Page 86 of City of Snakes
“So what? You want to stay here indefinitely? Hide from your problems in Henosis?” I challenged.
She huffed a laugh. “Fuck no. I’ll stay only until we have worked out the details. But this is my rattle of warning forthem.If Emmerick and Bringham would like to unseat me, then I will make it harder for them.”
I sighed. “You cannot spew venom at me and expect my kindness.”
“I know. I misstepped—my words were horrid—but did they change anything you said in the South Tower? Did you mean it when you said you would fight for my Corridor?”
I clenched my fists, fighting against the urge to touch her. If she knew the true extent of her own power, she wouldn’t be shackling herself to me for some false sense of security.
“Why marry me? I’d wage wars with you without a marriage contract,” I said.
She swallowed hard. “Because the rulers in Henosis fear making an enemy of you. I’d like them to fear making an enemy of me, too. Also, I’m running out of time. If the central lords are leaning into old laws, then my right to rule ends in less than two yearsifI am unwed. If they don’t find a loophole sooner.”
“So you thought you’d just force my hand?” Blood pumped hot in my veins.
She glared up at me. “Admit it. It’s the perfect arrangement. Neither of us has the petty desire to marry for love. You need me. I need you. That’s all.”
“What about heirs? Do you need those too?” I moved closer to her, shielding her from a few passing maids as she slumped against the stone wall of the alcove.
“Doyou?” She turned the question back on me.
My jaw tightened. I caught her rubbing her wrists as though they bothered her.
With one hand resting on the wall beside her head, I leaned my weight into her space and studied her.
“I asked the question first.”
She tilted her chin up. Shadows were cast over her features, but those emerald eyes could light up a room.
I longed to hate this idea, but it was growing more appealing by the minute.
“What type of breeding fantasies do you have, Darvanda?”
I scoffed. “Answer the question.”
“Your heart belongs to another, and my heart belongs to no one,” she continued. “Whatever physicalreactionwe have to one another does not need to be complicated but could behelpful.When the time comes.” Her tone remained unaffected, but the way she bit her lower lip as she scanned my face gave her away.
That still didn’t answer my question fully.
“Would you like to act on thosephysical reactions,Sybilla?” The question was too suggestive and expectant.
One’s heart and one’s physical desires could walk two separate paths and never meet. I could separate the two.
My lust for Sybilla grew into a thick, palpable weight in the air; it tore at my resolve to stay away. But my heart had long ago melted down into the wax that lit the candles around Freya’s statue. It couldn’t be reformed into anything worthwhile.
I focused on the way that silk dress hugged her hips.
“That would be irresponsible until you’ve agreed to keep your promise to marry me.” She did not move away, and our foreheads felt drawn together by a string.
“It would be,” I whispered into her mouth.
She’d forced my hand. But how perfectly had the pieces fallen together? I was skipping all the stones on the board at once.
One hand clenched at my side, the other against the wall. My Shadows had ideas of their own—they reached out and tangled around her as though cocooning her. Typically, they only touched to hurt, destroy or ruin. But, once again, they skated gently across her lower back, and she shivered and arched against their touch.
“What happened to ‘no man setting his hands on me without my permission’?”
“Those aren’t my hands. And what I said was, ‘No one lays a finger on you unless you want them to.’ Something tells me you are conflicted about what you want.”
