Page 43 of Revealing Fate

The guard dipped his head once and left.

Finally, Kal rested his heavy gaze on her.

Felíne’s resolve crumpled. “Kal…”

“Tell me they’re wrong, Kitty,” he said, deep voice strained. “Tell me you are who you say you are.”

She couldn’t breathe. A fissure of heartache cracked through her. Felíne reached an arm through the bars and found Kal’s hand. It was rough and warm, hanging limp at his side.

Kal stood unmoving, fighting some internal battle. A tense moment passed, then he squeezed her back and stepped closer. His other hand found the back of her neck, and he dipped his forehead toward hers.

“Please,” he whispered to her, fathomless eyes pleading.

Abject misery shimmered in her own. “Kal…”

“Tell me your name, Kitty.” His lips feathered over her hairline, the bridge of her nose. “That’s all you have to do.”

Felíne foundered. The pressure behind her sternum built to an unbearable degree.

“Tell me your name.” It was no longer a plea. It was a demand.

“Kal, I⁠—”

He straightened suddenly, stepping away from the bars. His black eyes were wide open, but they were shuttering. He was closing himself off. The foot of distance between them felt like the gaping mouth of a boundless canyon.

Movement to the left drew Felíne’s attention. She turned reluctantly away from Kal and met hostile blue eyes that glared at her from beneath a slash of blond brows. The man was shorter than Kal and possessed a slighter build. Yet the aggression rolling off his lean body saturated the space he occupied, making him appear larger than he actually was. She stepped back on instinct, suddenly grateful for the iron bars of her cage and the padlocked door.

There was only one male she could think of who would harbor such blatant hatred for her: Rask Harless.

Rask stalked toward the door, icy glare traveling the length of her body. Felíne hugged herself. She was still wearing the thick sweater she’d taken from Kal’s house, yet he made her feel stripped bare.

“Is this the woman you took from Asteros?” he asked Kal, voice laced with disgust.

Kal’s inky eyes were on her, but the warmth Felíne had come to find within them was bleeding out. His dark sea churned with the swell of a winter storm. A chill shuddered through her.

“Yes,” Kal replied tightly.

Rask ripped his hateful attention away from her, pivoting toward his friend. “That is not Railah,” he snarled, words damning her. “That’s not my sister.”

And just like that, the obsidian sea iced over.

Rask stalked out, leaving Felíne alone with Kal once more.

Neither of them moved. Neither breathed.

Finally, a muscle spasmed in Kal’s jaw. His large hands fisted at his sides. If he were wound any tighter, he would snap.

“Kal,” she began.

The eyes of a stranger skewered her straight through the meat of her heart. Felíne knew this would happen. Had been dreading this inevitable moment. But the reality of it was worse than she could have anticipated. The pain greater than she could have ever prepared for.

“Tell me your name.”

“Kal—”

“TELL ME YOUR NAME!”

Felíne flinched away from him. Away from the only man with whom she felt truly safe. The only man whose affection she’d ever craved.