Page 94 of Blade of Secrets (Bladesmith 1)

“It’s so dangerous. The fewer people who know about it the better.” I fiddle with my fingers, popping the joints and twisting the skin. I look down. More quietly, I whisper, “Knowing about the sword wouldn’t have stopped Kymora’s men from discovering you’re helping us.”

“I know.”

“But that’s not what you’re upset about. It’s that I didn’t trust you with it.”

“Yes.”

“I-if it means anything to you, I trust you now.”

I hear the breath enter his lungs. “It does mean something to me.”

I bite the inside of my cheek at the next break in conversation. Maybe I need to show him that I trust him? “Do you want to carry Secret Eater on the way to Galvinor? You’re the only one I’d trust to wield it.”

“I’m never touching it again,” he says before the words havequite left my mouth. “It feels… wrong when I hold it. Like it wasn’t meant for me.”

“Okay.”

At the next pause, I can feel the tension between us, thick as a cloud of smoke. I want it to abate.

He wants to forgive me. I want to forgive him.

But is it all irreparable?

“I can’t change the fact that Kymora will soon know about you,” I say. “But how can I make things better?”

Kellyn once said something similar to me. I wonder if he catches that.

When he doesn’t answer right away, I look up.

He was waiting for that. His eyes latch on to mine. “I want nothing else kept from me. No more lies. No more secrets. Is there anything more I should know?”

“Nothing,” I say.

But then I realize that’s not quite true. “Except, well…”

He raises a brow. “Well?”

I groan.

“What?” he asks.

“I really don’t want to tell you.”

“Ziva, no more secrets. You said you trusted me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s that Idon’t want you to know.”

“Why?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad. Whatever it is, you can tell me, and I’ll try not to react poorly.”

I groan again, attempt to gather my courage. “You’re connected to the sword in more ways than you think.” I bury my face into my hands and mumble the story. “I saw you before we met when you came into my shop. I was in the forge, working on Secret Eater. I hadn’t added the magic yet when you walked by on the street. And then… it was magicked.”

“I’m not following.”

“I may have said something about you aloud. A secret. And the sword ate it.”

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