Page 267 of Scorched Earth

“But it’s of a lot of consequence to Teriana.”

Not half an hour ago, Marcus had felt in perfect control of the situation, everything going according to plan, and nownothingwas.

Get rid of him!

“Did you know that I defended you?” Agrippa jolted to his feet, taking another mouthful of wine while he paced. “I called Lydia a liar. Said she was full of shit when she told me what you’d done to her. Had to eat crow on that because every gods-damned wordwas true. Then I said Teriana was safe with the Thirty-Seventh, that you’d treat her with courtesy, when it turned out that you were turning on the charm to get her to tell you everything that you wanted to know. Not just the Empire’s favorite weapon, but its favoritewhore.”

Marcus’s fingers started to curl into fists, and he pressed them flat, biting the insides of his cheeks to keep from lashing out.

“Do you know how wrecked Teriana is?” Agrippa asked. “I watched her fall on her knees before Lydia to beg her forgiveness. Watched her cry so hard she could barely breathe because she believed she’d betrayed her best friend by falling in love with you. Watched her take the blame for your cruel manipulation when it should beyouwho is on trial. It should beyouwho is begging forgiveness. And instead you’re here, doubling down. Tell me, Marcus, is there anything that youwon’tdo? Is there any line you won’t cross?”

The vision of Teriana on her knees, the vision of herbeggingfor forgiveness, exploded the towering black walls in Marcus’s mind, sending shards spinning off into nothingness as emotion surged. “Teriana hasnothingto apologize for!”

“And yet she apologized on her knees.”

Marcus was on his feet, though he didn’t remember standing. “Everything she did was for the sake of saving her people! A more selfless woman you’ll never meet, and I’ll personally cut out the tongue of anyone who says otherwise!”

“And yet you used her. Manipulated her. Seduced her for information on your opponent.”

“That’s not… I didn’t…” Marcus pressed his fingers to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut, head throbbing and his breath starting to grow strained. “I loved her.”

I love her.

It was like being drowned. Like the walls had not been walls at all but a oppressive dam that held back every awful emotion, and they flooded over him now without mercy. As did pain. Awful relentless pain in his skull that nearly brought him to his knees.

Silence stretched, then Agrippa said, “Why are you here?”

It wasn’t what Marcus had anticipated Agrippa would ask, and he dropped his hands and met the other man’s gaze. “Because… because those were the Dictator’s orders.”

“Yes, butwhy?”

The question provoked a frantic sort of tension in him, and Marcus swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry as sand.

“Gamdesh is prime territory,” Agrippa said. “Rich and fertile. Thecenter of trade. Yet you’ve all but abandoned it to come attack a nation that is quite literally rotting, the land left for the living being eaten away by the day. And if you win, it will only be to face down an army of the dead. Why are you here? What does Cassius want?”

A tremor ran through him. “The gold mines.”

“Gold mines you can’t even reach.” Agrippa’s gaze was steady. Relentless. “Gold isn’t the reason you’re here. Nor is the reason to take the surrender of a crumbling nation.”

No, it wasn’t.

“Is it because he needs you to silence Lydia?” Agrippa asked. “Even that makes little sense given that Teriana told Senator Valerius everything. The truth is out, and it is unlikely to cause Cassius any particular grief given the power he already holds. So why?”

Because she needs to pay for ruining your life!the voice screamed, pressure building inside Marcus’s skull.Because she needs to die!“He wants her dead.”

“Who?”

His lips parted to sayCassius, because it was Cassius who had threatened him if he didn’t get rid of her. Threatened his family. Yet it was not Cassius who drove his desire to put Lydia in the grave.

“You?”

Marcus didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.

“You say you loved Teriana, yet you have come to murder the woman she loves as a sister. That doesn’t seem like love, it seems like hate.”

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Teriana. But for all the walls had crumbled, the voice still lurked in his mind, clawing at him. “Lydia ruined everything.”

“No.Youdid that. Just as you sent three hundred of the Thirty-Seventh to their deaths by believing that we’d give her up without a fight.” Agrippa set the bottle down on the table. “Mudamora declines your terms of surrender. We’re through here.”