Page 188 of A Touch of Poison
She smiled slowly. “With two conditions, of course.”
Eyes narrowing, I stamped down my hope. We had no bargaining chips on our side—not when she held our lives in her hands. “Of course.” At my side, Kat was very still.
“You cannot tell the queen that I’m alive, and you allow us to remove your memories of this place.” She indicated the tattooed man, who straightened.
The nausea knotting in my stomach doubled. Not telling Braea, I could understand, but forget all this? Forget me and Kat? The feel of her in my arms, coming on me again and again, and most of all, the fullness—thewholenessI’d experienced making love to her.
I’d fucked a lot of people, a lot of times. But this? This had been something else entirely.
Dimly I became aware of Kat stepping forward. “No. That wasn’t what we agreed.”
I shot her a look. “What you—?”
Her tight jaw and frown silenced me. She’d done some deal. I didn’t know whether to shrink with dread or grow with pride.
She lifted her chin, looking taller. “Just the location. That’s all you can have.”
The tattooed man leant forward and whispered in Sura’s ear, and she nodded. “Very well. I’ll let you keep the rest. Do you both agree?”
Without iron, I might’ve done a better job at hiding my relief, but exhausted by its embrace, I sagged. I didn’t want to forget a single moment with Kat—not from that night and not from any instant before. Even the worst times—they had led us to this point.
I slid the fork back up my sleeve and nodded.
The guards removed our manacles, and the silver-haired one arched an eyebrow at me when she found one side already unlocked. I shrugged and gave her a half smile, the nausea already fading now the iron had been removed.
The tattooed man started on Kat. Thankfully, they let her sit before he set to work, because she slumped over the table as he did.
“Kat?” I started forward, but she raised a hand, face screwing up.
It was a torturous lifetime watching her endure that. I should’ve realised he was like my father when Sura brought him in to one of our meetings. She’d given up after that first time and I hadn’t seen him again until today. You didn’t grow up with a mind-reading parent without learning to shield your thoughts while in hostile territory.
When it was my turn, I understood the look on Kat’s face. The tattooed man’s magic was nothing likeAthair’s. A wire brush scoured my mind, erasing the path we’d taken to get here as well as the Lady of the Lake’s description of where to go to find our answers… and my salvation.
I clung to that word as he took away the rest. Sura hadn’t brought me salvation but Kat… maybe she had. Maybe my love for her would be enough when weighed against all my wrongs.
After, my head didn’t ache butstung. His work was clumsy and brutal—all raw ability as opposed to honed skill like my father. Sura had to only be using him because she had no choice. This kind of magic was a rarity.
“And the other part of our deal.” Sura took a small box from the table, nose wrinkling as soon as she closed her hand around it.
Kat opened it, revealing a plain ring. She glanced to one side, not quite at me.
“It’s as you asked,” Sura went on. “Encased in silver.”
“Iron,” I breathed. From a foot away, I couldn’t feel it, but it would explain the look of discomfort on the princess’s face and the one of relief Kat wore as she slid it on her finger.
Seeing it, I couldn’t even be angry. I’d heard her whimpering through nightmares since poisoning those people.
As Sura led us through the half-ruined palace, I gritted my teeth and told myself that this ring was only a temporary measure. For now, Kat needed the reassurance, but given time the fear would fade and she’d let me teach her how to use her magic safely.
With the iron gone, I could think straight, and a horrible realisation came to me. This was too easy. Sura could’ve driven a much harder bargain in exchange for our survival. “Why are you really letting us go?”
“I have my reasons.”
“Whatreasons?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You really can’t just accept your good fortune, can you? Fine. The queen will come for us if we kill her Shadow, so it’s in my best interests not to do so. My forces aren’t ready to face hers. Not yet.”
It still felt wrong, though. Unless she was using us. The tattooed man could’ve planted something as he’d wiped our memories.
