Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Her mother stepped closer, taking Tem’s hands in hers. “It was wrong of me to conceal something so important from you. I pray you’ll forgive me.”
Tem opened her mouth, then closed it again. Was she really going to blame her mother for keeping this secret when she was now keeping secrets of her own? Her mother had no idea what Tem had been up to under the mountain. She didn’t know that her daughter was engaged to a basilisk-that Tem was practically following in her footsteps. So she said, “Of course I forgive you.”
Relief flooded her mother’s face. She squeezed Tem’s hands, then dropped them. “I know you must have many questions. And I will answer them, but later. For now, I was planning on going to the bakery.”
Tem knew it was her way of making peace, of sparing her from a needlessly cruel encounter with Vera.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Her mother smiled. Then she left.
Tem spent the rest of the day in bed, alternating between worrying and sleeping. By the time it was midafternoon, she was already aching to see Caspen again. She was eager to begin her lessons-eager to transition. Now that she knew there was an entire part of her that lay undiscovered, she needed to explore it.
Tem couldn’t wait until evening.
She left her mother a note and walked quickly to the caves, her shoulders hunched against the wind. When she arrived, she went straight to the passageway, confidently navigating the twists and turns she’d memorized long ago. Tem was almost to Caspen’s chambers when something stopped her dead in her tracks.
Someone stood in the middle of the passageway.
She could barely see them in the near blackness, but her spine broke out in chills when they spoke.
“Temperance.”
It was Rowe.
Tem didn’t respond. She couldn’t have if she’d tried.
Rowe stepped closer. “You know,” he said casually, as if they were old friends. “You should not wander the mountain alone. It is not safe for humans.”
“I’m not human.” Tem hated how small her words sounded.
Rowe stepped even closer. “No?” His voice immediately lost its congenial tone. “Then what are you? A half-breed. An abomination of nature who thinks she is our salvation.”
“I don’t think that,” Tem whispered.
“Stupid girl. You know nothing of the ways of my people.”
“I know Caspen regrets what he did.”
Rowe froze. It was a wild gamble to bring up Rowe’s father. But Tem needed to distract him-to find a way out of this. She barreled onward before he could stop her.
“He didn’t want to perform the crest.”
Rowe’s response was cold. “Yet he did so anyway.”
“He only did so because he felt he had no other choice.”
“Yet he chose to do it,” Rowe hissed. He stepped closer once more, and his breath was on her face as he said, “What he did was a sin. He will pay for it in blood.”
Tem tried to control her heartbeat but found it was impossible. Rowe was standing far too close; every instinct in her body was telling her to run.
“Wouldn’t you do anything for your family?” she asked desperately. “For your quiver?”
“His quiver has no right to the throne,” Rowe snarled, his voice sharper than crushed glass. “And neither do you.”
Cold fear bit through Tem.
Rowe was angry. At Caspen and at Tem. Before she could turn around, Rowe grabbed her arm, his grip painfully tight. His other hand went to her throat, his fingers tightening around her windpipe. But instead of choking her, Rowe’s eyes bore into hers, his pupils dilating wide. For a single, terrifying moment, Tem thought he might kiss her.
Instead, Rowe’s face twisted into a frown. “Unbelievable,” he whispered. “He claimed you.”
Tem had no idea what that meant. But she knew she had to get away. Rowe was clearly unhinged, and there was no telling what he might do next. With one final yank, Tem wrenched herself from his grasp as forcefully as she could. To her surprise, he let her go, his face still frozen in shock. Every instinct screamed at Tem to run.
Instead, she raised her chin and said, “If you ever touch me again, Caspen will kill you.”
She didn’t even know whether the words were true. If Caspen killed Rowe, there would be an immediate war between the quivers. Tem didn’t want that to happen-especially not because of her. But Caspen was the only card she had left to play. He was powerful, and right now, she needed to remind Rowe of that.
Rowe didn’t answer. Tem ran.
She sprinted the rest of the way to Caspen’s chambers, frantically counting the turns one after another, somehow making it to the familiar wooden door.
Caspen looked up in surprise as she entered. “Tem? You are early.”
She immediately burst into tears.
“Tem.” Caspen crossed to her, taking her face in his hands and pulling it up to his. “What is the matter?”
She shook her head, trying to control her sobs.
“Talk to me, Tem.” Caspen’s gaze fell to her throat.
She wondered if he could see where Rowe had grabbed her.
“Tem, please,” he whispered. “What happened?”
She didn’t answer, still catching her breath.
“You look just as you did after those boys hurt you. I cannot bear to see you this way.”
At the mention of Jonathan and Christopher, Tem remembered the stone statues in the square. She imagined what Caspen might do to Rowe. “It’s nothing like that.” She shook her head again. “Really.”
But Caspen’s mouth formed a hard line. “Tell me what happened.”
His voice was quiet. There was no point trying to hide from him. Even if she could lie convincingly, he would never believe her. She looked up into his concerned eyes.
“I ran into Rowe,” she said finally. “He…was angry.”
Caspen immediately stiffened. “About what?”
“The council meeting.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “What did he say?”
Tem tried to look away, but Caspen held her face near his.
“He said I had no right to the throne.” There was a pause, and Tem considered leaving out the rest. But something in Caspen’s expression told her he wouldn’t stop until he had the full story. So she finished quietly. “And then he said you claimed me.”
Caspen straightened. “Did he touch you when he said that?”
“He grabbed my throat.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.