Page 94 of Wings of Cruelty and Flame

I shrugged, tracing my fingers over the shape of his mark. “I’m not worried. I have a husband who’s known to cheat death; he can help me avoid it, too.”

“Utterly,” he breathed, “insane.”

“Now you know how I feel about you,” I said with a smile, a weight falling off my shoulders. He wasn’t shutting me out because anything was wrong betweenus.If anything, this was a relief.

He shook his head, dark hair tumbling over his shoulders with the motion. “Why do I ever expect you to have a normal reaction? I’m the bearer ofa lightning soul,Ameirah.”

“But you still want me.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That was never in question.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “You still want me.”

“I’ve never wanted anyone more, you madwoman,” he groaned, hands flexing on my waist. “But you’re in danger just by being near me. If anyone finds out the truth, you’ll be guilty by association. You saw what happened at Wyfell.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, horror trickling like ice down my spine. They’d been so fucking close. “They nearly found you that day.”

“She... guides me. Speaks to me. She’s the only reason I’m not dead, Ameirah. Mak and I—in the storm, we were falling, the wind too heavy for him to fly and then light erupted around us. It felt like dying, but by the time the light faded, I had these scars, Mak flew steady, and I was alive. And her voice was in my head.”

“What did she say?”

“To stop screaming.” With a huff, he asked, “What would you do if a woman’s voice suddenly spoke in your mind?”

“Threaten her,” I said without hesitation.

His eyes crinkled when he laughed, the sound of it easing another weight from my chest. “Of course you would. But she saved me. And everything that’s happened since—the violence, the fire, the hunts, none of it is her fault. The stories we’ve been told of lightning souls are a lie.”

“That’s a surprise,” I drawled. When his brow knotted, I added, “I’ve read hundreds of stories, some of them ancient, and I can’t count the number of times I hear someone retell them however it suits their narrative. My father likes to tell the story of Baba Ali as a cruel man who punishes little girls who disobey their fathers, when in the original tale he punished all children, not just girls. And don’t get me started on the River Eater, the eldritch monster Xiu told me was born from hatred and cruelty.”

“But… itwasborn from hatred and cruelty. My mum told me that story.”

I narrowed my eyes. “It wasgreedthat birthed the monster. Greed for power, endless power.”

Varidian’s eyes widened. “She says you’re right.”

The lightning soul. Fuck, she really was listening. Oh, she definitely heard my threat, then.

“But you’re missing the point,” he said on a growl. “It doesn’t matter what’s true, it only matters what story is believed, and everyone believes the lightning soul is destructive and corruptive and evil. Which makes me evil.” He held up a handwhen I immediately began to argue. “And it will make you evil in their eyes, too, dearling.”

“I’m already evil to Strava. Why not to the rest of the kingdom?” I said it lightly, but I couldn’t quite ignore the dread that hulked on my chest, slumping my shoulders.

“The second someone discovers the truth, I’m dead,” he said bluntly. “And so are you. Unless—”

“Absolutely not,” I interrupted.

“You need to keep your distance.”

“You keeping your shirt on isn’t going to save my life, Varidian,” I huffed.

“Moving far away might. As much as I hate it, you could go live with my family in Morysen.”

“The family you hate.”

“I don’t hate my siblings; they’d protect you.”

I poked him in the gut. Hard. “Not happening. Abandon this idea or I’ll be forced to take drastic actions.”

“Like what?”

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