“I won’t promise you my future,” I said slowly. “I won’t stand here and say whoever kills the most witches gets the girl.”
“Progress,” Rhea muttered.
“But I will promise you this,” I continued, keeping my eyes on Kade. “After it’s over—if I’m still alive, if he’s still alive, if you are—I will look you in the eye and give you an answer. Yes or no. Not because of curses. Not because of guilt. Because of what I want.” My throat worked around the last word. “You’ll get your chance. A fair one. Without anyone else’s blood debts shouting over it.”
It wasn’t what Lucian wanted to hear.
I felt that in the sharp inhale behind me.
But it was the only way to give Kade something he understood as currency without handing him a deed to my life.
Kade watched me.
The usual mockery in his eyes soft
