20 #3
“Wh-what?” That’s only a few months away. “Why?”
“How should I know? I expect because it’ll be romantic.”
“Liar.”
He flashes another grin, this one sharper than before.
Harder. It doesn’t reach his eyes. “She made a blood bargain with Evie’s parents.
The Wolf Queen of Asia helped oust a traitor in our midst, and in return, Queen Sybil promised an unbreakable alliance between our continents through their daughter, Evelyn, and…
me,” he finishes with a small bow. “There. Satisfied?”
No , I want to answer fiercely. Because I’m not satisfied. Nothing about their relationship is satisfactory—not the way he sits by her in public, and definitely not the way he looks at me in private. I pull my hand away from his. “Do you want to marry her?”
He laughs out loud at that. A harsh, biting sound. “Right, because I’m going to answer a question like that from a Truthseer. It’s not as if the fate of half the world depends on the answer.”
“Who am I going to tell?”
He leans back against the nearest shelf, resting his elbows on it, and contemplates my question.
The movement pulls his spandex shirt even tighter across his chest. Mouth suddenly dry, I force myself to meet his eyes instead of tracing the ridges of his stomach.
His abs. All six of them. “No, Vanessa, I don’t want to marry Evie, but the court expects it from me. I don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
He shakes his head with another humorless laugh.
“Can a Truthseer call their own bullshit, or just other people’s?
” Before I can argue, he says flatly, “If I break Queen Sybil’s bargain, she’ll die—and so will a lot of other people.
Regardless of our bestowed gifts, alliances like this aren’t taken lightly between territories. To reject Evie would mean war.”
Even without my ability, I can hear the raw truth in his voice. He sounds… pained. No. Resigned. As if he accepted his fate long ago, despite wishing more than anything he could change it. And maybe he’s right. Maybe he doesn’t have a choice. Not with so many lives at stake.
I understand the feeling. Entire continents might not hang in the balance of my decisions, but Celeste does. Her memory. Her death. A lump rises in my throat.
More to distract myself than anything else, I take a step forward.
As close to him as I dare. A lie. In this moment, I would risk much more to touch Sin, and I hate myself for it.
My hands curl at my sides. “You know I’m a Truthseer.
The entire court knows I’m a Truthseer, but I don’t know anything about anyone else.
” I pause as I swallow hard. As I stare up at him, torn with indecision.
Then—“I don’t know anything about you .”
He regards me intently for a long moment. Then he lifts his hand to tuck a tendril of hair behind my ear. To pluck a lavender bloom from its braid. “What are you asking, Vanessa?”
“Your mother’s power lies in her blood bargains, but what about you? What is your power?”
His gaze drops to the lavender, and he rubs it gently between his thumb and forefinger. Releasing the oil before tucking it into his pocket. “My power is the same as my mother’s.”
Truth.
“Anything else?” he asks darkly.
Something about his voice makes my stomach clench, and I shake my head, still staring up at him. Unable to look away. “Good,” he says.
Then he moves faster than I can react, pushing forward suddenly and crowding me against a wall of shelves. Too close again. I can almost feel the remnants of rain on his lips.
“It’s been torture to be so close to you, Vanessa.
” A truth. He sweeps a thumb across my cheek.
My wet lashes. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m only sorry for how it happened.
” Another truth. Bolder, this time. Deeper.
But I can’t focus on the meaning. Or the way the words curl my toes.
God, I want to kiss him. And that would be a stupid thing to do.
I hear Celeste in my head, her tinkling laughter and her loud pleas: Don’t you want to live a little?
You’re only seventeen once.
But this… I can’t.
Sin’s hands move to my throat next, tracing the faint bruises healing from Katerina’s wicked touch. He’s gentle and he’s warm and he’s protective. More than that , I think, he’s good. Better than the rest of court. Better than even his mother.
And that makes him more dangerous too.
“Sin,” I whisper.
His gaze falls to my lips. “I love hearing you say my name.”
“Sin, this is wrong. You—you can’t be seen with me like this.”
“I know,” he says, but he doesn’t move.
“It’s stupid.”
“I know.”
“It’s dangerous .”
But his thumb returns to my lip. Tracing it, opening it.
My tongue flicks out of its own accord, tasting that rain and his salty skin.
I hold my breath. His eyes darken. His hold on me turns harder, hotter.
He’s going to kiss me. He’s going to kiss me, and I’m going to let him.
His lips touch mine, a brief, fiery spark, and then—
The door to the castle swings open, a violent smack as it hits the wall.
I push Sin away from me as hard as I can.
He stumbles back a step. One measly step.
While I’m left to fix my hair, my shirt, my skin.
I can’t breathe. Feel as if I’m drowning.
We need to leave. Now. Before Evie catches us.
Sin is hers. If anyone sees me with him, she’ll become so much worse. It could start a war —
I inhale sharply.
What am I doing?
This—this isn’t me, and when Sin pushes the closet door open in response—gesturing me through it—I flee into the corridor like a bat out of hell.
Luckily, Calix is the first to enter the castle—the only one to see us like that.
Breathing hard. Disheveled. Eyes filled with wanton need.
But he says nothing and simply keeps walking.