Page 155 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

“You are truly a fool if you think that man would ever stop loving you, Dianna.”

She turned away from me. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see him. He’s never acted that way with me, never pulled away so quickly, even with what happened on Onuna. So maybe with the mark gone, my soul gone, we don’t have that connection anymore. Maybe he sees the real me now.”

“If I may—”

Dianna spun, her foot shooting out. The bag snapped from the ceiling, small parts of brick raining down as it sailed across the room, landing in a heap. “It doesn’t matter, nor do I want to sit around wallowing in self-pity, either. He can hate me. He can leave me. I don’t care, but I will be the one to keep him alive. The world needs him, even if he doesn’t need me.”

Murmurs erupted behind us as her onlookers left, wide-eyed and whispering, but it was the short man from upstairs who yelled down, “You will have to pay for that!”

We watched him grumble and walk back upstairs. As soon as he was gone, Dianna turned back to me.

“He just needs time, my queen. He deserves that.” My head throbbed as a vision tried to press into my consciousness, but it faded quickly. I rubbed at my temples, watching her.

A single sweat-drenched brow lifted. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

I forced a smile. “Yours, but I warned you about withholding precious information.”

“You know what my new theory is?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “My new theory is we were destined to kill each other, not fall in love. So maybe it was never meant to last.”

“You cannot truly believe that. After everything.”

She spun, unwrapping the beige cloth from around her knuckles as she headed out of the room. “What I believe is that I will not let The Hand suffer just because he and I cannot work out our differences. I know I fucked up. I can’t change that, but I refuse to let them rot under her control. So he and I can work together or not, but I won’t leave them with her. After they are safe and sane, I’ll burn her and her godsdamn city to ash, and then . . .” She paused, taking a deep breath, and turned to me. “I don’t know what I’ll do then.”

She headed up the stairs back to our safe house as I rubbed my brow and sighed deeply. “You two are the most stubborn creatures I have ever encountered in this universe or the next.”

SIXTY-TWO

DIANNA

After showering and washing off the sweat from my workout, I stood in the center of our . . . no, my small room. I hadn’t touched the bed since we fought, wanting proof he had come back so we could talk. But he hadn’t returned. I felt my eyes prickle with tears again and shook my head, storming to the small bag on the floor. I dressed before quickly leaving the room, no longer wishing to be there.

“Miska!” I called out.

I heard the shuffle of small feet from down the hall. Her door opened, and she poked her sleep-tousled head out. “Yes?”

“I’m hungry,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “Let’s go upstairs and have breakfast.”

“What are we eating?” A sleepy, deep groan came from my right as another door opened.

“Orym. You’re awake. Great. Come on, family breakfast meeting,” I said, walking toward the worn wooden stairs leading up to the tavern.

“Samkiel gave direct orders that you are to stay here until his return. You are wanted by Nismera’s legion, who happen to frequent the city,” Reggie said, forming behind me.

“Oh yeah? Before or after he left?” I snapped as we all headed upstairs.

“He returned the other night when you went out to grab . . . things,” Orym said, Reggie glaring at him.

A new ache bloomed in my chest as another piece of my heart fractured. He hadn’t even tried to see me.

My jaw clenched, but I smothered the irritation and pain. “Okay, well, I think if he wants to give orders, he should be here to do it.”

Reggie’s sigh only lightened my mood. He clearly knew this was a fight he wouldn’t win.

“WHAT IF HE DOESN’T COME BACK?” MISKA ASKED, CUTTING A PIECE of meat. Reggie froze on my left, and Orym pretended to look anywhere else as he ate.

The tapping of my nails stilled on the bar.

“Did you guys break up?” Miska asked next.

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