Another.
“That’s not all.”
“Do go on,” he bites out, and I picture him backed against the wall with my dagger poised at his throat while I scream at him like he screamed at me—his face pocked with the same weepy, maggot-infested lesions currently gnawing on his people.
Zali’s people.
Rhordyn’s people.
“In addition togiftingyour ships to the cause, you’ll reopen the vast network of underground tunnels beneath your capital. You will use thisextra spaceto offer refuge to anyone rushing to your border—a small price to pay.”
His pupils blow so wide his eyes are more black than blue, and there’s a slight paling to his brassy complexion.
I feel my heart race. Feel it come tolife.
Rhordyn was right … Cainon’s hiding something down there.
“You’ll do all this or not only will I cease trade, but I’ll instruct Ocruth’s army stationed at Quoth Point to carve a path through your precious jungle, leaving Parith more vulnerable to Vruk already threading through your defenses. Your people will lose faith in your ability to protect them, and you’ll be forced to flee to the islands and give up land I’ll happily accept because frankly, after what I’ve seen beyond the city wall, I’m nowconvincedyou view everyone but yourself as sacrificial pawns.”
I snap my teeth together, relaxing my upper lip that had curled with my spitting rage.
“Threats …” he murmurs, and I shrug.
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
“I didn’t know you had it in you.”
I ignore the swipe and hold his gaze. Watch his mind churn within the depth of his eyes.
This is all one big fucked-up political game. I see that now. I believe Rhordyn tried to tell me it once in his own brutish way—I was just too busy cowering to listen. Too busy pouring my energy into the circles I spun.
Now I’ve gottoo muchenergy. Responsibility. Regret. Too many unbridled thoughts and emotions smashing around inside my head. My heart.
Too much to atone for.
“I don’twanta war, Cainon. And I don’t want your land. Not really. I just want those ships so I can secure Ocruth.”
Forhim.
So I can finish what he started and make his people safe.
“You’re starting to sound like Rhordyn,” he says, gaze dragging down my body, up again. “Though I dare say, a moredelectableversion.”
I sigh and shove to my feet, grip Rhordyn’s sword, then swing it over my back and buckle it between my breasts. “I’ll give you time to consider your options,” I say, before striding toward the door.
“And what about Zali?”
The words are pelted at me, stilling my feet.
That slithering darkness tucked inside me wiggles.
Slowly, I spin, looking at him down the line of my shoulder. “WhataboutZali?”
He tips his head to the side, brow bunched. “What do you plan to do about her, of course?”
I chew on his words, not wanting to admit that I have no idea what he’s talking about, but in the end, ignorance will get me nowhere.
I realize that now.
