Page 50 of Savage Crown

She blinks, caught off guard. "Excuse me?"

"You trust me." I tilt my head. "Don’t you?"

She hesitates.

And that’s the worst part.

If she were truly a spy, she wouldn’t.

If she were working for Nhilian, she wouldn’t have saved my life.

She wouldn’t have kissed me back.

And yet—I still hear Lartina’s voice in my head.

"You let a human get too close. And now she’s leading you exactly where Nhilian wants."

I step closer. Close enough that the fire casts its glow across her face. With our closeness I feel the warmth of her body.

"If I gave you a blade," I whisper, "would you drive it into my heart?"

Her breath hitches.

She doesn’t look away.

I almost want her to.

This would be easy.

But she meets my gaze head-on, unflinching, unreadable.

"If I wanted you dead," she murmurs, "I wouldn’t need a blade."

A slow, curling smirk.

Gods.

She’s either telling the truth—or she’s the best liar I’ve ever met.

And I can’t decide which is worse.

The silence stretches between us, something thick and tangled wrapping itself around my ribs.

A war is happening inside me.

One I never meant to fight.

But the truth is simple.

Either I trust her… or I don’t.

If I don’t… I will have to kill her.

20

SERAPHINA

Istare the ceiling of my chamber as unease coils in my gut, almost eating me inside and out since the moment I found Lartina with Nhilian. It’s like an executioner’s axe as I wait for it to cleave at my neck, a judgment waiting to happen.

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