Page 17 of This Shattered Star

Nothing else but him.

“There are those fangs,” he ground out.

My grip on his blade slackened, easing its touch against his throat.

My reply was a mere wisp of an exhale. “Careful. I bite.”

I watched his tongue dart to wet his lips. “What fun is there in being careful?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

A sharp exhale left him then. I could’ve sworn I felt his gaze shift to my own lips.

“Is that why I found you killing a man in cold blood?”

With a grimace, I finally stepped away from him. The heat circulating in my blood dissipated, leaving me bereft of all warmth. An unforgiving chill settled in its place. One that almost had my teeth chattering.

“Come, now. There’s no shame in a little bloodshed. But I want to know how you managed to do it without so much as a scratch on your part. Especially without any magic.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“No, you don’t.” He didn’t move from the wall despite the wide berth I gave him. “But if you want a better chance at surviving the trials, you will. Not just for my sake, but for Brannon and Theia’s as well. We cannot coordinate our physical strengths and weaknesses if we don’t know what they are.”

I hated that he was right. And I hated Maverick for causing this mess in the first place.

“Fine.” I nodded reluctantly. “But if that is the case, I will only explain once we find them.”

“Gods, are you always this stubborn?” He ran a hand over his face, the rigidness of his posture betraying the attempt at hiding his exasperation. “And I would like my dagger back.”

I was already moving. We’d wasted enough time. “If you don’t kill me, you’ll find out,” I said over my shoulder. Exactly how he’d called out to me in the alley. “I think I’ll keep the blade. It’s not like you’ll use it. And I’d hate for a perfectly sharpened weapon to go to waste.”

Triumph crept alongside my shadow as Kodhan’s boots clamored behind me. He made no attempt to take the blade back.

Sliding the dagger into the waistband of my pants like Kodhan had, I tucked my undershirt beneath it to avoid any cuts. Not ideal, but it kept the blade in place, and left both my hands free.

We crossed several other corridors housing closed doors. And all of them were haunted by that incessant ticking noise.

“We’re going in circles.” I blurted after our tenth turn. “There’s no one else here but us. We would’ve heard or seen at least one other person by now.”

Doubt stitched Kodhan’s eyebrows together. “Impossible. It wouldn’t make sense to leave two of us stranded in a maze of empty rooms.”

“Nothing is impossible. Not when it comes to Maverick. We are the only two competitors here, I’m sure of it.” I gnawed onmy bottom lip, contemplating. “The doors and ticking must be a way to confuse us, to make us think we’re going somewhere when in reality we’ve passed the same rooms multiple times.”

I reached for the handle closest to us and yanked. Locked. “One of them has to be hiding a way to another wing. Or a way to the Dome.”

“Perhaps.” Apprehension lined the set of his shoulders. “You speak his name informally. As if you two are close.”

The accusation was not wrong. But Kodhan didn’t need to know that. Not if it meant that he would use it against me.

“As close as someone cursed by the gods can be to someone who was blessed by them. He sees me as a puzzle he can solve.” I saw them far too often, those wheels turning behind his onyx eyes. Spinning in endless curiosity. Grinding with frustration.

“But he cannot solve me. Cannot fix me. He’s failed. And he never fails atanything. So he keeps me close to him, for when he is ready to try again.”

Kodhan followed closely as I continued yanking on each door. All locked. “His little display made it seem like much more than that.”

The back of my hand tingled. “Yes, well.” I cleared my throat. “When two people spend as much time together as we have, it is only natural to be properly acquainted.”

He tried blocking my path, only for my shoulder to ram into his arm as I plowed by regardless. “He could have sought out any member of his court after his declaration. Any woman. Stars, heshouldhave sought out hisSecond.The one tasked with ensuring his head remain on his shoulders. But he sought you out instead. Ignored everything his duty required until he was finished speaking to you.”