Page 41

Needing to escape the oppressive confines of the vault after the exchange, Ahnna left the building, her guards and several soldiers trailing at her heels.

“Where is His Highness?” she asked, not seeing James anywhere in sight, unease filling her.

“He took a company to search for whoever was following us, my lady,” one of the men answered. “They just rode out.”

Overhead, clouds had gathered, and a gust of wind sent Ahnna’s hair blowing out behind her. She could feel a charge in the air. From the coming storm, yes, but also something else. “How big a company?”

“Three men, Your Highness. Enough to run any spies off.”

Her jaw tightened, knowing he hadn’t taken more because he’d wanted them to stay with her and Virginia.

Taking Dippy’s reins from one of the stable boys, Ahnna mounted her horse, ignoring the protests of the soldiers as she rode down the street to the gate. The wind continued to rise, whipping her hair and tearing at her skirts, and the citizens were all scowling at the sky and drawing indoors anything that might be blown away.

As she reached the gates, one of the soldiers standing guard said, “You should head indoors, my lady. This storm will bring heavy rain and worse, mark my words.”

She could smell the rain. Smell the charge of lightning and violence the way she did in a typhoon, except somehow different. Somehow worse.

“How long ago did he ride out?” she asked, resting a hand against Dippy’s neck. Her horse was pawing at the ground, sensing the storm and Ahnna’s unease, and she knew it made him want to run.

“Not long, my lady.” The man squinted down the road. “They’ll come back to escape the storm. Winds won’t be too bad here, but over the crest on the Ranges, it could be a much different story.”

Ahnna could have told him that, for she’d seen the blackness of the sky to the east.

“Lady Ahnna!”

She turned her head to see Georgie striding up the road, displeasure written across his face.

“You should send men after them,” she said to the gate guard. “They’ve been gone too long.”

“With respect, my lady, it’s not been more than half a turn of the glass. Those are experienced men.”

Ahnna barely heard his words, her eyes on the riderless horse galloping down the road toward them.

A very dead soldier dangling from one stirrup.

Ahnna dug in her heels, and Dippy exploded down the road at a gallop, shouts of protest following in her wake. But she didn’t care. Not as she passed the incoming horse and saw two arrows jutting out of the soldier’s chest.

They’d come under attack. James had come under attack.

Lying flat to Dippy’s neck, she let the gelding have his head so that she could retrieve one of her knives. It wouldn’t do much in a battle, but it was better than riding into a fight empty-handed.

Within moments, she saw where the conflict had crossed the road, dirt and brush torn apart, and she followed the trail, her chest clenching as she reached a small clearing and saw still forms on the ground.

“James!” she shouted, leaping off Dippy’s back and running to the first figure. A soldier. As was the other. James was nowhere in sight. But the ground was torn up with hoofprints heading east, swiftly joined by more.

East into the storm.

Snatching up the dead soldier’s bow and quiver, she vaulted onto Dippy’s back and took off after them.

They were probably only minutes ahead of her, but so much could happen in that time. All it took was a well-placed arrow between the shoulders, and it was over.

But Ahnna had never been very good at conceding defeat.

The terrain sloped upward through the trees, the ground rough, and Ahnna let Dippy choose his footing. Ahead, she saw a soldier standing next to a lamed horse, the man cursing. Red hair and the distinctive knife in his hand told her he was Amaridian, and nocking an arrow, Ahnna took aim and let it fly.

It sank into his neck, but she was past him before his body hit the ground.

Higher and higher she climbed, and then her horse exploded over the crest of the hill, and before her was wide-open terrain.

The Ranges.

Black clouds obscured the sky, but in the distance, she could see a dozen mounted figures in pursuit of a single familiar form.

Rage overtook her fear, and leaning over her horse’s neck, Ahnna growled, “Catch them.”

As though he knew her will, Dippy’s stride lengthened, and he flew.

Boom!

The rolling thunder of the storm drowned out the sound of his hooves as he tore after the other horses, every part of him wanting to catch them. To pass them, and Ahnna knew that the horse beneath her would win any race she ever set him to.

Wind whipped her hair and tore at her skirts, but Ahnna ignored the storm, eyes all for the men who were trying to shoot James in the back.

Dippy drew closer, faster than any of the Amaridian mounts by far, and drawing an arrow from the quiver, Ahnna let go of the reins and sat up straight. She’d spent her life shooting from a tossing ship deck. Fighting wind and rain and worse, and with a good bow, Ahnna never missed.

