I grit my teeth and turn, watching him light a wall torch, illuminating more of the tomb of endless tapestries. He lifts one off the wall like a curtain, setting his torch on the floor before he raps his knuckles against the stone. “Interesting.” Another few knocks, and then he’s tracing the vein-like divots. “There used to be a hallway somewhere here,” he mumbles, and my curiosity rears her unwanted head.
Groaning internally, I dash forward, shoving into his frosty aura, ignoring my prickling skin as I run a hand over the stone and inspect the wall for any hidden seams. “Where did it lead?”
“Everywhere.” His hand runs the same path as mine, as though he’s chasing the trail of warmth. “An underground tunnel that wove beneath the city and stretched to some of the islands.”
Ahh.
He sets his ear to the wall, eyes closed. “It’s been barred up in other parts of the city, too.”
Internal walls rising swifter than my dropped hand, I narrow my stare. “Are you trying to poison me against my promised by insinuating he’s hiding something?”
“No,” he murmurs, knocking on the stone again, shifting a little. “You have big, wide eyes. You can see perfectly fine without my help.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Pushing back, he lets the tapestry drop with a thump that scatters a riot of dust. “I won’t determine your steps, Milaje. I’ll even let you trip. But Irefuseto let you fall.”
My hands bunch into fists. “I don’t need you watching over my shoulder.”
“Not an option, I’m afraid.” His gaze hardens as he prowls forward, swallowing my space until I’m backed against the wall, smothered in the rich scent of leather and a crisp winter’s day. “I told you. I’ll hunt you to the four corners of the continent.”
The words wrap around my heart like a noose, all the blood draining from my face …
He’s not just here for the ships.
“I thought you were being—”
Another step reduces the space between us to a fragile sliver. “What?”
Goosebumps explode across my skin as that final inch is crushed, his body fitting against mine as though we were cast from the same mold then split two ways.
His exhale falls upon my upturned face like a midwinter breeze, and I draw deep, barely managing to stifle a moan.
I don’t need this.
I need it tohurt.
“Dramatic,” I rasp, feeling each of his breaths crush me further into the stone, grinding me down.
His gaze drops to my lips, up again. “It’s not in my nature to spit words without purpose.”
“Well,” I scoff. “I wouldn’t know.”
I don’t know you.
“ThenI’ll repeat.” The words blast me like a blow of frost. “So it’sperfectlyclear.”
I lift my chin. Hone my stare.
Challenge him to make itsting.
“There is nowhere you can hide. Nowhere you can go. Even ifthiswere to stop beating,” he says, threading his hand over my rioting heart, “I’d follow.”
The final two words carve under my skin like a sawtooth blade, and I see something very different staring back at me from behind those blackening eyes. Something savage and deadly.
I should be frightened …
“But I’ll let you trip, Milaje. Because it’s those trips that spark your flame—something you’re going to need in this cruel,greedyworld that has no fucking mercy, because it doesn’t think before itchews.”
