Page 118 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

“You should have left me to die, Azir.”

“You unleashed powerful green magic to fight your attackers, Ursiana. That doesn’t strike me as someone who’s given up on life.”

“I hadn’t given up. Of course not. But if I knew that the alternative to dying was being stuck with you, I’d obviously would have reconsidered it.”

“Why? It makes you feel bad? Maybe you deserve it.”

“Fuck you, Azir.”

Her tone surprised him. “Using nasty words now?”

“My feelings are nasty. There are no words to express them—but some of them come closer than others.”

He smiled. “At least your nastiness is surfacing. Better than hiding them under a sweet veneer.”

“You’re the one who knows all about hiding. Is that why you made this pathetic attempt to rescue me? Can it be that you have some sliver of remorse for what you’ve done to me?”

“A mountain of remorse and shame, yes. For having trusted you once.”

“Trust? You’re kidding me, right? You used me and then left me to fend for myself. My fault for being a gullible idiot? Sure. I accept that, I accept my blame. My mistake, for sure. But I can still loathe you for taking advantage of the innocent, hopeful girl I once was.”

He rolled his eyes. “Taking advantage… We’re past that, aren’t we? I see no reason to pretend anymore. Weren’t you the one playing me and the Wolfmark prince, Sebastian, at the same time? I don’t understand why you didn’t marry him. Unless he also knew who you truly were.”

“Why? You expected me not to talk to anyone? Not to dance with anyone? And yet I don’t recall ever dancing with him, not that it would have been wrong. Is that your flimsy excuse?” She waved a hand. “Spare me. Just say you got what you wanted and were done. I’ve made my peace with it long ago.”

Why was she insisting on acting innocent? “Ursiana. Please. There’s no need to pretend anymore. Not after all this time. I saw you in the garden with Sebastian.”

She laughed a bitter laugh. “You saw me? You definitely didn’t, because I wasn’t there. You’re either lying for some foolish reason, or your vision was severely impaired.”

“I’m not lying. I saw it.”

“How could you have seen something that didn’t happen?”

“It happened. It was you. I realized you were lying. That was why I couldn’t look at you anymore.”

She paused, staring at him. “So that was why you didn’t propose.”

“Yes.”

She laughed bitterly. “Fantastic, just fantastic. See, I spent my whole life thinking you’re an asshole who just wanted to use me for a good time then toss me. But actually, no. It’s a thousand times worse.” There was fury in her voice. “You think I have no honor. You think I would be capable of something disgusting like that. I spent the last years of my life hating you. How can it be even worse?”

Her anger almost made him think twice, almost made him believe her, but then, he also trusted his own eyes. “Because it’s what I saw.”

“Fuck you, Azir. A thousand times fuck you.”

He felt something grabbing his foot and dropping him to the hard ground. Then there was something around him. A rope. No, a vine. Then more and more vines were constricting his chest.

“What are you doing, woman?”

“It’s my magic. It gets out of hand. Aren’t you the most powerful king? Do something.”

The vines were making it hard for him to breathe. “What? Kill you?”

“Maybe. Or disappear in the hollow. At least I won’t have to hear your rubbish again.”

He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t slip away, and couldn’t kill her either. It took a lot of effort, but he managed to speak even if he was almost being strangled. “If you don’t control it, you’ll kill me.”

“You deserve it.” She smiled. “Actually, no. You deserve worse.”

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