A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)

by Brigid Kemmerer

“Because Grey spent his life doing everything you asked, and the first time he didn’t, you strung him up on that wall.”

“On the contrary.” He takes my hand and kisses my fingertips. “You know all the ways to make me yield.”

“She said I would have ordered you to fight until you couldn’t hold a sword.” I lean in, keeping my voice low. “She was wrong. I would have tied it to your hand.”

“No. I do not hate you.” She pauses. “But you have an entire kingdom to rally behind you—and an entire kingdom to protect. Harper has no one—yet still she stays. For you.”

“You know,” she calls behind me, “for Harper, I would have done it for free.” She pauses. “I was curious how much it was worth to you.” “I would have given you ten times as much.” I think of the moment Harper plunged a dagger into Lilith’s chest. I have to put a hand against my midsection to shake off the sudden emotion. “For Harper, I would have given you everything.”

“For you, my lady, I would have leveled the entire city.”

“I am not yielding to Grey. I am yielding to you, Harper. For you.”

“Now wait here while I go rip out her heart, the way you ripped out mine.”

“Get off your knees, Brother. There’s a battle to be won.”

“I’m not afraid,” he says, and there’s a breathless quality to his voice that makes me think that’s another lie. But then he adds, “I do not deserve it, Grey.” That pulls at a chord in my chest, and I frown. “You took her torments for me,” I say quietly. “Season after season. What you did to me cannot undo that.” “You stayed with me,” he says. “Season after season. Long after you should have fled. What I did—” His voice breaks. “What I did to you—” “It is over,” I say. “It is done.” Because it is. “One poor choice shouldn’t undo a thousand good ones.”