Page 55 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

Except that it was. Because she’d made the stupid bargain with the male in the cell that she would keep his son safe from harm.

So godsdamn reckless.

“I have to go fulfill my end of our deal,” she said, the male watching her with a look of intrigue.

At her words, he arched a brow. “You can sense him in trouble?”

“No. I mean, yes, but I—” Tessa pursed her lips, her hands clenching at her sides. “If you will not answer my questions, I see no need to answer yours.”

The male’s head tilted, a newfound interest she didn’t understand staring back at her. “An answer for an answer before you take your leave then.”

She barked a humorless laugh. “I will not be making another bargain with you.”

“No bargain,” he said, shifting against the wall. “A trade. An answer for an answer.”

“No.”

His brows shot up. “No? But all you’ve wanted since the first time you spoke to me is answers.”

“And you’ve either never provided them or tricked me into a deal.”

“I didn’t trick you?—”

“Yes, yes. He said the same thing,” she interjected, waving him off.

“You will not even hear my question?”

“No.”

“Then I propose this,” he said. “You ask your question first and get your answer. Then I will ask my question, and you can simply walk away if you do not wish to answer it.”

“Just walk away,” she repeated dryly.

“It’s not as if I could stop you.”

He had a point.

She stepped closer to his cell once more, debating her options. Her mother’s name? Where she was? Where her father was? How they got here? But the question that came from her lips was none of those things.

“If you brought me here, and you were supposed to be protecting me, how did I end up at the Celeste Estate, alone and abandoned?” she asked, her tone harsh and accusing.

The male clearly hadn’t been expecting that question. Not as he jerked back, then winced when the action caused some type of reaction inside the cell.

“I didn’t abandon you,” he replied.

“My time spent in dark places without food or companionship begs to differ,” she retorted. “But that is neither here nor there. You did not answer my question.”

“I did not know where you ended up,” he answered, and she had to believe him because the bargain required him to answer truthfully. “At that time, the Achaz and Arius Lords were still working together. An Augury attack was planned. I was broughthere. Valter took my son, and you were… Well, from what I’ve gathered, you were lost among the chaos. Both Lords spent the next two decades searching for you.”

“That’s what you believe?”

“Based on the information they’ve tried to torture out of me over these last years, yes. That’s what I believe.”

“What is your question?” she asked coldly.

“My son is here with you? Separated from his Ward?”

Tessa blinked in surprise. “That is your question?”

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