Page 71 of Shadow's Heart

Yet this seemed . . . different. Before, he’d appeared to be ruled by his habits and his past; now by jealousy. Or by his heart.

Hers stupidly clamored for him.

Over these last three days, Mina had willed herself to concentrate on her mission. She’d tried not to picture him indulging in all the debauchery here. She’d tried to ignore her worsening nightmares and growing thirst for him.

But her concentration had been wrecked when Xodin had let it slip that Silt wasn’t indulging—at all.Why, why, why?She kept thinking,What if he cares for me?

Now the sorcerer paced before her. “That demon is not for you!”

Silt’s possessiveness made her chest twist, her body already responding to him. This man—so flawed, so wounded—called to her, a clarion call as strong as fate’s. But it was too late for anything more between them. “Are you always so jealous?” She set aside her sword and drew a breath to give his ears the blistering she’d promised.

Yet her words died in her throat when he rasped with bewilderment, “Never.Do you understand me, princess? You’ve done something to me.” His tension was like a force in the room. “Do you want that demon?”

“I don’t want him, and I don’t want you—ahhh!” Theránascalded her throat on that lie. Cupping her neck, she gasped, “I don’twantto want you. But, gods help me, I do,” and the burn eased.

Silt looked as if the sight of her pain was too much to bear. He strode over and leaned down. “You can’t lie to me.” He kissed her neck, soothing her there, while making the rest of her body burn. “I don’t want to want you either. But you’re inside me like sand in an hourglass. I don’t know that I’ll work without you.”

What would have happened if they’d met under different circumstances? Didn’t matter; they hadn’t. “Your rash words will always stand between us. One sentence destroyed any chance we might have had.” Voicing that truth aloud broughtstark comprehension. Tears welled, and she whispered thickly, “You’re so far away from me that you might as well be a ray of sun.” A blood-tinged tear tracked down her face.

His eyes went wide. “Shh. Don’t cry, sweet.”

“This could have been something. You and I both know it. We’re each drawn to the other, more than we ought to be.”

He didn’t deny it.

Another tear spilled, embarrassing her. “That’s why this hurts so bad. And I’ve already got enough hurt coming my way. The last thing I need is more pain, and that’s all you offer.”

He cupped her cheeks. “Kosmina, I won’t harm your brother.”

“You’ll have to. Your vow will force you to!”

He thumbed her tears away. “Then it’s a good thing I have the power to break it.”

Thirty-Two

“What are you talking about?” Kosmina gazed up at him with what might behopein her heartbreakingly beautiful expression.

Silt noticed with puzzlement that his hands shook on her face, as if he held something so precious he ought not to be trusted with it. He dropped his hands and drew himself up.

“Silt?”

Now that he’d started his confession, he wasn’t sure he wanted to finish it.Yes, Enti, everything inside this head of mine is conflicted.

His glanced at the table of maps and back. Kosmina was leaving this sanctuary; he was staying. She was dying; he wasn’t. He had a momentary twinge of guilt, getting her hopes up about something more with him, but he had to have her for a time. “I can break a vow to the Lore. I’m known as the Oathbreaker. It’s my secondary Sorceri power.”

“Oathbreaker? Then why should I believe you now?” She looked like she needed to.

“I’ll prove it.” He thought up some ridiculous conditions to convince her. “I vow to the Lore that I will stab my eye out. Whenever it regenerates, I’ll stab it again,” he said lightly.

“Madman!” She didn’t breathe, her heart distinctly racing.

“See. Nothing happened.” What terrified all the Lore was inconsequential to him.

Her lips parted on an exhalation. “Why wouldn’t you have told me that before?” She narrowed her gaze, getting that analytical look. “You wanted to keep me at arm’s length.”

“Maybe.”

“It worked. Although I had started to wonder if you might have some means to neutralize that vow.”

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