Page 29 of The Sins of Silas

I knew my eyes went dark as I began to read her. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes quickly flickering away.

My smile grew cocky. “You’re fascinated by my eyes,” I noted.

She scoffed, shooting me a mortified glance. “I am not!”

Lie.

She turned back, shooting another arrow, this onewayoff the mark.

“I think you should focus on improving your skills…or lack thereof,” I teased.

She turned to glower at me, and as I continued to absorb her emotions, she diverted, trudging away to reclaim her arrows after missing a few more shots.

“I killed that one man, didn’t I?” she shouted over her shoulder.

Those words set my feet in motion, and I seized her arm. She whirled to face me with lowered brows.

“You did,” I said gently. “And I was proud. But if the situation would’ve been less in our favor, you wouldn’t have had the time to use those men as living targets. You would’ve needed to hit true the first time.”

Her eyes softened as she gazed up at me, my words causing warm feelings to spread through her body.

She frowned, her little nose crinkling, before resuming her arrow retrieval. “I don’t give you permission to read me,” she said plainly. “It’s an invasion of privacy.”

“Be glad I’m not my cousin,” I called out.

She shot me a cocked brow over her shoulder.

I shrugged. “He could read thoughts.”

Her eyes widened. I was surprised by her expression, by what I felt.

Dread.

“Could?” she asked quietly once she was back by my side, worried my past tense wording was because he was dead.

I hoped and prayed he was not.

“I’m not sure where he is,” I admitted solemnly. “He left our village last year without a word.”

I felt mild relief from her, and then I ordered her to shoot the bow, this time her arrow at least grazing the bloody bullseye.

“Much better,” I praised.

She gave me a satisfied smile, and I found my own lips tilting upward at the sight.

“How are you doing?” I asked a few moments later.

She was squinting through the weapon's sight. “What do you mean?”

I pulled my lips to the side for a moment, feeling awkward even asking about her feelings. I wasn’t sure why I even cared. But I remembered the sheer panic on her face when I threw her my bow…the tears that pooled in her eyes once she completed her kill.

I had felt the guilt that overcame her.

“Are you alright? After yesterday.”

I could feel that she was not expecting my question. She blinked, lowering the bow to her side. “I…” She shrugged. “I have no choice but to be fine.”

I shook my head, my hands going into the pockets of my robe. “It’s okay to not be okay, so long as you don’t let the negative thoughts rule you.” I flicked my now blue eyes to the target. “One more time. You can do it.”

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