Page 93 of Insolence
Shit. She’s got to be referring to my pheromones. My hand goes to my head while my heart threatens to punch right out of my chest.
“I don’t know what sort of dark magic you possess, but youtooksomething from me, Tiss.”
Frustration clots in my throat, forcing me to blink away tears. “What? What did I take?”
“I was hoping you could tell me! All I know is it felt like you were drainingsomething vital from me. Like you snatched a piece of me away.”
Draining her?I seriously wonder if I’m about to be sick all over her floor. I want to claw my skin off. I want toscream.
Her bottom lip trembles, but her features remain fierce as she says, “It was excruciating, and I wasparalyzedwhile you finished. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move a muscle until you were done. Ever since, I’ve been half-dead with fatigue.”
Shame sluices through my veins. I think of the strange glowing tattoos and my vision, my—
Myvisitfrom the goddess. But how could something that felt so right and good in the moment turn out so horribly?
The hard plaster digs into my shoulders, and I think of the prioress and her deadly dome. The thought of abusing a power that could hurt someone makes me want to shrink into the floor and disappear. I drag my sleeve over my tear-streaked face and whisper, “Are you going to be all right?”
Sadrie jerks her shoulders. “How do I know?”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I don’t know if I can control whatever happened last night, but I can fetch us some food, and then maybe we can discuss everything more calmly.”
“Like I said already, I need you to leave mealone.” The words are cold and uncompromising. Final. “That’s it, Tiss. No food, no more discussion. Just stay the hell away from me.”
Chapter 29
El
Approximately 4.5 Years Ago
Tiss shows up unexpectedly, shrouded beneath a hooded black cloak despite the rising heat.
I’m grinding ochre for pigment in front of my family’s house. Positioned under the old hazel tree, I cradle the largest of our granite mortars between my legs.
Pounding away at the dense chunks of rock is hard work. By and by, my labor yields an ever finer powder of muted brick red that’ll make an excellent gouache.
Ma will be pleased when she returns. She doesn’t have time to make pigments herself anymore.
I’m so absorbed in my work, I don’t notice her standing at the edge of our yard until she clears her throat. That’s when the thread between us tightens.
I glance up. “Tiss?” Pleasantly surprised, I stand and dust off my hands. Blot the sweat beading my forehead. “What brings you here?”
Her eyes dart up and down the street. She isn’t wearing her cloak with the rich violet-purple lining—Clan Madoc’s color—but a plain black one instead. “I was in the neighborhood.”
That’s interesting.I can’t guess why she’d lie.
My gaze skims over her delicately feminine features. Something I can’t define nags at the back of my mind. It’s murky and imprecise, scratching at the edges of my consciousness.
“Want to come inside? I made fresh tea not long ago.”
She hesitates, eyeing the shaded doorway.
“Nobody’s home,” I elaborate. “Pop’s at the shop till late, and Ma is in Nehel again. I swear, she spends more time with her dusty old manuscripts than us these days.”
Tiss flashes a quick smile, her features relaxing. Moves toward the house.
Once indoors, I remove my dusty work apron and hang up her cloak. I wash my hands at the low kitchen basin that serves double duty for the laundry. Splash water over my neck and face.
She’s behind me, arms wound round me, before I’m done drying off. Before the ochre-tinted suds finish swirling down the drain. She nuzzles into the damp hair at my nape. “Gods, El, you smell so good. It isn’t fair.” Her lips brush my skin with every word, sending shivers chasing all over me.
