“I got your note. The dagger in the wall was a nice touch. But you stole it from Cass, which made you easy enough to track down.” His tone dropped, humor twisting into a pained rasp. “I thought you were dead. Three years. You can’t imagine—”
“Imagine? I don’t imagine anything.” My hand tightened around the dagger's hilt. “Iknowwhat you did. Howdareyou?”
Gavin clenched his jaw. The only visible reaction. His restrained silence made me want to lash out and inflict the same wounds carved across my heart.
“You spoke to Cass, didn’t you? What did she tell you? I hope she gave you all the gory details.” I slid my free hand up to curl at the base of my neck, digging in until breathing felt like pulling lead through my throat.
“Did she tell you what it feels like to drown? That the water burns your throat. That even when you’re clawing your way to the surface, every spasming inhale sinks you deeper. Your chest is so tight it might crack.” I trailed the edge of my blade slowly down the front of his black jacket. “Maybe you know aboutthe dark. How it eats away at your soul. Or the chains that rub your skin raw. The screams in the mines. The blood.”
Gavin gripped my shoulders, his eyes wild. “Damn it, Mare. Don’t—”
“Don’t what? Don’timagine?
“No.” His forehead dropped against mine, even as I held the dagger between us, the blade angled at his chest. He exhaled a choked sound.
“Don’thurt.”
I snarled and shoved him away. He staggered until his back hit the wall. It was the most space between us since I’d taken his hand on the dance floor, and it might as well have been the entire ocean.
“I didn’t betray you,” he said softly.
I would have preferred he’d screamed it.
Rage I could match, but his quiet conviction was like drowning again. Only this time, his hand was outstretched. If I took it, would he pull me free or push me back under?
“I don’t believe you.”
“I know. I don’t expect you to believe me. Not yet.”
Bone-deep exhaustion swamped me like a wave. “What do you want from me, Gavin?”
“Another dance lesson,” he said with a twist of his lips.
“Ah, see, there’s the man who used to tease me. Who thinks everything is a joke. Why didn’t you tell Atticus what I did? You could've called me out right there on the dance floor.”
“I’ve always enjoyed watching you work. I’ve missed it.”
His bold remark made me snap. I released the air trapped in my lungs and charged forward, meeting him at the wall with my dagger pressed to his collarbone. He didn’t even flinch.
“You missed it? You took everything from me!” Hot tearsscalded my cheeks. My hand shook, and I squeezed the hilt to keep it steady. But nothing could stop my voice from cracking. “I amnothing.”
“That’s not true!” Gavin shifted, the move forcing my blade harder against his skin. If he moved again, it would draw blood. “You’re Marin Nichols. You’re the strongest, most resilient woman I’ve ever met. No one can take that from you.”
“Compliments? From a liar?” I blinked back the tears, hardening my voice. “You’re three years too late to be charming. Stay away from me, Gavin.”
“I can’t do that,” he said with more of that quiet conviction. “I didn’t betray you. And I’m going to find a way to prove it.”
“You’ve always been reckless, but I’ve never known you to have a death wish.”
“What can I say? You just bring it out in me.” A familiar smile curved his lips. The kind I’d seen hundreds of times. But now it looked out of place, framed by the harsh edges of the man he'd become.
The old Gavin still lived.
It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t say the same.
Matching his smile with a colder version, I hooked my blade under the collar of his shirt and pushed aside the fabric. My gaze traveled down his neck and into the deep V of exposed skin. My blood iced over when my suspicions were confirmed.
“You really did sell me out. You’re not even wearing your compass. I’ve never seen you go a day without it.” I let out a mocking laugh. “Or maybe it became a stark reminder of what you did to me.”
