Page 299 of Split or Swallow

Leo let out a dull, humorless laugh.

“There’s nothing to get through, Tem. You need to get over him.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?” he stopped closer. “What is it about that filthy snake that has you so entranced? What lies has he spun to seduce you?”

But Tem couldn’t answer him. She couldn’t explain her bond with Caspen—couldn’t tell Leo what she really was.

Or could she?

What if, when faced with the truth, Leo chose a different path than his father had? If Leo knew that Tem was a Hybreed, he would be forced to view the basilisks differently—not as the enemy, but as a part of her.

Before she could follow that train of thought, Leo spoke again:

“All the other girls let me up their skirts on the first date. Vera can’t get enough of my cock. She’s begged me to fuck her more times than I can count. But not you. Never you.”

Tem knew his patience had run out—knew she had withheld herself for too long. Still, his next words sent a chill down her spine:

“End things with him, Tem. Or I’m marrying Vera.”

He was gone before she could even blink.

Tem didn’t know what to do with herself. She couldn’t end things with Caspen. It wasn’t an option. But she couldn’t get eliminated either. She had to marry Leo. Needed to marry Leo.

One question remained.

Why had she waited so long to sleep with him?

She was attracted to Leo. She had feelings for him. And yet, she couldn’t pull the trigger—couldn’t let him all the way in. To sleep with him would be to lie to him. If Leo knew who she really was—if he knew she was a Hybreed—he wouldn’t want her anymore. He would be repulsed by her; Tem was sure of it.

Or was she?

Tem never gave Leo the benefit of the doubt. She always assumed the worst of him, even when he’d only given her reason to assume the opposite. Did she truly have so little faith in him? Perhaps of the two of them, Tem was the unworthy one. Perhaps it had always been that way.

Leo would never get the chance to truly know her unless she gave him one. He loved only a version of her—the version she’d allowed him to see. It was time to show him all of her.

Leo deserved the truth.

But first she had to find him. He wasn’t in his room, and he wasn’t in Vera’s. Tem searched the entire floor, throwing open door after door until she’d searched every room. All empty. She took the stairs two at a time, hesitating only a moment before poking her head into the parlor, bracing herself to potentially see Maximus. He wasn’t there. Neither was Leo.

Tem stood in the foyer, breathing hard. Where could he be?

Then she remembered it was morning. There was somewhere Leo liked to go in the mornings—somewhere she’d found him before.

Tem waved down the nearest servant.

“I need a carriage,” she said.

The servant frowned. “You’re not supposed to leave, miss.”

“It’s important.”

The servant shook his head. “The girls are meant to stay in the castle.”

“Is this a prison?”

“I am simply following orders, miss.”