Waiting for the storm to take a breath, she let the arrow loose.

It soared through the air and struck the man at the rear in his spine, what cry of pain he might have made muffled by the storm. He rolled off the back of his mount, landing in a way that ensured his death even if the arrow hadn’t.

Ahnna pressed onward, Dippy gaining on the group with every stride.

But Maven was flagging. The mare was bleeding from the haunches, and the Amaridians were gaining ground.

Ahnna shot another one. Then another.

Dippy leapt over their bodies without losing his stride.

Taking aim at a large man, Ahnna let loose right as his horse stumbled. It made him shift sideways, and the arrow hit him in thearm.

He roared in pain and looked backward right in time for her last arrow to take him in the face.

But his fellows had heard.

Heads snapped around, and two of them broke off the chase to wheel their horses to meet her.

James chose that moment to look over his shoulder. Horror filled his expression, and then he was wheeling Maven around, sword in hand.

What he did next, Ahnna didn’t know, because her focus shifted to the man galloping toward her with a sword in hand.

Her small blade wouldn’t do well against the long, slender sword, especially given he held the blade like he knew how to use it.

Which meant she couldn’t let him get close.

Flipping her knife so that she held it by the tip, Ahnna drew in a deep breath and threw. It flipped end over end, striking the man in the shoulder. He dropped his sword and flew past her, but her eyes were on the second man. Drawing her skirts up so they were out of her way, Ahnna rode straight at him, veering to the left at the last minute.

He tried to adjust his swing, but she was already throwing herself at him.

Ahnna caught him around the waist, shoulders screaming even as her momentum ripped them both off the back of the horse.

They hit the ground and rolled. Their tumble stopped with her on top, and Ahnna smashed her forehead into his nose. As he screamed, she regained her feet, and then brought her boot heel down hard on his throat, and the screaming stopped.

She was shaking.

No…The ground was shaking.

Ahnna lifted her head to see James riding toward her, mouth opened as he screamed something at her, but she couldn’t hear it over the thunder.

Then she understood. Not thunder. A massive herd of cattle racing directly toward them.

Dippy had circled around and was galloping alongside Maven. James caught his reins, hauling him to stop next to her. “Get on!”

She didn’t need to be told twice.

Dippy was running as her ass hit the saddle, and she knew that fear was driving him now. Because all around them were cattle.

“Give him his head,” James shouted above the deafening thunder of hooves and storm. “Run with them!”

Boom!

There was no other choice but to run with the stampede. The Amaridians were doing the same, all interest in trying to kill her and James forgotten as they fought for their own lives.

Ahnna looked over her shoulder, her heart clenching as she watched the circling clouds take on a funnel shape. Like waterspouts she’d seen on the sea, except bigger. So much bigger.

And then it touched the earth.

With violence she’d never seen before, the twister tore up the ground, rock and dirt flying out from around it. But rather than veering out of its path, the herd raced onward, the twister gaining with every passing second.

Terror filled her, because she could not get out of the flow of cattle. James fought the same battle as they tried to break free, but the terrified animals pressed too close.

The wind was deafening, bits of debris cutting into her face, but there was far worse to come.

“Ahnna!”

James’s voice barely reached her over the wind and cries of the terrified animals, but she saw where he was pointing. An abandoned stone house, the roof long since collapsed. The cattle parted around it, but she kept her horse heading straight, Maven nearly colliding with them as James reined her alongside.

“Get off!” he screamed. “Into the cellar!”

“The horses!”

“Leave them!”

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

Seeing her hesitation, James reached up and hauled her off the side. She fought him, unwilling to abandon her horse to the monster raging toward them, but James slapped both mounts on the haunches, and they rejoined the stampede.

Ahnna stared after them, but James hauled on her hand, dragging her in among the rotting timbers. “Help me!” he shouted. “We need to get in the cellar!”

Fear took over, and Ahnna ripped up a piece of wood, eyes fixed on the salvation that was the hole in the ground even as the twister raced closer. The timbers were wedged in collapsed rock, and Ahnna screamed as she dragged them out of the way, James doing the same. Trying to make enough space to fit down.

There was only one beam left.

