I nod, my chin resting on the crown of her head. “Yes. The Archech is the place where Drogaem is buried. It’s where we’ll find the crown.”
She pulls back and looks up at me with curiosity. “What happens when you put the crown on?”
I don’t know. The realization of my own ignorance is something I wasn’t prepared for. Here we are, on a journey that will define future generations for eons, and I have no idea what will happen when the crown is on my head. “No one knows. None of those who came before me were brave enough to venture toward the Archech.”
Briar looks thrown off. “Why?”
“They say there’s a special key needed to enter,” I say. Willem flashes me a warning look. I try not to let him see just how much Briar affects me. “But it’s just a rumor. We’ll figure out what to do next when we get there. The important thing is finding Archech first.”
She nods, leaning back into me. “Does anyone else know about it?”
I sigh heavily, closing my eyes to blanish the guilt that builds inside of me. “Only the legend of Drogaem’s death. No one else has taken interest in the rumors.”
But again, I don’t know for sure. Anyone else could have followed the same trail I have. My head spins dangerously and I breath in lungful’s of Briar’s scent to comfort myself. She’s entirely unaware of the power she holds over me. And I can’t let her know. Not yet, anyway.
In fact, allowing Briar to see how she affects me isn’t a good idea for either one of us.
I can be kind to her without being weakened by her. She sits up and I stand, offering her hand. “Let’s spar.”
She nods eagerly and follows me to a place where she isn’t in danger of being burned by the fire. Briar rolls her shoulders and unclasps her cloak, sliding it off and setting it aside. The curves of her figure feed my deprived eyes. For too long she has hid behind that dark cowl. Now, seeing the way her leather trousers cling to her legs and the way her corset press her breasts higher, I can’t imagine why men allow this lovely creature to go unnoticed.
Briar blushes beneath the spotlight of my attention and I adore her bashful stare. I stalk toward her and shove her off her feet with barely a nudge of my arm. She rolls into a crouch, hand going for her dagger, but it’s predictable. I step around her, wrapping my arm across her chest, my claws pressed to her neck. Squeezing just a bit she growls and tries to shimmy away, but I am much stronger. I disarm her easily and toss the blade toward the ground. It wobbles where it juts out from the dirt. Briar rushes me, but jumps to the side when I reach for her. She slides between my legs and pops up behind me, climbing my back.
I feel her breath on me as she whispers, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Seeing me.”
I don’t know what she means, but I flip her onto her back.
Chapter 9
Briar
I should kill him.
I know I should and yet I can’t bring myself to do it. Willem walks away from us so many times, but I find myself bewitched by the thoughts of Kane’s kisses. Each time we’re alone together, I feel like I want to press myself against him until we are one.
My father wants me to kill a man I’m not certain deserves it. Even so, with what Kane strives to teach me, I know his death would be meaningless. The laws of inheritance have nothing to do with blood. The children have nothing to do with who ascends to power.
If I kill Kane another Death will take his place and the process begins anew. It solves nothing. My father’s bitter resentment for the god who failed to save his wife from suffering would still exist whether Kane holds the title or not. Mortals are unaware of just how insignificant their influence really is. If bloodlines are useless, then are the Collection ceremonies? Why bridge lineages if inheritance means so little now? Kane knows this. But he still wishes to marry me for reasons I still can’t quite fathom.
His tender care has become something I rely on, but it still feels unnatural to see that kindness within him. And his kiss. By the Night, his kiss is addictive, a lure that keeps me coming back to him even when I know I shouldn’t. Those strong, imposing hands on my body set me on fire despite Kane being cold to the touch. I can’t kill him. His death changes nothing.
So, I won’t kill him.
The weight of a thousand worlds lift from my chest and I feel the metaphorical shackles that trailed behind me since we left the castle fall from my ankles.
I am brought from my thoughts by the sound of horses. Jumping to my feet I hurry over and look across the water as Willem manages to wrangle them back across. I smile, thankful that they hadn’t met the demise that I had imagined in my head.. Kane winks at me and I feel my heart stop for a moment. I can see the amusement in his eyes and he looks away to avoid laughing.
I reach for my cloak, but he snatches it from my hands. “Only use it when we get to the village.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want anything obstructing my view of that delicious backside as you ride ahead of me today,” he says teasingly. My mind sputters without a hope in sight of building an intelligible thought. Not when he looks as though he wants to devour me. “Get on the horse, Briar. We can’t wait much longer.”
The command causes me to shiver and I obey.
By the way he looks at me, I can tell he likes my obedience. My dagger no longer feels like its weight will pull me back to the ground as
