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He meant it, and I trusted his word. Trusted him. I’d thought our match was wrong, too jagged, too conflicting, but now I wondered if our differences were what could bring us together. The fury in his eyes softened—fury for what had been done to me, not because of me.
I placed my hand on his face, felt the burn of his whiskers under my palm, and I might have seen Draven for the first time.
“Arin…” His hand slipped from my cheek, into my hair. I leaned into the touch, into him, and then his lips skimmed mine, and like fire to the touchpaper, desperate need sparked alive. I kissed him hard, meeting his desperation with my own. It wasn’t love, not that, just need and hate and vengeance. I needed this man’s hands on me to erase the feeling of Lark’s mouth on mine, his kisses on my neck, his grip on my hips. I needed to forget how Lark had branded his name into my heart.
There was no more Lark.
Just Zayan, the Prince of Pain’s half brother, and he was a stranger.
CHAPTER28
Lark
Huge lumbering machinesblew sand from a brick road far enough ahead of our carriage so as not to spook the horses. Behind, the wind gusted the sand back in, covering any sign we’d passed by and swallowing the road again as though it had never existed.
The land of War was a hot, vivid place.
This was my first visit, but I’d heard about its strangeness from warlords and ladies at Arin’s court. They said the land was as brutal and unforgiving as its people.
It was not the place I’d imagined Arin would find a new home.
Sand filtered through the closed carriage doors. Razak sneered and brushed it from his black boots. He saw my glance, arched an eyebrow, then smiled, so pleased I was here. I turned my face away, and the carriage trundled on. Maybe, if I was lucky, a great sand worm would tunnel up from beneath us and swallow our carriage whole. Although the brick road likely thwarted those notorious desert creatures.
Two thumps on the carriage roof signaled our arrival. I pulled the window down. Ahead of the sand-clearing machines, a pale sandstone wall stretched from dune to dune, so vast it was surely made to keep giants out. Or in. The wall’s watchtowers climbed so high into the sky I couldn’t see their tops.
Once behind that wall, there would be no escape. My gaze slid to my brother. He was taking a huge risk coming here.
“I almost forgot.” He scooped up a folded garment that had rested beside him for the entire journey and offered it to me.
“What is it?”
“A gift, clearly. Take it.”
I looked at the black silk as though it was a bundle of snakes. Were their razor blades in its seams?
Razak laughed. “So suspicious, brother. Can’t I give you a gift without having some ulterior motive?”
I didn’t reply. Voices sounded outside our carriage, and the door opened, letting in jarring sunlight and a blast of sand. Razak dropped the gift onto my lap and climbed from the carriage. I followed, then shook the garment loose. It was a coat—a very fine coat of black and purple silk, so light that after I’d shrugged it on, its weight vanished.
“Very nice.” Razak beamed, flicking his doublet collars up. “Check the inner pocket.”
His guards milled about, readying his traveling chests; nobody paid us any mind. Behind Razak, and still some distance away, an enormous wooden door barred our way through the wall. War had yet to invite us in.
Patting down my coat, I discovered multiple pockets, some smaller than others—perfect for magician’s tricks—but one pocket hung low with a subtle weight. I eased my fingers inside, expecting something to bite. But instead, I retrieved a small vial of clear liquid.
Delight sparkled in Razak’s eyes. “After the ceremony, a drop in each cup should suffice.”
Poison.
I held the small vial up to the sand-filtered sun, turning the liquid red inside. “What does it do?”
“You’ll see.” He faced the enormous gate and tugged at this gloves. “Oh yes.” After digging into his own pockets, he handed over a pair of purple gloves; the two fingers on the right hand had been stiffened with wood to hide my missing fingers. “Cover up, hm? And brother, walk beside me. You’re here as my equal. Act as such.”
Equal?
It was all for show, of course.
I dropped the vial back into the hidden pocket and tugged on the gloves in time to see the huge gate groan open and two bristling-with-weapons guards emerge.
