Page 97 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

He reaches into his pocket and takes out Rian’s Golath dime. I pull in a gasp—it’s Rian’s lucky token that he’s never without.

Basten turns the coin from one side to the other. Serpent and Scepter. His knuckles are blanched as he holds it—the only sign of his tightly coiled anger. “When I found out, I left him with a black eye that will be hard to explain to the King’s Council.”

I give a grim, mirthless smile. “I’m impressed you left him alive at all. I wouldn’t have.”

“Believe me, I was tempted. Never been so hard to pullmy punches.” He slides the coin back into his pocket, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “But if I’d left the throne vacant, Astagnon would have fallen into deeper chaos.”

I pause. “Right.” I hate this. The distance between us. The strange formality. I find myself having to keep from drifting closer to him, pulled like the moon to earth.

“How did you manage to travel with Tòrr and keep your head?”

This rewards me with a gruff laugh that’s so familiar, soBasten, that it makes my heart weep. “That murder horse and I share an enemy, just like you and I do. Rian caged him. He was only too happy to flee.”

He suddenly glances down the hallway, that specific head jerk that means he’s heard something.

“Come into my room,” I breathe. “Before you’re seen.”

I step back, quickly combing my fingers through my hair as I hold open the door. There’s still the danger that he’s here to slit my throat. Still, all things considered, a knife is the least of my fears. One cruel word from him could end my heart as surely.

He closes the door behind him, trapping us in misplaced moonlight. His eyes don’t give anything away.

Whether he means to kill me or kiss me?—

“I assume the fae haven’t harmed you,” he says slowly, “from what I witnessed.”

My eyes widen. Dear gods, could Igetmore mortified?

I blurt out, “What you saw…Artain on the banquet table…the Meden Cup…I was only trying to win their trust.” My throat constricts.

He prowls forward, his face unreadable, and instinct drives me to retreat a step. I croak, “Artain is an ass. There’s nothing between us.”

“I know,” he murmurs softly.

“You—you do?” The backs of my knees bump against the bed, and with a nervous flutter of moth wings in my stomach, I realize I’m cornered. “But you were so angry.”

“At Iyre, little violet. Not you.”

The moths in my stomach float away. My shoulders relax, and I blink a few times, rethinking everything. When he said I ruined his life? When he rattled his chains in anger?Iyre was standing right beside me.

“O—oh,” I breathe.

He continues to stalk forward. “As far as Artain, I know how to read lust. Widening pupils. The tang of sweat. The scent of—” His eyes fall briefly to the junction of my thighs before lifting back to my face. “Well, you didn’t show any of those signs.”

“Right.” My voice lilts when, inside, I want to shriek with hope.

He steals another step closer, close enough that I can feel his radiated body heat. He braces his arm on the bedpost at my side, and his sleeve rides up over his forearm. He’s all raw power. Dangerous. Territorial. All I can think about are the beautiful things his cruel lips have done to me.

I realize I’m trailing my fingers over my neckline, practically drooling.Get it together, Sabine—remember, he can sense lust.

Embarrassment tunnels into me until I’m squirming. Normally, the darkness would hide my blazing cheeks, but this man can see in the dark.

Scars on his forearm catch my eye. Squinting in the low light, I read what looks like letters.

I gasp. “My name. That’s my name on your arm!”

He straightens, dropping his hand, slowly running hisfingers over the scars. A slight growl rumbles in his chest. “I couldn’t remember your name. I needed it—needed it close. At least until I could get my memories back. I vowed to myself that I would find a way to wrench them from Iyre’s hands.”

I nod eagerly. “The day she took your memories, I saw her with a small, round, yellow bottle. She keeps it in the highest room in Aurora Tower. I haven’t been able to get it—the doors and windows are warded to only let in fae, and the cabinet is locked.”

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