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“Get away from me,” she said hoarsely.

“Would you just—”

“I saidget away!” Her voice rose to a scream.

Tears burned in her eyes, and she didn’t know if it was fury or grief. She’d wanted him to have a future, but now—now he’d thrown it away.

“Taly, please wait—”

For her. Without even having to ask, sheknewhe’d done it for her. Because her life had always meant more to him than his own.

Love always came with a cost, but what if that cost was too high? What if it wasn’t worth it?

Why was she the only one who could see that it wasn’t worth it?!

Skye finally caught up, snagging her by the arm. “Please.” His hands cupped her face, slid to her shoulders. His eyes were bright and pleading. “Please, just listen—”

She slammed her hands against his chest, her palms stinging. It was like hitting a brick wall.

He had lied. He had kept things from her. And maybe she had no right to her anger—not with everything she still had to atone for. But right now, with a hundred other worries crowding her mind, it was easier being angry.

So much morecatharticto scream and rage because it still wasn’t right!

Taly wrenched away. Skye snatched her wrists, whipping her around when she tried to kick at him. One arm clamped around her waist.

“You’re going to listen—”

Like hell— “Let me go,” she snarled.

“The Queen warned me—”

“I said,let go!” Then she stomped down hard on his foot with the heel of her boot.

Skye didn’t even flinch. Just exhaled a long, slow breath.

“Okay, Tink,” he muttered. “We’ll do it your way.”

Then he whipped her back around, stooped—

Taly let out an enraged scream as he flung her over his shoulder and strode into the house.

“I amnotinvolved,” Ivain muttered as he passed them in the hall. “If they kill each other, maybe I’ll finally get some peace.”

Taly kicked, thrashed, and clawed at his back, but Skye’s grip held, his long-legged strides carrying them with grace and ease down the stairs to the training hall.

Where he unceremoniously dumped her in the middle of the sparring pit.

Her dignity was still sputtering, but her body knew what to do. She was back on her feet in an instant, teeth bared in a vicious growl.

Skye growled right back, “There she is.” He looked half-wild, finally pushed beyond some unspoken limit, as he swung his cloak off his shoulders and hurled it to the ground. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get to the making-up part of this fight. So, if you’re not going to use your words, use your fists.”

He threw his breastplate to the side, his gloves, his vambraces. His shirt was stained with sweat and dirt, and heripped that off too, leaving only his shinguards over low-slung leather pants.

“Well?” he barked and flung his arms wide. She gritted her teeth, staring him down from across the ring. “Come on, Taly. Take a swing at me. I know you want to.”

He wasn’t wrong. And since he was offering…

With a snarl, she swung—