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Kyldare sneers, but his gaze flickers across the clearing, his eyes intent. When his attention returns to me, I have to fight the urge to swing my sword at his throat.

And yet…Iamcurious.

Kyldare’s boots are dusty, his cloak torn. He desperately needs a shave, and a purple bruise has bloomed across his jaw, as if he recently took a punch.

I’ve never seen him look so…disheveled.

And the soldier’s words from earlier run on a loop in my mind.

“Kyldare is no longer our problem.”

“You betrayed Vicana,” I breathe, and his expression tightens.

“Yes. And now I’m offering an alliance.”

“An alliance?” My voice carries across the clearing, high and thready. “You told me you killed my friends!”

I keep my gaze planted on him, my hand tightening around the hilt of my sword. In a fight to the death, Kyldare will likely kill me. But I’ll still make him bleed.

“I could have endedyouat any time,” Kyldare says, arching an eyebrow meaningfully. “And I didn’t. Ask yourself why.”

“You needed me to tell you where the grimoire was.”

“And yet I left you alone and safe for months at a time.”

“Trapped inside my own body!”

He idly waves one hand. “Do you truly think I couldn’t have tortured that information out of you? I convinced both the witchandthe queen that you were unbreakable. I convinced them that the only way to learn the location was to hold you prisoner until your mind gave out.” He gives me a slow, knowing smile. “But we both know I could have broken you.”

A cold, greasy sweat breaks out on the back of my neck, and I squeeze the hilt of my sword even tighter, my hand beginning to throb.

No. He doesn’t get to do this.

I force my hand to relax, taking one deep breath. And then another.

I’d already given so much of my mind away in that tower, there was little left for Kyldare to break. And I won’t let him watch me break now.

I force my expression into something grimly neutral. “So why didn’t you?”

“My goddess didn’t want you dead. She wanted you to meet Calpharos.”

“Why?”

“Because years ago, she had a dream. And she knew that together, you and the dark god would find the grimoires.”

“So you thought you’d allow us to get close to the grimoires and then what…take them for yourself?” Understanding flickers within my mind. “You were never planning to give the first grimoire to Vicana. You wanted to give it to your goddess instead.”

“Vicana is arrogant. She used one of her fae underlings to bind me with a blood vow. I vowed to do everything I could to find the grimoires. But I never vowed to give them to her.” He smiles. “A ludicrous oversight. And one that worked out for me since my goddess told me the best way for me to find the grimoire would be to wait untilyoumet the dark god.”

“You kept me trapped and alone in that fucking tower, hoping Calpharos would find me. So you could follow us.”

“I didn’t anticipate you being able to use the grimoire’s power to break free. And I didn’t know that the man who approached that day was the dark god. I can sense the power of the gods, and yet I sensed nothing from him.”

“Because he hadn’t yet found the grimoires.”

Kyldare glances away, his shoulders hunching. “Yes, well that was a mistake, and one I was punished for. I should have known the dark god might appear as a mortal.”

“That’s why you were hunting me? Why you tried to take me back? Because you thought I hadn’t yet met the dark god?”