Page 94 of Sokâr

He stood. Slow, like a predator uncoiling.

“Theywere poisoned," she said. "But I had them taken back. Not to be destroyed. Just cleansed.”

“I know.”

He stepped around the desk. She flinched when he neared. Her body trembled beneath the silken shift. She hadn’t realized how cold she was.

“You cast while ill,” he said. “Untrained. Alone.”

“There was no time to send for help.”

“You were supposed to rest.”

“I have duties, Kailorien. I—”

“Auryn,” he snapped.

She went still. Dared to look up into his burning blue gaze.

His voice dropped, rough with emotion. “You are mine to protect. Even with Reskala at your side. Even when I am not with you. Had I been there—” He stopped. Started again. “You cannot imagine what it felt like—being told after the fact thatyouunraveled the sealIplaced. That you walked willingly into a placeI locked down.”

She turned away, throat tight. “Would you rather I had obeyed and left them to die?”

“No.” His voice denied the thought. “Never.”

Silence stretched—long and pained—merging with the shadows on the walls.

At last, she said, “You weren’t there.”

He closed the distance between them, his heat and aura charging the air like bottled lightning. One by one, his hands settled on her shoulders.

“I should have been.”

“I needed you.”

“I know.”

“But I handled it.”

He nodded. “Yes. You did.”

Her breath hitched. “Do you forgive me?”

“There is nothing to forgive.”

“But…your ward.”

He took a breath. “Auryn, do you realize the danger you were in?”

“They wanted the gowns, not me. Probably to tamper with the Holy Blood. To humiliate us in any way they can.”

A beat.

“And who poisoned them?”

She leaned into him, body sagging as the adrenaline faded. “You know the answer to that. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.”

The Companions were beyond reproach. Sacred vessels. Prized commodities. Bred in cycles that spanned decades. The loss of even one was considered a city-wide tragedy. And to punish one? For what? For doing the same thing others did with equal force but less flair?