Maris sighed wistfully. “If only you were a gorgeous man saying that to me, sweetie. Oh well… one day.” He sobered. “I love you, too, Zarya. Thank you for saving him today.”
“Team effort,” she reminded him.
He shook his head at her. “You have a hard time accepting praise, don’t you?”
“It makes me really uncomfortable.”
“All right, then. You suck. Now, I’m going to check on Ryn to see if he needs anything while he deals with the firestorm over this.”
Smiling, Zarya watched him leave. She really did love that man. But what she felt for him was nothing compared to what her heart held for Darling.
And she’d almost lost him today…
Worse, she was the biggest threat he had to his well-being and reign. Closing her eyes, she kept trying to blot out the image of the e-mail they’d received after his attack.
We are the Resistance and you are holding one of ours. There will be no peace and no quarter so long as you have her. Release Zarya Starska or we will burn the palace to the ground and destroy every aristo we find.
Protests had been breaking out steadily since the attack. Even now, there was a group of rabid protestors at the palace gates.
Because of her.
I have to leave him. In spite of what Maris said, and in spite of the pain it would cause her, she couldn’t stay here.
For the sake of Darling’s life, she would have to go. She knew it deep in her heart. But knowing what needed to be done and doing it when you didn’t want to were two different things.
I don’t want to go. She remembered how desolate she’d felt when Darling had gone missing. Remembered the nights of feeling lost and vacant. She didn’t want to go through that again.
But if she didn’t, he’d be dead, and then she would never be able to see him. Period.
I’ll either have to live a life without him in it, knowing he’s alive and well. Or live a life where he’s dead.
Either way, she lost. There was no choice.
Somehow she was going to have to find the strength to break his heart.
And ruin the rest of her life.
14
“What the hell are you doing here? And dressed like that!”
Zarya jumped at the strident tone that startled her out of her thoughts. Not just because it was so angry, but because it came from the last person she expected to burst into her bedroom.
“Sorche? What are you doing here? Who let you in?” Unless Maris gave clearance, no one was supposed to be allowed into the governor’s private wing without a full escort.
Her sister didn’t answer. Instead, she rushed across the room to take her by the arm. Sorche pulled her toward the hallway door. “Look, there aren’t any guards outside. I think we can make it out before anyone realizes you’re gone.”
Unsure if she should laugh or be insulted, Zarya gaped at her. “What are you talking about?”
Sorche lowered her voice to a tiny whisper. “I saw the news, okay? I know he’s holding you against your will, and—”
Zarya refused to let her sister haul her across the room. She twisted her arm out of Sorche’s grasp. “It’s not against my will.”
Sorche cocked her head. “The UCN said that he had mind control over you. Do you know who I am?”
Zarya gave her a droll stare. “My annoying little sister who has driven me insane since the moment she came into this world and threw up all over my favorite dress.” She placed her hands on Sorche’s shoulders and met her gaze levelly so that she could see Zarya was in full possession of her own mind. “I am here by choice, Sorche. That’s why I don’t have guards. I’m free to leave anytime I want to. I have the money and the means to leave.”
“Then why are you here?” Fear sparked in her brown eyes. When she spoke again, her voice was barely audible. “You’re going to kill the governor, aren’t you?”
“No.” Biting her lip, Zarya debated telling her sister the truth. While Sorche was extremely loyal, she could also be scattered, and extremely stupid at times. “I’m going to tell you something, but you have to swear on our mother’s soul that you will never, ever breathe a syllable of it to another living being.”
“Even Ture?”
“Even Ture.”
Sorche considered it for a few heartbeats. “Then it has to be good. Spill it.”
“Swear first.”
Sorche nodded eagerly. “Okay, I swear it.”
Now Zarya understood why Maris had hesitated with her. It was hard to let go of a confidence when you knew it would destroy the person you loved most if anyone else heard it. And while she trusted her sister, she was still afraid that by talking about this, she might do Darling harm.
But in the end, she knew she had to tell her sister the truth. Sorche wouldn’t accept anything else. So taking a deep breath, she forced the words out. “Darling is Kere.”
Sorche gaped at her disclosure. For several seconds, all she did was blink until she finally gasped, “Your fiancé Kere?”
“The one and the same.”