Page 86 of The Stolen Throne
“I do?”
He nods. “I don’t know how you hid who you were from an entire dominion for so long.”
I huff a laugh, then brush my fingertips over the scar in my side. “I think maybe you’re cheating a little bit.”
Even through layers of clothes I feel the shadows ripple against my touch, like they’re pressing into my fingertips. Reven’s features go taut, the turquoise of his eyes turning brighter.
I want to chase that look, but… “Don’t.” I shake my head. “Don’t look at me like that unless you can mean it.” I’m helpless when he looks at me like that.
For a second, I think he’s finally going to give in, because he’s up and out of his throne, which disappears, and is across to where I’m standing in a few long strides. Except he stops in front of me, body stiff, face a mask of control.
He uses distance like a second wall, putting more of it between us, and the gut punch of my disappointment is impossible to ignore.
“I’m trying to figure out why these woods feel different,” he says.
The admission comes so out of nowhere, it takes me a second to catch up. I’m not sure if the bubble of emotion that expands in my chest is relief or growing worry. This place feels different for him, too? Wait… “Different how?”
“I don’t know. Darker. Like something is growing.”
My eyes grow wide. Is this the same as what I’ve been feeling?
“I hear voices,” he says.
I suck in a sharp breath. There’s no way that’s coincidence. “The king’s Shadows?”
“No. They don’t sound like me.”
“Like when you heard me or the Vanished calling you at night?” I ask slowly.
“Maybe. Except they’re not crying out for help. I don’t think. They sound…angry.”
“What are they angry about?”
“I don’t know. I can hear them like a buzz—like cicadas—but I can’t make out the words.”
I swallow. Hard. “I’ve heard them, too.”
He grabs me by the arm. “What?”
“I heard voices,” I admit. “Like a crowd around me talking, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. It’s only happened once.” I wince. “Oh, and the shadows turned the pages to show me that spot in the book.”
His eyes go wide, and for a second, I think he might shake me. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
I pull out of his grasp. “Why didn’t you?”
That has the muscle in his jaw ticking. Only when he opens his mouth, he’s back to cold and logical. “I wasn’t sure at first. It was only here and there.”
“Me, too.”
“But tonight it’s nonstop and louder.”
“It’s getting worse?” That’s different, then. I stopped hearing them days ago.
He nods. “I came out here to try to talk to them.”
Of course he did. I fling up my hands. “Damn it, Reven. What if something happened while you were out here?”
This is the moment when he’d call me on my swearing. Before. I miss it now, when instead his jaw works as he stares at me. “I’d rather it happens away from you. If anyone is going to take the hit, it’s me.”
