Page 263 of Between Two Kings

The tears threatened to fall.

“He can’t be,” she said helplessly. “Not now. He must have more time. He must—”

“I noticed it at the wedding, Tem. And it is even worse now.”

Tem knew he was right. She had noticed it too and chosen to ignore it. “This is all my fault,” she whispered.

To her surprise, Caspen said, “It is not your fault. I told you to crest him.”

Tem bit her lip.

He leaned in. “I allowed this to happen. And now you must allow me to fix it.”

She looked up at him. He was resolved. Peaceful.

When he met her eye, he said, “It is time, Tem.”

But this was impossible. Tem couldn’t do this. It didn’t matter how much she craved Leo—how deeply his body called to hers. To go with him would be to abandon Caspen. And that would never be acceptable to her. She needed them both. She always had.

“If we sleep together, you’ll have to kill me, Caspen. Apollo told me you won’t have a choice.”

He shook his head. “There is another way.”

“What other way?”

But Caspen was already turning to go.

Tem grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “You can’t just leave me.”

He placed his hands over hers. “I will never leave you, Tem.”

They looked at each other for a single electric moment. Tem saw herself reflected in his pupils. How many times had she stared into those eyes? She remembered the first time she’d seen them, glowing in the darkness of the cave, boring into her very soul. She’d been so naive then. Back then, she’d had no idea what it meant to love two people—to give herself to Caspen and to Leo. Now she understood that love was not simple. It was complicated and treacherous and untamable, just like her.

“Please,” she whispered. “Just tell me where you’re going.”

“As far away as I can.”

“But as soon as we sleep together…”

He was still looking at her calmly. “The curse will draw me back to you.”

“And what happens then, Caspen?”

She needed him to say it—that he would be forced to kill her. Because that was the only thing Tem could see—the only end result to this problem the crest had created. There was no loophole this time, no way out of this horrible mess.

Rather than answer her, Caspen’s gaze slid to Leo’s. “Take care of her.”

Then he was gone.

Chapter Forty-Four

In his absence, Tem stared after him. The passageway was full of dust; there were screams in the distance, coming from the direction of the courtyard. Tem didn’t know what was happening, didn’t know where Caspen would go or how he could break the curse. All she knew was that the fundamental truth she had believed—that Caspen was in denial about her love for Leo—wasn’t true at all. He’d known the entire time, and he had known it would come to this.

“Tem?” Leo said. “What do you mean he’ll have to kill you?”

“Leo,” she said as calmly as she could. “There’s a lot you don’t understand. And there’s no time to explain it. But he’s right. We need to sleep together.”

“What happens if we don’t?”