Page 101 of Of Blood and Banes
As I stare up at him, I swallow back the tension collecting in my throat. “There’s no reason for you to stay on the floor.”
A small grin lifts his lips, but it doesn’t touch his eyes. “Oh, are you going soft on me, kitten?”
Clenching my jaw, I grab the long chain leash connecting his shackles to the brick wall. I swivel back to the bed and secure the chains to the headboard rails. Ripping open the sheets, I pluck the pillows off from the top of the bed and place them in a line to split the mattress down the middle.
Turning to him, I motion to the left half. “Your side.” Then I gesture to the opposite side of the pillow wall I’ve constructed. “My side.”
“What about…” He takes the pillows and shifts them until the line splits the top half from the bottom. With that wicked grin, he mockingly gestures to the top half of the bed. “Mine.” Then he gestures down to the bottom half where someone’s feet would go. “Yours.”
I snag a pillow and smack him with it as he snickers. Quickly rearranging the pillow line back down to split the left and rightside of the bed, I glance back at him. “Now get in before I change my mind.”
We both settle into the bed. It feels far too intimate to face him, so I turn my back to him and close my eyes.
“Remember that night when you moaned my name in your sleep?” he chuckles.
My eyes flash open. “Is this you asking for a death wish?”
Silence. He takes the hint. My eyes flutter closed again.
Marge and I stand in the darkness a few hours later, staring out at the shadowy figures of trees stretching into the starry sky. My mind wanders to Darian, second-guessing if I properly secured his chain around the iron-wrought headboard before I left with Marge.
Marge nods at me, encouraging me to begin our training session. I crouch down, staring at the dirt, not quite touching it. Exhaustion has become my constant state, lingering over me like a blanket. I can’t recall the last time I’ve gone without training with Marge, flying with Sethan, or fighting with Darian. I hesitate as a soft breeze carries my hair off my forehead and brushes it across my face.
“What’s wrong?” Marge asks.
I stare at the ground, already sensing the energy humming beneath the surface. Without looking in her direction, I murmur, “What if…what happens if I lose control?”
“You won’t.”
“You have so much confidence in me.” I turn to look up at her. “How do you know I won’t?”
“Would you die for the ones you love?”
It’s not a question in my mind. “Yes.”
“Would you kill for someone you love?”
I flinch at the thought, and my mind immediately drifts to Daeja. I would gladly kill the King if it meant she was safe. Does that make me a terrible person? What if it meant having to kill Darian, Melaina, Marge, Archie, or even…Cole? Where can I possibly draw the line?
“I…I don’t know,” I admit in a whisper.
She nods, as if she already knew my answer long before she even asked the question. “Maybe you won’t ever know. But the world we live in today is not one to make that decision lightly. You hold the entire fate of the realm in your hands, Katerina. Make sure you make the right choices.”
I blow out a breath. “Is that supposed to convince me you trust in me?”
She shrugs nonchalantly. “No. But it’s the truth. And sometimes you need to hear the truth, no matter how painful and hard it may be.” Her eyes are soft, concealing something painful and raw behind them.
“What are you hiding from me, Marge?”
Her lips form a tight line.
I stand up, refusing to practice channeling until she tells me. “I can see it in your face. Tell me. I’m not pulling until you do.”
She shakes her head, then turns, attempting to leave.
I snag her shoulder, keeping her from taking another step. “I mean it. If you truly trust me, then trust me with the whole truth. What have you not been telling me?”
“You persistent girl…” Her gaze falls to my hand wrapping around her thin shoulder.
