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“We should get back.”

We did not speak for the rest of the walk, and when the castle came into view, I felt a sense of dread. I did not know where it came from or what spurred it until Casamir paused and faced me. Suddenly, I realized I did not know how to move beyond this point. There was no going back to whatever had existed between us before, and while that had not been easy, it was better than this strange longing inside me now.

“I,” he began but did not continue.

“What?” I prompted.

He took a moment to speak, but as he did, his tone became more biting.

“Another letter from my true name.” I could not help feeling disgusted by his words, and still he continued. “Did you not set the rules for our encounters? A letter for each time I come by your hand?”

I was so shocked by his words, I couldn’t think, could do nothing but strike him. My hand stung, and his cheek was red.

“How dare you.”

He did not flinch, did not even press his hand to the mark on his face to soothe the pain.

“I only thought I should give you something you wouldn’t regret.”

“When it comes to you, Casamir, I regreteverything.”

I turned from him and fled.

The sooner I learned his true name, the better.

I had to get out of here.

Chapter Fourteen

Rule of Three

I watched my creature retreat with all the fury of a storm. I did not understand her. Perhaps I did not want to. I had given her what she wanted, offered her a letter from my name so that her shame might not feel so heavy, and instead of expressing gratitude, she had struck me.

It is because you are an idiot.

The mirror’s voice echoed in my mind, and I ground my teeth against his words.

“She clearly regretted our time together,” I said aloud.

Did you ask her what she regrets?

“She said it!”

Only after you offered a letter. Perhaps she was not so regretful but more embarrassed.

“They are the same.”

They are not the same.

“You expect me to rejoice that my creature was embarrassed about our time together?”

Perhaps it has nothing to do with you, said the mirror, who paused and then added,Idiot.

I pressed my hand to my face, but the memory of her lived beneath my skin and all over my body. I knew I would never be rid of this hold she had on me. It was just as strong as the Mountains that had cursed me, and I did not know why, but I felt it with more certainty than I had anything else in my long life. It felt silly to think such a thing, especially in the aftermath of what we had done, but I had had sex with many, many people, and I had never felt this way before.

Perhaps this was the Mountains’ attempt to curse me further. Had they taken her flesh only to make me crave it?

You have always craved it. You have always craved her. You only expected that your appetite would ebb once you had a taste, but it has only made you ravenous.