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“The wordgoodwill never come close to describing what you are to me. You are far more than a good time. I have had plenty of those. But you, Jak, are something entirely different.”
“I am different,” I murmured, repeating what I had not long ago said to him.
“You are.” His hand brushed across my stomach which tensed beneath his cold touch.
“No, Marius. I am different. Different to what you think I am, and I cannot keep pretending. There is no point for my lie anymore.”
I did not reach for his hand to hold it, no matter how I longed to do it.
Marius chuckled nervously, pushing himself up on his elbows beside me. “What is bothering you, Jak?”
“I know what has happened to Katharine.” Even the very air between us seemed to come to a standstill. I slipped from the bed, leaving him in it as I stood. Nervous energy bubbled through me. “And I wish I could tell you that she will be okay. But I know the people keeping a hold of her, and they would hurt their own if required. Trust me.”
I turned to him and watched him where he sat, eyes glaring and body stiff. It seemed every muscle on his exposed body had tensed as my words settled over him.
“Help me understand, Jak, for I fear your words are only confusing me.”
This was it.
I raised a hand before us. Marius’s eyes settled on it. I reached far within me to the coiling of fire that waited for my call. And it answered. Deep red flames tickled across my fingers, dancing and twisting until the room glowed beneath the flamelight.
Marius was still, all but his mouth that parted slowly and the lines that cut across his forehead as his brows furrowed.
“I am a witch, Marius, and I was sent here to kill you. And those who sent me have Katharine now as leverage.”
It seemed that I was unable to catch a breath as he watched on.
Then the flame across my hand died out. Winked out of existence in a single moment. Just as the room shook beneath the sudden roar that spilled from Marius’s split, teeth-bared mouth.
24
“Stay back.” Marius’s two words felt like a stabbing pain through my chest. They barely came out whole and understandable through the hissing that split from him. His face was pinched, pulled between two different emotions. Rage and… was it sadness or shock? Either way I felt each moment as his glare cut into me like the dullest of blades.
I had not even taken a step before he growled them out at me. All that stood between us was the bed. It would not stop him from reaching me if he desired.
I shook as well, but in a different manner to Marius. My forehead dampened and the room seemed to cave in on me.
“I—”
“You… you tricked me.”
“No, yes, Marius, let me explain.” I could not grasp onto a single thread of clarity.
Marius fisted the sheets, blue veins protruding from his arms beneath the tension. “Why… why!”
One word, that was it. It was all he could conjure, but it stabbed into my gut nonetheless.
“Because it was what I was brought up to do. I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice,” Marius seethed, spittle flying from his lipless snarl.
“Did you?” I said, quietly and unable to hold his glare. “Because from what I understand you were thrown into this situation just as I have been.”
Marius’s stomach muscles tensed as he threw himself forward, slamming his palms onto the bed. I was certain I heard a snap of wood. “Do not compare me to what you are! We are nothing alike!”
My throat thickened. I found it hard to swallow the lump that had nestled in it. “I did not mean it like that.”
“Then tell me, Jak, what did you mean?” He spat my name out like it was a weapon of its own. I recoiled from it, pressing a hand to my chest.
