Page 172 of Between Two Kings

“I’d rather you weren’t in any danger at all, Tem. Immediate or otherwise.”

She had to smile at that. “I’m not in danger. Caspen has to fight another basilisk for me.”

“Why?”

Tem sighed. “In order to explain it, you need to know that basilisks belong to quivers.”

“Quivers?”

“They’re sort of like clans or groups.”

Leo nodded, and she continued.

“Caspen and I are from different quivers.”

“I see.”

“And the basilisk contesting my marriage is from my quiver.”

“So your quiver…”

“The Senecas,” Tem offered.

“The Senecas…they don’t want you and Caspen to be married?”

“Yes.”

Leo looked down at his whiskey. “That’s ridiculous, Tem.”

That was certainly true. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t happening. “It’s complicated, Leo. Basilisks have all sorts of rules—”

“Who gives a fuck about their rules? You can’t just marry some other basilisk.”

“I can if he wins the fight.”

The look on Leo’s face was one of pure horror. And Tem couldn’t blame him. When she spelled out this situation like this, it sounded absolutely unhinged. But that was the basilisks for you. Nothing they did was even remotely normal.

“It’s not within my control, Leo,” she said quietly. “I can’t predict the outcome. Caspen is the one fighting for me.”

“Well,” Leo said through clenched teeth, “he’d better win.”

Tem raised an eyebrow. “Do you want him to?”

Leo ran a reckless hand through his hair. “It’s bad enough you’re with him, Tem. But it would be even worse if you were with someone else. At least I know he loves you.”

His words shocked her. They were extremely candid—almost accidentally so. She doubted he’d meant to reveal so much to her. But now that she’d heard it, she had to know: “Do…you love me?”

His jaw clenched. “If you have to ask that, you don’t know me at all.”

“I know you,” she whispered.

“Do you?”

Yes. She knew Leo. She knew him so well. She knew that he could never stop loving her, just as she could never stop loving him. She knew that it was torture for him to be standing this close to her, unable to touch her. Just as it was torture for her. She knew that if they had their way, they would both be naked in his bed right now.

“Then tell me, Tem,” he looked straight at her. “Do I love you?”

Her answer came as easily as breathing. “You love me. You always will.”