“Lift!” James shouted, and Ahnna heaved with all her strength, wood splintering and snapping, moving a few inches to make just enough space as bits of rock and wood and God knew what lashed against her skin.

The twister was here.

James shoved her into the opening. Ahnna fell, landing hard in the rubble, instinct making her roll out of the way as he dropped next to her. Blackness and noise surrounded her, it feeling as though she stood in a void until James’s arms folded around her. Pushed her against the wall, his body shielding hers as the twister roared over them, debris whipping around the cellar. Ahnna’s ears popped, the pressure unbearable as she pressed her face into James’s chest, clinging to him lest the storm try to tear him away.

And then it was over.

As quickly as it had come, the twister drifted away, leaving behind nothing but their ragged breathing and darkness.

Ahnna didn’t let go of him, lingering terror that he’d be ripped from her grasp still filling her veins. Each inhalation brought the scent of soap and cedar, her ears now filled with the rapid hammer of his heart.

“Are you all right?”

James’s voice cut the blackness, his solid chest pulling away from her, though his fingers remained tightly gripped on her arms.

“I’m fine.” She coughed on the dust. “The horses…”

“Likely fine themselves. They do better without riders. I think we disrupt their instincts.” He let go of her, the absence of his hands making her feel alone in the blackness. “Maven will head back to Verwyrd, and Dippy will follow her. With any luck, the storm took care of the Amaridians.”

“Is the twister gone? Will another come?” She hated not understanding the nature of these storms.

“Gone, yes. But it’s not unusual for there to be more than one.” She heard him climb to his feet. “I’ll have a look.”

As he stumbled through the cellar, Ahnna got to her feet and followed him, feeling blood trickling down her face from a small wound at her temple, though it didn’t feel deep. She bumped into James, nothing visible in the darkness.

“There is debris over the opening,” he said. “If I lift you, can you try to clear it?”

“Yes.” Squinting up, she could make out a few bits of light fighting their way through the timbers.

“I’ll…I’ll need to put my hands on you.”

Cloaked by blackness, Ahnna allowed herself a smile. “We’ve been in this position before in the cave under Northwatch, James. You didn’t hesitate to put your hands on me.”

“I didn’t know who you were.”

“Shouldn’t knowing me make touching me easier?”

He huffed out a breath, the warmth of it brushing her cheek. “And therein lies the problem.”

She blinked, certain she’d misheard, but James was already on one knee before her. “On my shoulders. Keep your hands up so I don’t knock your head on the ceiling.”

Circling behind him, Ahnna rested her hands on his broad shoulders, then lifted her leg over one. His hand gripped her thigh, and a jolt of heat ran through her.

Idiot, she quietly admonished herself. You’re trapped, and all you can think about is the man you’re trapped with.

She lifted her other leg into place, teeth catching her bottom lip as he tightened his grip on her thighs.

“Put an arm up.”

She lifted her right hand in the air as he slowly rose to his feet, her weight not troubling him in the slightest. Her fingertips hit the debris. “I can feel the opening.”

“Can you move what’s blocking it?”

Glad she was wearing gloves, Ahnna dug at the debris, closing her eyes as bits of dirt and rock fell down. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

She managed to clear away enough of the debris that light streamed through, allowing her to see the beam stretched across the opening. Shoving at it accomplished nothing, so she said, “Brace. I’m going to try to lift this.”

Hooking her legs under his arms, she dug her toes into his back even as she felt his fingers tighten above her knees. Grunting with effort, Ahnna heaved with all her strength, body shuddering. But the beam wouldn’t move. Muttering profanity, she caught hold of it and pulled herself up, balancing her shins on James’s shoulders.

Though it must have hurt, all he said was, “Can you see?”

Pressing her face to the opening between the beam and the stone frame that had once held the cellar door, Ahnna peered up and immediately snarled, “Bloody fucking hell.”

“What do you see?” James asked, for once not commenting on her language.

“One of the walls collapsed, so there are blocks of stone holding the beam down. I don’t think we’re going to be able to lift it.”

“I have my sword. Can we saw through it?”

“Maybe. Turn so I can look at a different angle.”

As James turned, her blood chilled. “We can’t cut it,” she said. “We can’t even move it because it’s all that’s holding the other wall up. We’ll bury the opening entirely.”

“Can you squeeze through?”

“I am not that small,” she muttered. “Shit.”

“We’ll just have to wait for them to come find us,” James said. “Climb down.”

