Page 11 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

“Why?” I hear the frown in his voice.

I throw my arms out. “I was born this way.” Born this way and not willing to apologize for it. “Ask the gods if you’re so determined to find an answer.”

It’s true that I deceived him by pretending to be Jasalyn, but I never meant for either of us to catch feelings. I certainly wouldn’t ever ask to fall for someone only to have them disappointed when they discover my true appearance.

“That’s not...” He shakes his head and lowers himself to his sleeping roll. “Get some sleep.”

I shift to put out the lantern at my bedside, but it goes dark before I can reach it. “Magic is rather convenient, isn’t it?”

I ask, if only because lying here in the dark so close to him tangles my insides into knots of nerves and longing and grief

for what I lost with him but also never had.

“Magic just is,” Misha says. “Sometimes it’s as much a weakness as a benefit. I would think you’d understand that. It’s not

like you’re human, though you certainly had me convinced there for a while.”

I want to ask if he understands why I did what I did now that he’s met Kendrick and knows more about what’s happening with

the princess. I want to ask if everything he felt for me is gone. To ask if he thinks he could ever—

I smash the thought before it can go any further.

“I had to be careful about using my magic my whole life,” I explain. “The Seven have their elders watch for suspicious amounts

of magic use. As elves living in a fae-excluding Elora, we had to hide. It was a careful balance between using enough to learn

and not so much as to pull unwanted notice toward my family.” I clutch the strand of Jas’s hair to my chest. I’m not sure

why I’m telling him all this. It’s not like he cares what my childhood was like or why I am so unpracticed at wielding my

magic.

Just when I think he won’t reply at all, his voice breaks through the darkness. “I can’t imagine what that would be like. The few times I’ve had to avoid using mine, I felt like I was holding my breath. Magic is life. Suppressing it feels like death.”

I close my eyes. I’m afraid to sleep. Afraid that I’ll open my eyes and discover this is all just another illusion planted

by Konner. Or worse, that sleep will bring visions of blood pouring from Orlen’s lips when I pulled my sword from his chest.

“Why you?” I ask, if only to avoid my own thoughts. “Why not send a sentinel or one of my brother’s team?”

The silence stretches. I hear him shifting on his bedroll and wonder if he’s rolling toward me. Wonder how much of me his

keen fae eyes can make out in the darkness. Wonder how much of him I could see if I had the courage to look.

“We needed someone powerful enough to get into the prison and break into the minds of those who guard the wards,” he says.

“Only once the wards were down could I portal in and out. I had the gifts we needed to do the job, and since we don’t know

who we can trust, it made sense for me to come.”

I don’t know what I wanted him to say. That he couldn’t handle knowing I might be in danger and he insisted on coming for

me himself? That there was nothing so important as saving the woman he loves? I am ridiculous. My relationship with Misha

was as fake as the one in my dreams.

But then something he said clicks and my breath catches. I sit up in bed. “Misha.”

“What?”

“You said you met Hale and his group?”

“Yes. They found us.” A beat. “Why?”

“Who...” I press my hand to my chest to steady my racing heart. “Who was with him?”

“I don’t remember all their names. A female, a couple of males.”

“Just two males or three?”

“Just two,” he says, and my pounding heart steadies.

“No one named Shae? Green eyes, scars on the side of his head?”

“No. Their friend Shae disappeared the day Jasalyn did. I don’t know any more details.”

Shae wasn’t with them. I can only hope that since he disappeared, Hale found him out and knows what a traitor he is—knows

he wanted me to die. “Good.”

“Why?”

I focus on keeping my breathing even. “Shae tried to get me killed. I think he’s working with Erith.”

“We all thought Erith was behind your abduction. Your brother works for him, right?”

I hesitate, recalling my conversation with Konner. You are assuming so much. “I think so.”

“And he didn’t kill you. They had you for eight months and kept you in stasis rather than ending your life the way legend

says your father always planned to. So if Shae wanted you to die when you went after my Hall of Doors, if he was trying to

get you killed on behalf of Erith, but then Konner kept you alive all these months... what changed?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. Konner told me he doesn’t want the same things as our father.”

“And you trust him?”

My heart aches in my chest. Yes, I trust Konner. But I trust the Konner from the dreams he planted. Which means I can’t trust the real Konner at all. “I don’t know.”

“We’ll figure it out. What matters is that you’re with us now.”

I force myself to lie back down. “Good night, Misha.” Emotion surges in my chest as I whisper the next words. “Thank you for

coming for me despite... everything. I’m lucky to count you as a friend.”

He grunts. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, shifter.”