Page 82 of The King of Frost and Shadows

His gaze slowly moved down my face toward my breasts, but they stopped when they reached my chest. The smile vanished, and the stony expression he usually wore around me slid back into place.

27

LIRA

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Had I not touched him correctly or been too eager?

“This was a mistake,” he rasped, untangling himself from my body.

My heart seized as my chest yanked so hard I feared my insides would leap from my chest to him. When I thought I’d experienced the worst sort of agony, it was nothing compared tothis.

Somehow, unguarded kisses and touches I’d never experienced before led me to hand my heart over to my captor … a man who clearly still hated me.

He frowned and adjusted his shirt. The outline of something that hadn’t been there before was visible on his chest. A dark-blue light emanated from it, like the moon glowing through shadows. The tattoo contained thin, delicate branches, with leaves sprouting every few inches and jagged thorns interlocked within.

My breath caught. “When did you get that?” I’d slept next to him for many nights and seen him with thinner shirts on, and I noticed everything about him.

“The same blasted time you did,” he answered, his voice low and growly.

“What? I don’t—” Something on my chest glowed light blue and gold, and I stared down to find that the same design had formed on me as well. “How is that possible?” I choked. I pulled my top up, hiding my breasts from view now that our intimate moment was over, but the embarrassment stopped registering because all I could do was focus on this magical tattoo that had appeared out of blazing nowhere.

Sitting upright, I moved the dress, my eyes trailing the design as it flowed down my shoulders and arms. The design cut off at my wrists, and part of me knew it was meant to go further, though I couldn’t explain how or why I knew that. The magic pulsed steadily, brightening every second or so.

Clenching his jaw, Tavish jumped to his feet, his breathing quickening. So did the pulses of my tattoo.

“I … I don’t understand.” My own heart quickened, trying to rationalize what I saw here. Out of everything that had happened since I’d come to Ardanos, this made the least sense of all. “We both got these markings, and neither of us recalls it.”

“We were preoccupied.” His hands fisted. “Luckily, we endedthisin time before we completed the bond.”

“Bond?” I racked my brain, trying to catch up to the conversation. “Is this what Finnian has been talking about?”

He froze, and the pulsing of my new marks slowed as well.

“What exactly did Finnian tell you?” His jaw twitched, and his face blanched more.

Shit. I’d thrown Finnian into the darkness withoutmeaning to. “He didn’t tell meanything.He only said that he believed I wouldn’t die if I survived the trials.”

“Did he now?” Tavish gritted out and took a few steps back, his wings spreading, making it clear he was leaving.

I needed him to calm down before he confronted Finnian. I hadn’t meant to cause problems between them. “Tavish, please don’t go.” I stood, the bottom of my feet still aching but, thankfully, nothing like before the bath. “I … I need to understand what’s going on.” I placed my hands on his shoulders, and his body relaxed.

His face softened before it turned icier than I’d ever seen it. His markings were now covered, which made me feel more vulnerable.

“It’s better if you don’t because it doesn’t change a thing,” he replied, pushing my hands off him. “My people are my responsibility, and to save them, you must die. There’s no question about it.”

The finality of his words was like cold water being splashed all over me. How had I been so stupid as to allow him to kiss me, especially when he’d made it clear that no matter what, I’d die? I’d deluded myself into believing he wouldn’t kill me when I should’ve been focusing on saving myself. By looking for safety from someone other than myself, I’d given a piece of my heart to the person who’d sealed my fate by bringing me here.

I’d been so careless and, worse, stupid.

I couldn’t stop myself from asking the one question I needed an answer to before everything between us shattered like glass. “So this meantnothing?”

He winced and closed his eyes before opening them again, their color dark like a stormy night. “Sprite, it doesn’t matter because, at the end of the night, our circumstanceshaven’t changed.” He turned, flying to the door, leaving me in the middle of the night.

And somehow, someway, I knew he wasn’t coming back.

When he left and the door shut, I felt more alone than ever. I could’ve sworn that Tavish had ripped my heart from my chest and taken it with him, leaving me feeling cold and hollow, a shell of myself.

I sobbed, flopped back onto the bed, and stared at the sky, which darkened until not even the moon was visible. The only light I could see was the glow of the tattoo on my chest, which had my heart aching even more.

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