Page 94 of Tarnished Crown

His eyes widened with shock, then squeezed shut in what might have been exasperation.

“Youleaned in first,” he said with a trace of accusation.

“And then youthrew me against a wall.” Just saying the words out loud sent another wave of heat crashing over me.

I tried to ignore it, though my heartbeat thundered in my chest. Evander went still, but the energy thrumming off of him matched mine.

“Regardless,” he forced out each syllable. “All that matters is that it can’t happen again.”

I agreed. Of course I did.

Everything about our situation was impossible, from the many wars surrounding us to the fact that when push came to shove, I was his prisoner, and he was my captor, however reluctantly these days.

But hearing him say it still twisted my insides like a serrated knife directly to my gut.

Not that I would let him know that.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said amicably.

“Wonderful.” His tone, too, was casual--bland, even. “I’ll just get something to clean up this glass.”

“Perfect. And I’ll just,” I cleared my throat, looking anywhere but Evander’s swollen lips. “Be asleep by the time you return.”

“Great. Then tomorrow we can just, continue as normal.”

“Yes. I wouldn’t want things to beawkwardor anything.” Like this conversation.

“Indeed,” he responded drily.

Then he left, saving both of us from another convoluted moment of the mess we had landed ourselves in.

CHAPTER60

Ihad not been asleep by the time Evander returned, but neither of us acknowledged that fact.

He was, however, gone before I woke up.

Or at least, before I got out of bed. There was no real sleep to be had, not when every limb I shifted put me far too close to Evander, who, for all his purported nonchalance, was clearly not sleeping either.

Aalio.

Or maybe I was theaalio.

After last night, I wasn’t actually sure.

The night had given me long, unwelcome hours to think about the fire that burned between us, the storm that had threatened to drag me under--to a place I had never wanted to go.

In the light of day, I knew he was right. Kissing Evander had been a mistake, one that I was both terrified of making and of never making again.

Hadn’t I told myself that I didn’t want that? That I didn’t want something or someone that could break me?

I ran my fingertips across my lips and shivered, thinking about how easily Evander could break me. And how easy it would be to let him. And that was probably the most terrifying part of it all.

Forcibly pushing the thoughts away, I changed into my navy-blue dress and braided a portion of my hair away from my face before heading downstairs to tell Mila goodbye before she left.

It was a bittersweet feeling. My inclination was to be relieved that she was probably marrying Taras so I would see her more often. But then I remembered that my time here was limited either by the speed at which Theo married or how quickly my father burnt half of Socair to the ground in his quest to retrieve me.

Besides, hadn’t Evander said more than once he was eager to be rid of me?Even if that didn’t feel entirely true anymore.