Page 3 of Silver & Gold

Seth had gotten him out of a cell. And though Raider had thought that it meant Seth intended to deliver him to another cell, one in Kastari, that kiss had been one of parting.

Seth had expected Raider to vanish.

Raider had considered it. Breaking into the house of the town’s wealthy vineyard owner, with food and coin at his fingertips, the thought had flashed. It had been Raider’s chance to escape before whatever softness had overcome Seth could vanish. Raider could have put miles between himself and Seth’s arcane shackles, between himself and the fate awaiting him in Kastari.

But Raider could have done that hours ago by breaking out of Prince Rahim’s dungeon himself. With his quicksilver, few bars could hold him.

Raider had not escaped then because there had been no point. Raider couldn’t go back to his life without Seth. He knew, now, how hollow it had been, how empty. That life had always been a lie.

When Seth had sprung him from Rahim’s dungeon, Raider had followed him because Seth was his path, even if that path led to another cell. Raider had accepted that. It had always been inevitable that he would end up in one. His freedom had always been temporary.

Why, then, had Seth kissed him like that and let him go? And why was Seth staring at him now, shocked by his return, maybe even unhappy about it?

Seth didn’t explain. He only asked, “You were careful?”

“I’m a thief, remember? I have been since I was ten years old.”

Seth winced at Raider’s sharp tone. Or maybe at the reminder that Raider had lied about his past, about not remembering it. Was Seth trying to forget that fact? There was no point in pretending, not anymore.

“Why are you angry?” Seth asked.

“Why did you kiss me?”

“You know why.”

“You thought I wouldn’t come back. You would let me go that easily?”

Raider had meant in the sense of, Let me go free, but it didn’t sound that way when it came out. It didn’t feel that way.

And it hurt. It fucking hurt.

It shouldn’t. Things with Seth had never been real, not with Seth having known the truth about him, not with Seth intending to see him punished. Because Seth, with his unshakable principles? Oh, he would have intended it. Someone like Raider? A liar, a thief—and worse? He could mean nothing to someone as black and white as Seth.

So why had that kiss felt like Seth … loved him? Why had so many moments with Seth felt like that?

Seth climbed to his feet. They were standing now nearly as they had half an hour ago, when Seth had kissed him.

With his arcane eye, Raider could see Seth with painful clarity. His broad, handsome face, that jaw so strong and firm. His eyes so intense, their green subdued by the night but still clear enough to him. And that powerful body, sheathed as Raider had so often seen it in the Curator’s black arcane clothing, the pants molding his thighs, the buckled vest shaping his torso, the utility belt and thigh sheath bearing his weapons and tools, plus that sword strapped to his back. Raider could picture every inch of Seth without that clothing and gear. He knew that body perfectly, its power and need, the way it could make him come.

“I don’t want to let you go,” Seth said in a low, heavy voice. “But I have no power to keep you with me.”

Yes, you do, Raider thought. So much power. But what he said was, “You have your shackles. You know very well I can’t fight them.”

A long silence fell between them at that reminder of the night when Seth had bound Raider with those shackles and fucked him, when Raider been so fully at Seth’s mercy. When Seth had taken such exquisite care of Raider’s body and his pleasure.

“You really think I would do that?” Seth asked almost breathlessly, like that hurt him. Then his voice sharpened. “After making myself a fugitive to get you out of that cell?”

“Then why did you get me out?”

Raider’s ruthless arcane eye refused him the luxury of darkness and forced him to see how Seth’s eyes hardened. He was used to Seth’s scowl, his intensity, his anger, but it would take him a hell of a lot longer to get used to Seth looking at him like he hated him.

“Why should I tell you, if you can’t figure it out?” Seth demanded. “But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, not from someone capable of doing what you did. Murdering a lover? Fuck.” Seth shook his head. His scorn froze Raider, stole any response he might have made. “None of this meant anything to you, did it? And the fact that you’re here now? It can only be because you know I’m after Julian—”

Anger jolted Raider from his silence, making his brain skip right past the question of, Wait, wasn’t Julian still in Aqarat? “Fuck, Seth, is that all you ever think about? Julian and your fucking mission?”

Seth’s fists clenched at his sides, so near his weapons. Would he use them? Was he longing to?

“What should I think about, Raider? How you lied to me?”

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