Page 222 of Between Two Kings

“That doesn’t mean I don’t love him.”

“You sent him away,” Caspen said.

“Two things can be true,” Tem whispered. She had sent him away. And she loved him still.

“You concealed this from me.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“You did. You lied.”

“I told you that I—”

“You did not tell me the whole truth.”

Tem fell silent. She had never seen Caspen like this. He was angry, first and foremost. But he was also drunk—she could see the effects of the elixir manifesting on his body. Smoke curled over his shoulders and down his arms, streaming from his fingertips. His eyes were completely black, boring into hers. His next words were a dangerous whisper:

“You did not tell me it was real.”

“I was completely honest with you,” Tem whispered back. “You were there. You agreed to share me.”

“I only agreed because I knew I would lose you if I did not.”

Tem’s mouth fell open. Was this the truth at last? If they were speaking of lies, this was one of them. It was just as great a sin for Caspen to withhold this from her. It was not what they had agreed upon, and it was not fair.

“You were willing to share me,” she whispered. “What changed?”

“Your feelings for him.”

“Those have always been the same.”

Caspen just shook his head, smoke still curling around him.

“Well, what did you think I felt for him?” Tem cried.

Caspen spread his arms wide. “Infatuation. Lust. Either of those I could tolerate forever. But true love is something else entirely.”

“I told you I loved him.”

“You did not. You told me he meant something to you.”

“It’s the same thing—”

“It is not.”

“I said ‘I love you both,’ remember? You were there.”

“It is not the same.”

Tem took a step backward at his words. She couldn’t understand this.

“How is it not the same?” she whispered.

Caspen sighed, arching his neck. He closed his eyes, as if it were easier to speak without looking at her. “You can love many things, Tem. Many people. You can love your family and your friend Gabriel. But if you are telling me that what you feel for the human king is the same as what you feel for me”—the muscles in his neck flexed—“that is another matter entirely.”

What he meant was that it was an insult. Caspen could not accept that, in her heart, Leo held the same standing, that the two kings were equal.

“There must be a solution,” Apollo said finally.