Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Adelaide paused, tilting her head in the same way Caspen did when he was considering something. There was a moment of silence as her eyes traveled over Tem.
“I do not know the extent of it,” she said finally.
Another pause. The only sound was the crackling of the fire.
Adelaide broke the silence. “I do know this: the two of you need to be careful. What happened with Rowe cannot happen again.”
Tem blinked. “Why not?”
Adelaide nodded at Caspen. “Unlike my engagement to Caspenon, yours is bound by blood. You must keep each other safe. If anything happens to either of you, it could be centuries before we see another hybreed.”
Tem’s lungs contracted so tightly she could barely breathe. Nothing Adelaide had just said made any sense to her. She focused on the one thing she unequivocally understood. “Your engagement?”
Adelaide raised an elegant eyebrow. She glanced at Caspen, whose entire body had gone rigid.
“You had not told her we were once engaged,” Adelaide said.
It was a statement, not a question.
“No,” whispered Caspen. “I had not.”
Adelaide glanced at Tem before bowing her head. “Then it would seem you two have much to discuss. I shall take my leave.”
Tem didn’t stop her this time. The moment the door closed, she turned to Caspen, who was already opening his mouth. Tem beat him to it. “You said it didn’t mean anything-“
“That was the truth. It-“
“You said it was only physical-“
“It was only physical. I never-“
“You were fucking engaged to her.”
At her tone, Caspen pursed his lips, falling silent.
“You lied to me,” Tem whispered.
“No.” Caspen shook his head sharply. “You asked if it meant anything, and it did not. It is true that we were engaged. But it was not my doing. I did not propose to her”-he leaned in to touch the golden claw around Tem’s neck-“as I did to you. There is no blood bond between Adelaide and me. Our families arranged it. It was purely political.”
Tem still didn’t know what a blood bond was. But that would have to wait. “Political?” she scoffed.
“Yes.” He shifted closer. “It was a strategy to bring the Drakon and Seneca quivers together, nothing more. I was the one who broke it off.”
“And when exactly did you break it off?”
Now Caspen fell silent.
“When, Caspen?” Tem asked again, firmly this time.
He sighed. “The first night of the training.”
A wave of horror passed over Tem. “Before or after we met?”
From the look on his face, she knew the answer. He said it anyway. “After.”
Tem’s stomach turned. “Are you telling me you were engaged when I undressed in front of you?”
His voice was tight with pain. “Yes.”
Tem felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. That was the night she’d touched herself-the night she’d slipped the claw between her legs.
“But, Tem”-Caspen spoke quickly, clearly trying to get the words out-“the moment I met you, I knew I had to end it. I have loved you from the beginning. You know this.”
Tem stared stiffly at the fire. She couldn’t bear to look at him for another second.
At her silence, Caspen said, “Adelaide never meant anything to me, Tem. She will confirm it, if you wish.”
Tem snorted. The last thing she wanted was for Adelaide to confirm anything about her engagement-or lack thereof-with Caspen.
When she didn’t reply, Caspen began again. “Tem, I-“
But Tem held up her palm, and he fell silent. Hot, burning betrayal twisted her insides into a painful knot. It was similar to the way she’d felt when he’d told her she was a hybreed. Tem tried to control her heartbeat, but it was no use.
“I want to go home,” she said, standing abruptly.
“You cannot leave.” Caspen stood too, following her to the doorway. “You must transition-“
Tem whirled around to face him. “You think I want to have sex with you after what you just told me?”
Caspen tried to touch her shoulders, but she shook him off.
“We do not have to have sex,” he said. “But you must practice, Tem. You need to-“
“I need to what? What, Caspen? Transition so I can become more like you? A liar?”
His jaw tightened. “Tem, please.”
“No. I don’t want to hear it. I’m going home.”
“At least let me walk you out. Rowe could still be-“
“I don’t need you to walk me out, Caspen. I don’t need anything from you.”
And with that, Tem ran from his chambers.
The passageway was empty; Rowe was long gone. Caspen’s blood was drying in a pool, and Tem leaped over it on her way out. She broke into a sprint as soon as she was on the trail, not stopping until she was all the way home.
Her mother was already in bed; the cottage was silent.
Tem went immediately to her room. She tore the claw from between her legs and shoved it into her dresser drawer, not wanting to receive a single pulse from Caspen tonight. She severed their mental connection, making sure there was no way he could access her mind, even while she slept. Then Tem crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep.
The next morning was blustery.
Tem didn’t mind; her mood matched the weather. When her mother knocked on her bedroom door to call her to breakfast, she simply pretended to be asleep. Tem wanted no part of the world today. She wanted no part of any of it-of Caspen’s world, of Leo’s, of her own. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, nowhere that would shelter her from the reality of her situation.
Tem rolled over, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes traced the familiar knots in the wooden beams above her bed, and she wondered if it was the last time she’d be seeing them. She could recall a hundred nights crying herself to sleep in this very bed-a thousand where she’d been too tired to even do that. Her entire childhood had been spent struggling to fit in, struggling to feel right. Now that she knew the truth, somehow she felt little peace. Now there were two worlds she didn’t belong to.
And what of the blood bond? Adelaide had said what happened with Rowe couldn’t happen again-that they needed to keep each other safe. What did she mean by that? Caspen would have the answer. But Tem had no desire to speak with him. She wasn’t interested in hearing any more lies.
Finally, Tem rose. Her mother was in the kitchen.
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.