Page 168 of Between Two Kings

“Because we do not require your services anymore.”

Tentative hope poured into her chest. Had they found a solution to the bloodletting? Another method to make money that didn’t involve cutting her people open? The possibility was nearly too much to bear.

“And why is that?” she asked.

But rather than provide an explanation, Leo fell silent. His hands were clasped behind his back, his chin held high. He looked…resolved. Proud, even. It was the look of a man who had chosen to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences.

Tem looked from him to Evelyn and then back to Leo. Finally, she understood.

They had not found a solution to the bloodletting; she would not be going down to the dungeon for the sole reason that Leo didn’t want to hurt her again. Tem thought of their conversation in the parlor—about how Leo had found out that Caspen healed her after he hurt her. That’s despicable, Leo had said. Tem knew him so well—knew exactly how that revelation made him feel. He would have thought about it all night, racked with guilt, thinking about how, as long as he allowed her to bleed, he was despicable too.

Leo was done hurting her. And now everyone knew it.

“This is absurd,” Evelyn said finally, her words stiff. “She has already volunteered. If she doesn’t do this, we—”

“We will find another way,” Leo said. “As we discussed.”

“There is no other way,” Evelyn snapped.

Beside Tem, something was brewing in Caspen’s mind—something dark. She couldn’t understand it; Leo was doing the right thing. Caspen should be happy.

“We will find a solution that works for everyone,” Leo continued, his voice not quite as steady as before. “Tem and I can discuss—”

“Oh, please,” Evelyn cried, finally standing. “You don’t need to discuss anything. You just want another excuse to meet with her alone.”

Tem’s mouth fell open.

Leo looked equally shocked, his eyes flicking first to hers then back to Evelyn’s. “Those meetings are necessary,” he said slowly. “We need to figure out how our kingdoms can—”

But Evelyn was not having it. “Do you have any idea how humiliating this is, Leo? I already have to sit here every week and watch you stare at her. And now you put our kingdom at risk because you don’t want her to bleed.”

Tem noticed how she didn’t say her name. Evelyn couldn’t even name the thing that frustrated her—couldn’t address her adversary directly. It was the behavior of a coward, and Tem had no respect for it whatsoever.

“I’m not staring at her,” Leo said.

Evelyn let out a tortured laugh that sounded like a bird squawking.

Tem knew how much Leo hated lying, knew exactly what it had cost him to say that. This entire conversation was supremely uncomfortable for Tem. Caspen’s mood, which was already terrible, had only gotten worse as it went on. She could feel his temperature rising beside her, his hands slowing balling into fists. Tem tried to understand where his rage was coming from.

Realization came to her: Leo may have done the right thing, but he’d done it for her. Because he loved her. Evelyn knew it—it was why she was so upset. And surely, Caspen knew it too. Perhaps he had been in denial before this. But now, with Evelyn laying everything out in front of them, there was no hiding it.

It was impossible to ignore the way Leo was looking at Tem. Those stolen glances were the only thing that kept her sane—the only reminder that, at one point, what they’d had was real. They were toeing the line of decency every single time they met together, and Tem wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep this up before one of them inevitably crossed it. Most likely, it would be her. Her basilisk side longed to reach for him—to take him in her arms and kiss him senseless. She barely even felt guilt about it anymore. After what Maximus had told her in the dungeon, she almost wanted to destroy Leo’s relationship with Evelyn. It was a horrible urge—one that was only made stronger by the way Evelyn was speaking to him. But she couldn’t do that to Leo. Not without proof.

“You are making a fool out of me,” Evelyn said. She pointed at Caspen. “Out of us.”

Caspen’s face twisted with disgust. Tem knew he wanted no association with Evelyn. Nobody could make a fool out of Caspen, and certainly not Tem. He might not like the way she felt about Leo, but he dealt with it in his own way. It was an insult for Evelyn to equate them, and Tem knew Caspen would take it as one.

Still, Leo said nothing.

But Evelyn wasn’t done. “And why are you talking to her, anyway? You should be negotiating with the snake.”

Caspen’s head snapped up, and a chill shot down Tem’s spine.

“Do not,” he said, his voice deathly quiet, “call me that.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Silence fell. Evelyn’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. She looked absolutely terrified.