Page 27 of This Monster of Mine

She fought the urge to gasp for air as he hung her birrus by the entrance to his study. A frisson of heat uncurled within her, sliding through her limbs until her skin felt too tight.

Havïd. No. Absolutely not.His voice was bad enough butthis? She smothered the wayward feeling, almost flinching when Kadra turned back to her.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked matter-of-factly.

Visions bloomed in her head of Ennius shrouded in flame, shrieking. Of the monster leaning close and asking for permission before touching her.

“No.”

She flinched as a warm hand closed around her wrist. He raised it to her face, showing her the goosebumps on her skin.

“Really?” he asked dryly.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“But?” He lowered her wrist before letting go.

“A bit unsettled, perhaps,” she whispered.

“Hmm.” He took a sip of wine, eyes boring into hers. “That’s a damn sight more useful than fear.”

Truth.She fought to maintain a calm exterior. Reaching for her glass, she gulped the wine. It slid down warm. Heady.

“Slowly now.” There was no mockery in his gaze, only cool assessment.

She wondered what had gone through his mind when he’d beheld her body. When he’d walked away. There hadn’t been any emotion in his beautiful voice while she’d been dying. And she was all aquiver simply because he’d touched—

Sarai set down the glass. “Thank you for the wine, Tetrarch Kadra. I should—”

“Why did you become a Petitor?”

To find you.“To do some good in the world.” At his raised eyebrow, her jaw clenched. “To uphold the law, and see that justice is done.”

He digested that for a moment. “What sort of justice?”

“Fair and transparent.”

“Seen a lot of that, have you?”

“Not enough. But I intend to give as much as I can.”

A harsh burst of sound. Sarai started, only to realize that he was laughing. For a man with such a beautiful voice, the sound was ugly. Empty.

He smothered it with a sip of wine. “I take it that you don’t think highly of burning people alive.”

He was goading her. She clenched her jaw, refusing to answer.

“What of mutilation, then? Castration? Beheading?”

“Those all sound like the same thing,” she said through gritted teeth.

“And if I told you that was justice?”

Don’t say it.“I would say that you’re a Tetrarch, and I’m your Petitor of one day, so who am I to question your opinion?”

A corner of that hard mouth rose. “At least you know that trials aren’t won on sentiment.”

Her eyes narrowed. “No, they’re decided using the jurisprudence you didn’t consider at trial. The Corpus Juris Totus provides that the penalty forhomicidiumis death byhanging. Not by vaporizing in an inferno—” She halted at the predatory look entering Kadra’s eyes.

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