Page 40 of The Heir's Bargain

Terin and I kept nothing from each other, which only made keeping this secret from him that much harder. But as much as I loved and trusted my brother, I promised Dani I wouldn't tell him.

I couldn't necessarily blame her for adding the rule to the list. If our mother came asking him questions about my courtship with Dani, he would spill the truth after only a little prodding on our mother's part.

Neither Dani, nor I, could afford the risk.

So, despite how wrong it felt, I wouldn't tell Terin the truth.

Was it hypocritical of me then to go searching for whatever truth he was keeping from me?

Perhaps.

Yet I searched anyway, for reaching for someone's mind was like breathing air, instinctual and compulsory.

I dug beneath the fortress of his shields, finding the holes he had forgotten to fill. Once behind his walls, the task was easy. Because Terin, despite his long list of strengths, was predictable. He always buried the thoughts he didn't wish me to know by trying to distract me with other images—childhood memories or other trivial things that happened in his day-to-day life. I pushed through the thoughts of what he ate that morning, of which dark-haired man currently piqued his interest. Then, finding the dark corner of his mind, I scoured the walls for the lock. Once found, all it took was one quick pull before it snapped. A rolling flood of concerns struck me.

Childhood friends.

Strange.

Mistake.

Mess up our dynamics.

I slammed the door shut with a groan. "My business is my business, brother."

"Then you should not dig for answers you do not wish to hear." Terin struck, his sword coming down hard and fast. "Dani is our oldest friend," he spat.

I drove forward with equal force. "What's your point?" My hands tightened around the hilt.

"You're going to mess this up," Terin said, cementing his feet into the sand.

"I am not."

We may have been evenly matched in physical strength, but I was quicker when it came to fighting and strategy. I could read my opponent's mind and see their next move before they even made it.

Terin tried to block me out, but after an hour of training, he was growing tired, his mind weakening.

I pushed, and Terin's face reddened as he held his ground. Swing after swing, the muscles in his arms began to shake. Soon, his sword was trembling in his hands.

But my brother wasn't a quitter.

Neither was I, though.

"If you hurt her?—"

"I won't," I said, cutting him off.

Terin swung, and I pushed my sword and spun. He came barreling forward, barely catching himself before he hit the ground as I dipped out of the way.

Huffing, he raised his sword once again. "I know how you can be."

I narrowed my gaze. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Terin's mental shield cracked open, and a flurry of names fell down the thread connecting his mind to mine.

Marla.

Drisilia.

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