Page 225 of A Realm of Shattered Lies

Deliberately, he unwraps his fingers from my wrist, clearing the path for my dagger to sever his neck.

The dagger trembles in the air.

I grit my teeth, begging my muscles to bring it down, to end this nightmare.

They don’t obey.

“Why?” I ask, tears streaming down my face. “Why can’t I kill you?”

Farin cocks his head to the side, still lying on the ground, so it stirs up a cloud of dust. “Believe it or not, I’ve been asking myself the same question about you.”

This time, when Farin reaches up, he slips his fingers between mine and the dagger. Trembling, I let him pry it from my hand, and he tosses it to the other end of the cave. Then he props himself up on his elbow, his other hand finding its way to the curve of my neck just behind my ear. He runs his fingers through my cropped hair, the calloused tips gentle against my skull.

“I think, Wanderer,” he says, “that I might do something foolish.”

“You’re a monster,” I say, choking back tears, because I’m no longer talking to Farin.

Farin’s eyes examine my mouth. “So I’ve been told.”

“I just tried to kill you.”

“Precisely why this is going to make me a fool.”

And then he pushes himself off the ground, pulling me toward him in the same deliberate motion.

Farin brushes his lips against mine, softly at first, before deepening the kiss. It’s somehow both hungry and slow, erratic and intentional.

Tiny jolts of lightning scorch my skin, lighting the path to my toes, and I find myself running my fingers through his hair, pulling him toward me with matched desire.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whisper in between kisses, though my words are half-hearted.

“I’ve spent plenty of time doing things I shouldn’t be doing, Wanderer,” he says, pressing the name to my mouth. “Pretty sure this isn’t one of them.”

And it’s foolish and stupid, and I’m certain I’ll come to regret it, but I let him kiss me. Let myself melt into his arms, relax into his touch.

I let my guard down, and though I half expect him to, Farin doesn’t use it against me. There’s no dagger in his hand waiting to puncture my lungs. Just hands that intend to hold.

He’s still kissing me when the ground trembles. When in the distance, something roars, shaking the entire cavern.

He’s still holding me when the stalactite above our head is severed from the cave ceiling.

And then, he’s not holding me at all.

My back slams against the other side of the cavern wall as Farin shoves me away from him.

When the stalactite hits, it’s Farin who takes the blow.

CHAPTER 92

BLAISE

I can’t seem to get last night out of my head.

Though I suppose it was technically earlier today, not last night.

The way my brain keeps time still hasn’t adjusted to this nocturnal lifestyle, and I’m starting to wonder if it ever will.

I don’t sleep, not with the buzz of Nox’s blood fogging my mind, setting me on edge and leaving me craving more.

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