Yet I saw darkness in Jasce’s eyes today. The kind of darkness that changes a person, that seeps into their soul and never truly washes clean.
Ineedto seemyJasce again. Need to find the gentle artist beneath the warrior’s mask.
Otherwise…
The gods help me.
I don’t want to think about otherwise…
Chapter Fifty-Five
Jasce
I push asidethe flap and step inside my tent, where Annora sits perched on the edge of my bed, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
My arms ache to hold her, to erase the distance that has crept between us. “Annora.”
She doesn’t move, doesn’t blink.
I sit next to her and reach out to take her cold hands in mine. “Talk to me.”
Her lips part, but no words come.
I search her face, seeing the shadows under her eyes and the tightness near her mouth. “What is it?”
She pulls her hands free and laces them together. “You left during the night, and you didn’t tell me anything. Then, you returned covered in blood.”
Frustration grips me, but I try to quell it. “We had to try to stop Asha.”
Annora’s eyes flick to mine. “I saw the blood.”
“It’s war. There’s no avoiding it.”
She stands abruptly, moving past me to a small table. “Do you enjoy it?”
Until last night, battle was always a necessity—a burden I carried as chieftain to protect my people. I’ve never reveled in it like my father, never sought the thrill of combat for its own sake.
But last night was different.
When I led the charge through the Whispering Woods, revenge burned hot in my veins.
Though, I will not apologize for what I am—a man who will wade through rivers of blood to keep Annora safe.
“I fight to protect our people,” I say after a while. “To protect you.”
“It’s not about protection anymore.” Annora’s voice quivers as she continues. “The way you looked when you returned. There was something else in your eyes, something dark.”
“What do you want me to say? That I didn’t feel satisfaction taking down some of the people who hurt you? That I didn’t revel in their deaths? Because I did, and I will not shy from that truth.”
Tears glisten in her eyes as she wraps her arms around herself. “Please stop.”
“No. You need to understand.” I swallow through the grit in my throat. “Every time I think about what they made you do—”
“—made me do?” She shakes her head. “I did it.Mymagic.Myflames.”
“Because Aleksander controlled you.”
“And now you want to control everything through violence.” She turns away from me, her shoulders rigid. “Just like Aleksander and my grandfather.”
