Page 132 of Thief of Souls
Tough armored shells.
Careless attitudes.
A yearning neither of them can quite hide.
In that they could be twins.
“No.” Soraya bites her lip. “Father will kill her the second he realizes you want her. He’ll snuff her light, her soul, all so that he can deny you. He’ll do it to hurt you. He won’t even sparehera thought. Youcan’tlove her. You can’t have her. Because you will cost hereverything. I know what you are, but you can’t have her.”
Stillness radiates through me. I know Zemira is bound to her father’s will. It’s my one eternal frustration: that she can never simply cast off the yoke of his demands.
But….
“What do you mean, he will snuff her soul?”
Soraya’s shoulders sink. “He cuts our souls from us the second we’re born and wears them in a soul-trap around his neck. He has hundreds of them. Thousands. If he thinks she’s betrayed him, then he’ll crush her soul-trap and kill her instantly.” Those hard black eyes meet mine. “He promised her that if she brought him the Dragon’s Heart, then he would return her soul. She’d be free of him, free from our court.”
The words expand within me, leaving me breathless. When Soraya stole the amulet, I thought little of it—just another fae king or prince making a power play.
But Zemira knew the truth.
She knew it was never the amulet.
And all she had to do to save herself was betray my secret.
But she clearly kept it instead.
It changes everything. It all finally makes sense. And even though there’s a heavy weight inside my chest, I can’t help feeling a little breathless.
Zemira never wanted to betray me. She’s warned me a hundred times.Don’t fall in love with me. I will betray you. I will always betray you.
I always wondered what sort of hold he had on her.
And now I know.
Now I know what the transaction will be.
“I didn’t think you would care,” I tell Soraya quietly. “She told me about the final test. She said you betrayed her. You left her behind to die.”
Soraya looks away. “You don’t know my sister. I was the one holding her back. I knew she’d stay with me physically. I knew I was slowing her down. And when she slipped and was hanging off that cliff…. She can punch into shadows. All she had to do was let me go and she would make it to the finish line. But she had to let me go first. She had to let me go.”
“So you let her believe you left her to die?”
Soraya’s lashes lift, revealing eyes as bleak and hard as obsidian. “Love is a weakness. Love will get you killed. I finally understood that.”
And now I understand it too. “We would do anything for love. Despite the cost.”
I slowly set her down. Soraya grabs my arm. “What are you planning to do?”
“What makes you think I’m planning anything?”
“You have that look in your eye,” she retorts. “Don’t do it. Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it. You’ll kill her.”
“You’ve got it wrong.” Maybe it’s reckless, but I can’t help smiling at her. “I’m a dragon. We don’t let go once we’ve found something we want. Now I just have to find somethinghewants.”
I set a finger to her nose, drawing on the enormous well of power that binds me to these lands.
Soraya opens her mouth to argue, leaves swirling around her and lacing in her dark hair—
