“No, but that means nothing. Those who don’t look the part make the best spies.”
Is that why Malachi is here, to spy for the Kyanites?
The thought reverberates through my being, turning and twisting until I will it away.
I don’t possess enough fortitude to worry about him, to dread the moment I see him face the executioner the way those Kyanites did.
“I’m wounded, Gabriel. All I want to be is your friend, and you keep vilifying me.”
“You’ll stay wounded, Kyanite.” He stands, drains his tea, and sets the goblet on the table. “I will never trust you. Therefore, I’ll always be suspicious.”
Frustration grips me. Why does he insist on not calling me by my name?
“My name is Sol.”
“I know.” He disappears into the bedroom we share.
Never trust.
Always suspicious.
My heart pounds as his words pierce my ears over and over. By all accounts, he’s winning this battle to not accept me. A normal man would have already bedded me.
I clutch my fingers together and frown. Gabriel is a dagger to the heart of my destiny.
Still, tomorrow when I wake up, I’ll try to be the kind of wife who pleases him. Otherwise…
Olah help me. I don’t want to think about otherwise.
Fire surges through the floorboards and licks at my feet. I jerk them away, but the flames keep building and building until they attack my legs. My chest. My face.
I scream and thrash.
The fire doesn’t relent. It burns brighter. Hotter.
“Mother!” I plead for her to hear me and rescue me.
But she doesn’t answer.
Nobody answers.
There’s only charred remains here.
“Wake up.”
A sob wrenches from my throat as that voice comes again, calling out to me.
“Wake up.”
I reach for that source, that sturdiness, that peace away from all those flames. Warmth slides beneath my hands.Hiswarmth.
Gabriel brings his hands to my back, and instead of pushing me away, he brings me tighter. I bury my face against his chest and meld into that comfort.
“It was just a dream,” he says, his tone soothing my tattered nerves.
If only that were true.
It’s the same nightmare that has plagued me since Mother died.
