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Asmo grows quiet, and though I don’t turn my head, I hear the slam of his book and the creak of the furniture as he stands. “Who told you that?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not exactly hard to believe. It’d be naïve of me to not acknowledge the pull. I didn’t know what it meant before, but I do now.”
He comes to a stop next to me, peering down to where I lay sideways in the chair. “It doesn’tmeananything. As I told you before, there’s nothing between us beyond duty to the realm and a mutual acquaintanceship. Just because you share a soul with the woman I used to love doesn’t make you her.”
“I didn’t say it did. I asked why you call me by a nickname that’s unfitting of me,” I say, sitting up in the seat and swinging my feet off the edge. “Was it hers?” His eyes dart away. “I knew it.”
“Sometimes soulmates are born into the world at separate times. They don’t die together. Some outlive the other, or are born into the same family. Being soulmates doesn’t require you to be head over heels in love, or even sexually attracted to another, Alice. It simply means their presence brings comfort. It’s soothing for your other half to be so near. Our relationship will stay platonic. I won’t impede on my brother’s happiness because I lost my own,” he says, sitting down on the coffee table top and folding his hands in his lap.
“I never said it had to be anything other. I simply stated that there’s a pull and you said it best. It’s comforting, nothing more. Though, I can’t say I don’t regret hearing that from someone else. I’d have much rather found out from you.” He threads his hand through his hair, letting his head drop back for a moment. The lump in his throat pops more prominently from this angle.
“I should’ve told you, but I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Before we stormed the castle, you and my brother were in a dark place and I wasn’t sure how you’d react,” his voice is softer than it has been since he named me queen, and it’s a side of him I hate to admit I’ve missed.
“How did I–she–die?” His jaw ticks as his gaze drops to his hands in his lap, and he picks at his nails.
“I killed her. A very long time ago. She followed me down to my father’s room the day my spellbinding broke, and she was mortal… so.”
My eyes round… I know that fear well. Granted, when my spellbinding broke, Kai survived it, but I’ll never forget the way my heart sank when I saw Pan’s body and thought it was Kai. “I’m sorry…”
“There’s no need for sympathy. I’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with what I did. As for the nickname, yes, it was hers. I knew the moment I met you on that battlefield, and honestly, it’s why I went to the barrier. I had to be sure, even when the visions had already convinced me.” My eyes flick to his white one. That’s why he saw me… It didn’t have anything to do with being connected to Kai.
“What was she like? Are we similar?” I ask, hoping I’m not overstepping by asking him to remember.
His lips twitch up into a half grin as he lifts his head. “Most ways no. You don’t look anything alike, but she had an attitude that could level kingdoms and was unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. She was half elf, half shifter, and because of that, she was cast out. The Elven kingdom doesn’t accept half-breeds, but my mother was known for taking in misfits. She’d give them a home in the keep and treat them like they were her own.”
“Did you grow up together, then?”
He shakes his head, the smile pulling wider on his lips to reveal perfect white teeth. “No. I didn’t know she existed for a while. One day I left the library and she ran into me and hit the books in my hand so hard that one broke my nose. We hated each other at first, but somehow we kept running into each other and then something just…snapped. There was no escaping it, though it wasn’t the fact we shared souls that caused it. More because we were exactly what the other needed.”
I suck in a breath, expanding my chest. “Oddly enough, I know exactly what you mean… So why, Mouse?”
“She could shift into one. It made sneaking around much easier, believe it or not. My father would’ve lost it had he known I was sleeping with a servant–let alone if I was in love with one.”
“Lucifer has definitely changed then. He hated it when Kai and Finn threw parties, but the two of them, I’m pretty sure, have slept their way through the entire line of castle help.Together. They haven’t said so directly, but based on some of the stories I’ve been told, I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Well then… I suppose he has,” Asmo’s eyes are glued to the floor and he falls silent for a long moment, then slaps his knees and pushes to his feet. “What about a lesson? Hmm? We don’t need to leave, but we are going to war, and I’m certain if it weren’t for you being…you, I would’ve won in that field. So, maybe a lesson from me will help you in the coming days.”
Rolling my eyes, I stand. “I have a teacher. He’s the greatest warrior in the seven realms.”
A dark eyebrow arches over his white eye. “I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I’m certain I hold that spot. Now come.” He holds out his hand. “Maybe by the time we’re through, you won’t need a taxi service to go places.”
37
Alice
38
Alice
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re skilled and powerful, but you’re also inexperienced and it shows,” Asmo says, pulling his sword from the sheath on his hip. I detach mine from the belt. It’s Kai’s mother’s sword–the one that kills an immortal–and I don’t want to risk harming him.
We stand in the stone courtyard surrounding the Solarian castle. No one else in sight. The men and guards of the castle have all been taken to the fields south of here by the knights to practice and train.
“I seem to remember you complimenting the way I fight. Why would you do that if you let me win?” I hold out my hand, building a sword from scratch. It materializes in my hand, the hilt made of pure silver and the blade long and slightly curved like a scythe.
“I didn’tlet you win, but had I not been blinded by who you used to be…” He pauses, his pacing, ceasing to circle around me like a predatory would prey. “All I’m saying is that if I’d fought like I normally do, you would’ve been done for.”
“I’m immortal. So, unless you have the ability to smite me, or rip my soul to shreds, I’ll be fine.”
