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“What?”Her voice came out as sharp as one of the lock picks in her kit.
“You were their crown princess, fated to be queen, who returned after an entire world believed you to be dead.There was no way this trip could’ve been an easy pop-in-and-out to the realm you’re supposed to rule.Destiny couldn’t be so kind.”
Ugh, why did Mister Think-Things-Through have to be right all the time?“Is it so much to ask to have some say in my life?To have the right to choose?”
Perry waved a finger between them.“We don’t get the luxury of choice.We were born into supernatural systems.Trust me, being born a male witch with no powers and no rank didn’t come with many options.”
“But youchoseto join the Revelare, to have powers.”
“And I almost died for bad decisions.Hell, I would’ve died if you hadn’t found me.I would’ve never had a chance without you.”
“To do what?What would you do if you had the chance?”Choose me.No crown.No magic.Just me.“The chance to do anything?”
“I would find redemption.”
His quiet admission startled her.There’d been so much emotion in his confession.If his longing could take shape, its weight would come crashing down on them both.“Perry.”What could she say to fix this?She moved toward him, but he held up a hand.
“No.I want a lot from you.But never pity.I know I can’t be redeemed.Some sins can’t be forgiven.”
“That’s not true.”
He cut her off.“It is.”
“What about mastering destiny?Like you did with acquiring powers.Or standing up for what you believe in?Like fighting to protect your family.Or love?”She wished she could take the last back.He didn’t love her.Love was the fantasy, the false foundation of their pretend relationship.A lie that, for a glorious moment, she had imagined to be real.
“Love would be an honorable way to live.As would duty.You could have both, Vori.”
Her breath caught, and her heart sped.“Oh?”
“The duty of a queen.The love of her people.”
“Oh.”How horribly meaning and context could twist a word.A second ago,ohbeen light and airy, a hope attached to a string floating high in the air.Now, it was a sinking stone, dragging her down.
“You’re at the start of something wonderful, the rebuilding of an entire realm.All you have to do is say yes.”
Say yes.It was what she’d asked him in the Senate’s filthy prison cell before they sent a death squad to kill him.When she’d wanted him to agree to this outrageous marriage.“You know why I can’t be their queen.”
“Because you’re scared—of something that’s not going to happen.You are not your father.”
“You don’t know that.You saw me fight.”And he hadn’t kissed her since.Hadn’t attempted it.He’d been gone when she woke after the sleeping drugs wore off.Now, there was a distance between them.A sadness.As if this was all one long good-bye.She moved to other jeweled cases, listening to the quiet tumbling of pins and click of release.
“What would you choose if you could do anything?”His hushed voice cut through the silence.“If you could have anything?”
I would choose you.But she couldn’t say that.Instead, she threw open the next heavy case, stopping the instant she saw the golden consort necklace inside.Her mother’s.A lump caught in her throat.“My mom.I’d give anything to see her again.”
“Anything?”
“Yes.”The gold was so cold beneath her fingertips.
“Even be queen?”
The lump moved to her chest.“Yes.Even that.”
“You’re the realm’s only option.Mykata doesn’t want the crown.She came to see me while you were recovering, to say that you have her full support.And Petra’s a crazed killer out to dispense her own twisted version of justice.”
“She is still after you and your father.”
“I know.We all heard her confirming that.Right before she casually stabbed her sister in the neck.”He touched the consort band at his throat as if shielding against sympathy pain.“What are you going to do about Petra?”
