Page 35 of Sins of His Wrath

Akoro stepped forward. “No.”

Naya tensed, startled. “What do you mean? This is what we agreed.”

Akoro stepped closer, so close she had to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze.

Her eyes flickered—to his mouth. That mouth. The one that had been all over her body. Her breath hitched before she forced her gaze back up.

“I agreed to nothing,” he said, his voice gritty. “I let you talk. That was your request.”

Naya frowned. “So why?—”

His voice dropped, sharp and dangerous. “Arrogance is an affliction among you and your people. What makes you think I will accept this offer when thousands of my soldiers are willing to die to secure your land? Do you think we have no honor? Do you think we will simply retreat to our ruined cities and live among the ashes once you swoop in to ‘save’ us by fixing our magic?” His voice rose to a bellow. “We lost entire dynasties because of what your people did. We lost beautiful cities. We lost cultural rituals, sacred temples, languages, and ancestral stories passed down for generations. Important healers, scholars, elders—gone. And now you have killed over a thousand more of my people with your own hands.

“You and your people never pay for what you do to us.” His eyes burned, full of raw, untamed fury. “All the suffering you cause, and we’re just supposed to forget?”

Naya’s chest tightened. “I’m offering to?—”

“There is no guarantee you can do any of what you promise,” he cut in. “You plan to come and learn about us for three months, and in the meantime, you’ll return here, bring everything you learn, and use it against us later.”

Naya shook her head. “No. That’s not?—”

“If you are truly offering to neutralize our magic,” Akoro said, voice thundering, “then I will set the terms.”

Naya stared at him, horror creeping into her chest.

“There will be no contract.” His tone was final. “No negotiations. No conditions. If you want to attempt this, I’m willing topausethe war. But you come at your own risk.” He stepped forward, making her tilt her head up further, crowding her space. “You will come knowing you have committed a crime that needs answering for. You will come knowing I am your mate and you will do nothing to interfere with that fact.”

Naya’s breath caught, her chest tightening.

“You will come, knowing you cannot return here until it’s over.” He let the words settle, watching her reaction, his voice steady and unyielding as he delivered the final blow. “And you will have fifteen days to solve the problem of magic in my land. If you fail, you will hand over your empire.”

Naya breathed shallowly. Fifteen days? There was no way she could do it in that limited time. She hadn’t even been sure she could do it in three months.

“I won’t agree to any conditions,” he added. “Except one—you will not be harmed.”

Naya’s mind spun, trying to knit together the implications of what he was saying. “I won’t be harmed?”

“No.”

“But I must answer for… the deaths?”

“Yes.”

Her brow furrowed. That meant—what, exactly? He wouldn’t kill her? Wouldn’t torture her? “Will that interfere with my fifteen days?”

“Your fifteen days will be solely yours to work on the magic. Anything else will happen outside of that.”

Naya’s horror twisted into a biting anger. He wasn’t giving her much reassurance that she’d be able to solve it in time—but maybe that was the point. He wasn’t being fair. “If I’m hindered in my attempts?—”

“You won’t be,” Prillu said, her voice firm and quiet. “You will have everything you need and the full support of the Sy Dynasty on those fifteen days.”

Naya kept her gaze locked on Akoro, her mind whirring. She had thought she was going into a tense agreement that would provide her and her people with some kind of safety. But this was simply putting her back into a dangerous situation. Still, her connection to magic was much more powerful now. What if she could do it? “And what if I succeed?”

He inclined his head slightly. “Then, on my word, we will enter real discussions.”

Naya clenched her fists. She hadn’t expected a fair negotiation, but this wasn’t any negotiation at all. “And if I don’t agree?”

Akoro’s eyes drifted back to the Lox. “Then the war will begin now.”

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