Page 15 of Greed of Giants
Her mouth worked. The way she frowned made me want to reach out, to touch her skin, to quell the heat building within her. But fire magic was unpredictable. I might burn her. Scar her. Mark that perfect skin. She needed to understand the weight of what was happening here, needed to comply. I couldn’t walk this world with an unwilling mortal by my side.
“Come. I will show you.”
She blinked up at me, biting her lower lip. Despite my restraint, my gaze lingered there, caught on the sight of her worrying that soft flesh.Mortal. Fragile. Short lives.The litany did nothing to quiet the want.
“What will you show me?”
Fire crept up my arms, threatening to spill from my fingertips. This was a terrible idea, but it would convince her. After she saw this, she wouldn’t question me anymore. “You came for knowledge. Truth. I will show you the door, but we must hurry, for time is short.”
Light danced behind her eyes. That insatiable curiosity sparking to life. That was the key. I had her in the palm ofmy hand. She stood with a small grimace, hand going to her bag. The movement drew my attention to the curve of her waist, the way her armor molded to her form.
I turned my back on her before she could see the hunger in my eyes, pointing to the scroll. “Don’t forget it.”
7
Ilaris
My ribs ached as I followed Killian back into the ruins, but I ignored the discomfort because he’d agreed to give me what I wanted. The searing, white-hot agony that encompassed my body when I attempted to leave still lingered in my mind, leaving me raw. Weak.
Armor couldn’t protect me from a blood oath, or was it a curse? Why, oh why hadn’t I paused before reading the scroll?
It now rested in my bag, and the horned dog trotted beside me. I appreciated having a protective companion, even if he could do nothing more than bark and bite.
When we reached the first set of stairs, I stopped. “It was here.”
Killian’s steps slowed. “Explain.”
I pointed. “This was a slab of rock with no access down below, where I found you. But the ground shook and I fell, scraping my fingers against the stone. It was only a fewdrops of blood, no more than that. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then this opening appeared.”
“As if it recognized you,” he finished. “Even one drop of blood would have been enough. Your actions set this into motion.”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I whispered.
He didn’t reply, just kept walking. His stride was sure, more confident now as though he were getting used to movement again. A low dread hummed in the pit of my belly, especially when we passed the archway where I’d freed him. The chains still hung, swaying in the wind, while in the distance black smoke rolled out of the volcano.
He pivoted away from the archway, heading toward the volcano while I tried to make sense of what was happening. Killian. Prince of the Giants. Royalty. The question tumbled free. “Why were you chained?”
“I was a prisoner awaiting execution.”
The way he spoke, matter-of-factly, bothered me, as though he had no emotion to add to his predicament. Awaiting death was cruel. What had that knowledge done to him? Was he relieved to be alive?
“But you were their prince. Why?”
He slowed his steady pace, falling in step with me. “You are the scholar. You claim you came for truth, but if you only hear my side of the story, that’s not truth. It’s perspective. I can tell you why I was imprisoned, but it skews your perspective.”
“Anything you give me will be much more than I would be able to discover on my own. This is your story. You lived it.”
“Is it my story you want to tell? If so, that is different.”
I huffed out a breath. “What do you propose?”
“I know what I have to do, that fact is undeniable. The story you want to tell is up to you, but you have to choose: do you want truth or do you want a perspective? What will meet the expectations of the House of Scholars?”
He was quick, well-spoken, and it was a relief not to have his ire pointed in my direction.
“The House of Scholars would like to be historically accurate,” I confirmed. “But who is the judge of accuracy? It would be you. And of course, I’m curious about your story. What your life was like before?”
“And I am curious about you. Why are you here? Alone?”
