Page 84 of Scorched Earth

“To be polite to Nic, as he delivered it.”

Marcus’s eyes narrowed, the wheels of his mind turning, albeit slower than usual. Or so she hoped.

“What did he want in exchange?”

Apparently notthatmuch slower. Teriana’s confidence wavered, because as she’d anticipated, wine and lust were not enough to turn Marcus into a fool. He knew her well enough to see through any lies she might spin, no matter how well crafted. Which meant she was better off deploying the truth. “He’s worried that, in trying to escape Hostus, he’s dragged the Fifty-First into something worse. Since you won’t tell him otherwise, he asked me to discover your intentions.”

“Why would you agree to be used in such a fashion?”

“Because I’m also interested in your intentions.”

She’d reached the end of the table, the silk of her skirts brushing the legs of the heavy chair he sat upon. Marcus was no longer watching her, his attention instead fixed on a box on the table before him, but she didn’t miss the way his fingers flexed on the arms of the chair.

“You could have asked.” He coughed to clear his throat. “No need to dress up like a senator’s mistress.”

Anger rose in her chest. “Really, Marcus? Because you made it quite clear that I was not to come near you and was to stay out of your plans. You were a right prick about it, if we are being honest.”

“By all means,” he muttered, words slightly slurred. “Let’s be honest. That is bound to go well.”

She huffed out a breath at his sarcasm. “At least have the decency to look at me while I’m speaking to you.”

Marcus didn’t move. Didn’t so much as twitch.

Teriana’s anger burned hot. Gods-damn him for acting like this—like a petulant toddler. She kicked violently at the back leg of his chair. The chair twisted even as she lost her balance on the stupid heels, only Marcus catching hold of her hips keeping her from breaking her ankle, though she still yelped as pain lanced up her leg.

“Are you hurt?”

His hands were icy through the thin silk of her dress, but it was his eyes, which were squeezed shut, that held her attention. The desperateness in his expression melted Teriana’s anger into grief, and her voice caught as she asked, “Why won’t you look at me?”

He didn’t answer, only jerked his hands away from her hips to grasp the arms of the chair again.

“If you ever cared anything for me, then you’ll prove it and lookme in the eye.” Her whole body shook because this was so much worse than she’d thought it would be.

“It’s because I care that I won’t.”

A sob caught in her throat, the ache in his voice a knife to her chest. The smart thing would be to let it go, to walk away, but… sheneededanswers. Needed to understand how it had come to this, because the paltry explanation she’d been given fell short. “You’re being a coward.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go out into the camp.” The threat slipped out, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. “I’ll scream it so that every cursed one of them knows that you aren’t man enough to look me in the eye.”

“Do it.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. “Look at me, Marcus, or I’ll leave. And I don’t mean this room, I mean this camp. Quintus will help me get out, and I’ll go and do what needs doing without you.”

Marcus’s eyes snapped open. “You will do no such thing!”

Their eyes locked, and all the world fell away as she stared into their depths, where all his secrets lurked. All his demons. Though in truth, she suspected they were one and the same. “I am not conquered, Marcus. You have no authority over me, but I am giving you the opportunity to convince me that I can still trust your word.” Not allowing him the chance to respond, she added, “My people are depending on me for this. Cassius is going to kill them if these paths aren’t secured, and every day that passes, it seems less and less like you’ve any intention of securing them. Or maybe… maybe that you don’t know how.”

Silence stretched, and Teriana swore her heart ceased to beat while she waited for him to answer. While she waited for him to confirm the fears that had been growing in her heart.

Instead, he said, “I hate that dress.” His gaze moved from her face to her throat, then down the length of her body. “One more sign that the Empire has sunk its claws into you, made you its tool, used you to achieve its ends. It’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her cheeks burned, and Teriana didn’t know if she was angry or humiliated or both, only that the weight of everything she felt was too great. With a noise that was half sob and half shriek, she tore at the knot of fabric at the nape of her neck, and the gown slipped down her body. She ripped the sandals off her feet and hurled them across the room, then snatched up the dress to scrub away the cosmetics she’d so carefully applied before tossing it aside as well. “Happy?”

“No,” he answered. “I’m not.”

Though she stood nearly naked, wearing only her plain cotton undergarments, it struck Teriana that it was not her who was exposed. That, for the first time since they’d been reunited, his walls were down, and the misery she saw in his eyes was a vise around her chest.