Ahnna slid down his back, holding on to him for longer than was necessary to regain her balance. James was staring up at their predicament. He was covered in dust and dirt, and she fought the urge to brush the bits out of his hair. “It may take some time, given the magnitude of the storm, but they know we are out here. They’ll come find us.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Ahnna, you’re a princess. No matter the chaos, they’ll—” He stopped speaking as his gaze fixed on her. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

But James was having none of her excuses. Pulling her into a beam of light, he extracted a starched white handkerchief and dabbed at the cut, cleaning away the blood. “Not that deep,” he said softly.

“I told you so.”

That should have been the end of it. The moment when he stepped back, confident that she had suffered only minor damage, propriety again becoming his utmost concern. But James didn’t move.

And neither did she.

“You are unlike any lady I’ve ever met, Ahnna Kertell,” he said, smoothing back her hair, the sensation achingly familiar, though she didn’t know why. “Wild and irreverent and brave.”

“Because I’m not a lady.” Her heart was hammering, blood roaring through her veins. “Though I’m trying to change. Truly, I am.”

“For you to become something other than who you are would be the greatest tragedy.” James’s throat moved as he swallowed. “And yet no one has been more complicit in trying to make you change than me.”

“Why?” She asked the question that had been making her heart bleed because she’d been so convinced that he thought everything about her was wrong.

“Because if you become the perfect woman for my brother, you will cease to be the perfect woman for me.” His amber eyes seemed to burn as the sunlight caught them, searing into her soul as much as did his words. “And then perhaps I can be free of this compulsive need to be in your presence every waking moment and might again sleep without you haunting my dreams every night.”

Logic and duty and the inevitable fucking consequences should have demanded that she back away from this. Shut it down before it became a larger problem than it was. Yet the only thought in Ahnna’s head was that for the first time in what seemed like forever, someone wanted her as she was, and the one who wanted her was the man she desired more than life itself.

She caught hold of the front of his coat, pulling him closer even as a thousand warnings screamed Do not do this. “Then I don’t want to change.”

It was as though her words cut the last fibers of his self-control, for in the next moment, his lips were on hers, kissing her like he’d starved for weeks and now sat before a feast. Hard enough to bruise, but instead of snapping sense into her head, the bite of pain opened a well of desire within her that had no bottom.

Ahnna slipped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair so that she could pull him closer. So that every inch of her was pressed against his body, her curves against hard muscle. He groaned, then thrust his tongue into her mouth, the feel of him making her back arch. Making her claw at the buttons of their coats, the need to feel his skin against her own like the need for breath when one is dangerously far beneath the surface.

He obliged, removing his hands from her ass long enough to tear off the garment and cast it aside, his shirt following. The beams of light filtered through the opening above, illuminating his naked torso, the sight of him nearly bringing Ahnna to her knees. Every inch of him was hard muscle, a tattoo she hadn’t realized he bore inked across one shoulder, and a long pale scar running the length of his ribs. Deprived of the civility of clothing, he seemed large, her body petite by comparison as he dragged her against him, his mouth claiming hers again.

She ran her fingers over his skin, exploring every hard curve, the heat of him sinking into her fingers. A whimper stole from her lips as he moved from her mouth to her jaw, biting at her throat. The lobe of her ear. Each press of teeth sent a jolt of need surging up from her core.

“I want to see you,” he growled between kisses, his hands unfastening her belt. “I want to suck your perfect breasts until you’re wet for me and then fuck you until my name is the only word you remember.”

“It already is,” she gasped, every part of her relishing the departure of the mask he always wore, the man beneath having finally cast it aside. This was who he really was, and oh God, did she want him.

James caught hold of her blouse and drew it over her head. A snarl of annoyance passed his lips as his eyes fixed on the silk camisole beneath, and with one jerk, he tore it down the front, baring her breasts. Her nipples peaked as the cool air hit them, the ruined garment slipping down her arms to fall at her feet.

“So goddamned beautiful,” he whispered, sliding his palm up her torso, his fingers closing around her throat to gently lean her back, the sunlight illuminating her breasts. She was at his mercy, yet instead of fear, her body thrummed with feral power.

“Kiss me,” she said. “Now.”

His body shook with dark laughter, then he wrapped an arm around her and lifted. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist even as his hand abandoned her throat for her hair. Pulled its length so that her spine bowed backward to expose her breasts to his mouth.

