Page 111 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

Chapter Thirty-Three

Rydian

Callan had made his choice—and I had made mine. The moment he’d summoned me, I’d known what he would order. More lies. More selfish pursuits without a care who he hurt along the way. For him, Aurelia was nothing more than an item to possess. But looking at her now, I could see what he couldn’t.

He’d already lost her.

Just as I would in the end.

But this—her request…it went beyond what even I was willing to let her see.

“No,” I told her firmly and started for the door.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“I’m taking you to the library. You can hunt for answers there.”

“Stop.” The command in that single word stilled my feet.

I turned to her. “You do not order me.”

“Last I checked, you’ve been instructed to babysit me.” The haughtiness in her tone reminded me of my impression of her the night we’d first met. Pamperedprincess—naïve and spoiled. I’d thought her too much like Callan then and hated her for it.

The only one of us I hated now was myself.

“I was tasked with keeping you safe,” I said. “The donation center is far from that.”

She scowled, and her gaze fell, landing on a spot on the rug and lingering there. I followed, frowning at the sight of the hole burnt into it. It hadn’t been there the last time I’d visited. I would’ve remembered since Callan had warned me over and over again not to ruin his rug with my muddy boots.

“What happened?” I asked, my eyes snapping back to hers.

“What are you talking about?”

“The mark on the rug,” I said, doing my best to rein in my shadows. Nightmares swam beneath my skin, begging to be unleashed, but now was not the time.

She tensed. “Nothing.”

I stalked closer. “What. Happened?”

“Callan was angry when I returned last night.”

“What do you mean you returned? The soldiers didn’t bring you? Callan didn’t come for you?”

“No. I walked home.”

I studied her, my hands curling into fists as my mind raced ahead of her words. He hadn’t said anything to me today. “Angry about what?”

“I don’t think he believed I was alone.”

“What did he do to you?” I asked, barely able to keep my control leashed.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “He… made a point.”

“Furious,” I said through my teeth, “if you don’t tell me exactly what happened, I will assume he put his hands on you. Do you remember what I told you would happen to anyone who did that?”

She had the sense to look nervous then. “He didn’t touchme. He used his magic to burn the rug near my feet. I think he wanted to scare me.”

I blew out a breath, my body rigid with the need to hunt Callan down and make him regret his little outburst.

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