Page 49 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

But it only lasted for a few seconds until he twisted her arm. Blaming her for the moment of peace before he threw her downthe staircase where she ended up laying for hours until her body mustered the pitiful strength to rise from the floor.

Garrik shifted in his position uncomfortably, clearing his throat, waiting for a response. His face had turned from curiosity to tight agitation as he dropped his arms and walked closer to her. In a subtle attempt to touch her arm, he reached for her.

“Are you alright?” Garrik’s voice broke the heavy air around them.

Alora pulled away. Everything inside her screamed to say nothing. “Don’t touch me. I’m fine.” She turned away and banded her arms around her torso.

Garrik’s face shifted as he walked close enough that she could smell the leather and metal of his scent.

Silver met sapphire.

His body dangerously close.

“Do not lie to me.” The High Prince gritted his teeth. A small wisp of smoke and shadow rose from his shoulders, and the darkened tent added to the intensity cascading from him.

“You don’t scare me.” And she turned every bit of that panic, that fear, into embers ready to explode. If her magic ran through her veins, they would have ignited.

Alora stepped back. He mirrored her, closing the distance between. Then, another step, only to collide against the wooden frame of the cot with her calves.

“Then why is your heart racing so fast?” His hands. They were far too close to her. His breath. Ice.

Eldacar quickly made himself scarce within the library.

Alora willed herself not to swallow and straightened her neck upward until her sapphire gaze burned at him. Gritting her teeth, baring a quieted snarl.

“Why should I tell you? You think that just because you’re the High Prince that I have to tell you anything? Shove your ego upyour ass.” Shaking palms slammed into his broad chest, sending him backward toward the table.

Garrik was behind her in a heartbeat, gripping her forearms across her chest. “Careful, clever girl. I could kill you for that.”

“So could another faerie. A cat. A dedicated pigeon. You aren’t special. You think others haven’t tried? Go ahead.” Alora forced her arms out of his hold and twisted to face him. “Give it your best shot.” She outstretched her arms at her sides. “At least I could go down fighting instead of the High King ripping every bit of magic from my body.”

A low rumble vibrated across the floor as Garrik flashed his teeth.

Alora glared straight at his eyes. Not afraid. Not backing down.

The High Prince backed away first, controlling his rising anger with measured breaths. He closed his eyes as if counting to ten before he spoke again. “What must I do to make you trust me? Is it that hard to believe someone might wish to help you?”

“Nothingwill ever make me trust you. And if I had any bit of my powers right now, I’d use them to burn that smug look off your face and get the hell out of here. I do not trust you. I don’t want to be here in your fantasized heroic adventure. I don’t wish to help you. I want to be free.”

Face tight, Garrik balled a fist at his side. “Perhaps I should have left you to die in Telldaira.”

“Maybe you should’ve. It would be better than spending another second waiting for someone else to determine my fate while I’m left here powerless.”

The veins in his arms bulged the tighter his fists squeezed. Shadow and smoke tendrils began to engulf the surrounding space.

“Powerless,” he scoffed, cutting himself off with a vicious growl. “If you wish to have your powers back?—”

“Back,” she snapped. “What do you mean,back? You’ve taken them?” Her voice rose. She advanced at the High Prince, ready to swing. All this time, she thought whatever the soldiers injected her with was the cause. Thought that its lasting effects were soon to wear off, only to find out it was …him?

Garrik growled again. “Enough! When you can be trusted, like answering my starsdamned questions, they will be returned to you.”

“Trusted.Ican’t be trusted? What about you?” She stepped closer to him. “You want answers? How about when we were riding from my city and I begged you …begged youto tell me where you were taking me? You said nothing. Here’s the same courtesy, mighty prince.”

“Would you rather have had a picnic in the middle of the night with Magnelis’s army present and acquaint ourselves a little better? Perhaps you would care for everyone in the starsdamned kingdom to know who you are and what you can do.”

“You could’ve told me.”

“I am under no obligation to explain myself to anyone. I am the High Prince.” Garrik’s voice raged as he slammed his fist into a pile and sent books tumbling.

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