A gasp of pleasure tore from her lips as he sucked her left nipple into his mouth, and Ahnna rocked her hips against him, the buckle of his belt rubbing her clit in a way that turned her body to liquid fire. In a way that made her want to rip his belt off and unleash the thick cock she could feel beneath it. To sink herself down upon it inch by merciless inch, because that was the only way her desire would be sated.

He moved to her other breast, his teeth scraping over her nipple. The jolt of pleasure made her sob. Made her plead, because pressure was building in her core, and she needed release. Needed him.

“Not yet, Princess,” he whispered, lowering her slightly so that it was his cock she pressed against, his grip on her implacable as he worked her against him, his breath growing ragged. “I want you wet and ready.”

“I am,” she gasped, her body shuddering as he bit at her nipple. “Oh God, I need you!”

“Show me.”

Dropping to his knees, he lowered her to the ground. Pulled off one of her boots and then the other before his fingers caught hold of the waist of her skirt, tugging it slowly downward, her undergarments with them. Tossing them aside, he gripped her behind each knee, his hands like fire against her skin as he kissed the bruises on them, then parted her legs.

The beam of sunlight had grown brighter as the clouds had cleared, and it fell across her body, exposing her in a way she’d never been exposed before. Yet instead of feeling self-conscious, Ahnna parted her thighs wider, eyes on James’s face as he looked down at her.

“So fucking perfect,” he whispered, trailing his finger down her belly, then parting her sex with a gentle stroke that made her back arch. “Every part of you is perfect, Ahnna.”

The way he said her name made Ahnna shiver, but then his finger slipped inside of her, and her eyes rolled back in her head at the pleasure of it.

“Not wet enough,” he murmured, sliding a second finger into her and stroking her core. “Ahnna, look at me.”

His eyes were shadowed, but she met them as he added a third finger, working her body in slow strokes that drove her to madness.

“For once, Princess, I want you to do what I tell you,” he said. “I want you to listen. Will you listen?”

His thumb rubbed over her clit, and Ahnna gasped out, “Yes.”

“I want you to come for me.” He bent over her, kissing her once. “I want to watch you come with my fingers in you.”

She nodded, incapable of words as his thumb rubbed in slow circles around her clit, her body rising to climax on his words alone. Sitting back, he toyed with her, eyes drinking her in as he unbuckled his belt with his free hand, pulling free his cock. It was as big as the rest of him, and he ran his hand over it as he fucked her with his fingers. “I want you in me,” she pleaded.

He shook his head, expression dark and merciless as he stroked her faster. Ahnna writhed beneath him, her body strung taut as she stood at the very edge of release.

Then her climax crested.

She sobbed his name as pleasure rolled over her, her body clenching around his fingers. Wave after wave, until she collapsed backward, her body feeling boneless and spent.

Until her eyes met his.

James gripped her knees, the fingers of his right hand glistening in the sunlight as he lowered his head, tongue sliding into her. Tasting her. Lifting his face, he murmured, “Good girl, Princess,” then sucked her clit into his mouth.

It should have been too much, her body already spent. Maybe it was too much, yet that somehow was exactly what she wanted. Ahnna buried her fingers in his hair, holding him against her as he consumed her, barely feeling the rocks and debris digging into her back. “I want you in me,” she begged. “Please, James.”

He growled against her, rearing up, shoulders illuminated by the sun. “You want this?”

“Yes,” she gasped, reaching for him. Needing the feel of him against her. “I want this.”

Taking hold of his cock, he pressed it against her, and Ahnna moaned as he eased inside her, the feel of him making her shake.

She wrapped her legs around him as he leaned over her, pulling him deeper, his groan turning her body liquid as he pulled back and thrust again, harder this time. Then again and again, the tide of a second climax rising in her body. “Harder,” she whispered, desperate to have all of him. “Make me yours.”

James froze, and Ahnna realized in an instant that her words had been a mistake. Had snapped him back to the harsh reality of what they were to each other.

And what they were not.

He pulled out of her. Back from her. And the expression on his face as he said, “But you’re not mine. And never will be,” shattered Ahnna’s heart.

“James…” She reached a hand for him, but he jerked away. Picked up a rock and threw it against the cellar wall as he screamed, “Fuck!”

