. But some things were not in her control. “If I truly feared that battle could kill you, I would never have held back my army until you drowned Chandra’s at their flank,” she said. “If I truly feared that you could die, I wouldn’t have trusted you to rise from the water and destroy them. But I trusted you. I would trust you again. As I trust you now, to find your way back to your human skin. “You may think you break yourself on loving me,” Malini whispered. “That it makes you bow and makes you—you serve.” A hitch, a stumble. She pressed on, still curved, her head against Priya’s throat. “But you cannot be broken by my demands. You cannot even be broken by your own. I could try and break you a thousand times, with all my weapons, with knowledge of your every weakness, and still I—” A hand tightened on Malini’s jaw.