Ahnna sat up, pulling her knees to her chest as she watched him pace back and forth across the small space, trousers pulled up but his still-hard cock straining against the fabric.

“I’ve lost my mind,” he muttered. “Lost my fucking mind to have done this.”

“It’s fine,” she said, despite knowing that it was very much not fine. “No one—”

“It’s not fine,” he shouted. “It was a mistake!”

Ahnna flinched, squeezing her legs tighter to her chest, his words a knife to her heart because she knew they were true.

“I can’t make mistakes, Ahnna.” He was still pacing, for all the world like a wolf caged against its will. “I’m the king’s half-Cardiffian bastard who is reviled by the queen. It is only my father’s goodwill and that of my siblings that keep me from being treated like Lestara. I cannot make mistakes. I cannot be anything less than perfect, or I will lose everything.”

She knew how that felt, knew the need to hold oneself to a higher standard than everyone else lest everything fall to pieces, and it explained so much about him. Explained his rigid self-control and his need to follow the rules, to do everything by the book.

Her lips parted, but before she could speak, James said, “You asked me before if it bothered me, how my sister and the others treat Lestara.” He stopped pacing, pressing his hands to his face for a heartbeat and then dropping them to look at her. “I lied to you when I answered. I hate it. Not how they treat her, specifically, for Lestara earned her lot, but how Harendellians treat people from Cardiff. How Harendell’s laws allow civilians to murder Cardiffians without consequence just because of their beliefs.” His voice shook. “Do you know how many times I’ve seen innocent Cardiffians burned alive and had to stand there and do nothing ?”

She bit her lip, because knowing the laws allowed such things and seeing it with one’s own eyes were very different things.

James wasn’t finished, though, emotion having overwhelmed his usual taciturnity. “And I don’t understand why. Have never been able to understand it.” He began pacing again. “My father used to send me to Cardiff for weeks at a time when I was a boy to spend time with my uncles. To learn their ways out of respect for my mother, and there’s not a goddamned thing about astromancy that anyone in Harendell has reason to fear. Stories in the stars? Fortune-telling? Potions that are nothing more than herbs and muttered words? It’s nothing to fear, yet I’ve had to keep those visits a secret all my life lest anyone question my belief in the true faith.”

James spent time in Cardiff? Not only knew his mother’s family, but had lived with them for weeks at a time? Had learned about astromancy ? A thousand questions rose to her lips, but she bit down on them lest her voice silence his. Lest she lose this one chance to learn more about the enigma that was James.

“I couldn’t live with doing nothing, so I…I’ve been working to change the laws. To at least give people a fair trial in a court to spare them vigilante justice for a crime they may not have committed. But for me to have any hope of making Harendell safe for Cardiffians, I need to keep my position in my father’s court. And in my brother’s.”

She’d thought the worst he risked was a slap on the wrist. Maybe being sent back to the Lowlands to fight. Had been so certain that the stakes were high only for her. How incredibly wrong she’d been, and her selfishness made her feel sick. “I’m sorry.”

James stopped in his tracks, eyes snapping to her. Then he was on his knees before her, pulling Ahnna into his lap. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t be sorry. You have no reason to be. This is…this is my fault. I took advantage of you.”

Her face was buried in his throat, and she laughed only because the alternative was to cry. “James, I’m six feet of solid muscle and have been killing grown men in battle since before my first kiss. No one takes advantage of me. And if you are worried that I was a maid, you can go ahead and banish that thought. I’m fine.”

Silence stretched, the only sound the steady thud of his heart, until James said, “Then why are you crying, Ahnna?”

Ahnna twitched, only then realizing that tears were running down her cheeks, her breath catching with little hiccups, her heart aching worse than any wound she’d ever suffered. “Because I don’t want to marry William. I don’t want to be queen of Harendell. I…” She trailed off, not willing to admit that what she really wanted was to ride away from all of it with him at her side. To make a life away from politics and obligations where no one would pull them apart. No one would judge them. And part of her wanted to break down entirely because she finally understood why her brother had wanted to run away with Lara. Why he’d been willing to abandon everything for her.

Finally understood the price he and Lara had paid to remain in Ithicana and do their duty.

“What is the reason you won’t return to Ithicana?” James asked, catching hold of her chin and lifting her face so that she was forced to look at him. “The real reason.”

She drew in a deep breath, then asked, “Can I trust you?”