Page 51 of Revealing Fate

Almost.

Kal cleared his throat. She continued to sleep.

“Wake up,” he said.

The space between her eyebrows pinched briefly, then smoothed.

Kal banged on the bars. The abrasive clamor assaulted his ears.

Kitty awakened with a start. Sleepy eyes frantically searched her surroundings as awareness slowly returned. Her wealth of dark hair fell messy and unbound about her shoulders, woven with errant strands of yellow straw. Those heart-stopping gold-green eyes of hers landed on him. Kal felt his blood burn in his veins, swelling in places he refused to acknowledge.

“Kal?” Kitty’s rasping voice caressed him, standing the hairs on his neck. The sensation stoked his ire.

Kal tossed his purchase into the cell. Kitty rubbed her eyes and fingered the fabric, frowning.

“What’s this?”

“A kindness,” he said, voice not kind at all.

Her expression became guarded at his tone, and Kal waded into the depths of his self-loathing.

“Choosing a physical trial was a mistake,” he said. “Reconsider. Tell Saul you’ll submit to the verbal inquiry.”

Determination colored Kitty’s features. “I can’t do that.”

“Then you’re an idiot,” he growled.

Hurt flared in her eyes before she masked it with anger. “Do you feel better? Does belittling me help you deal with your own unwelcome emotion?”

His lip curled. “No. I just thought you could do with a little honesty. I know it’s a foreign concept.”

Kitty shoved to her feet, defiance written into every tempting curve of her figure. Kal’s wrath became a wild, writhing thing within him, almost as feral as his longing.

“I know why I’m here, Kalevar Kaine. Why are you?”

Why indeed? Did he think she’d change her mind? That she’d reveal her true identity to him? Help him make sense of this tragic misunderstanding? No. The woman he wanted was a stranger in every sense of the word. He pursued a ghost.

Kal didn’t have an answer for her. So, he ignored the question altogether. “You need to shift before your trial.”

Kitty’s eyes flared in surprise. She hadn’t expected the turn in conversation. “Saul said I’m permitted a weapon.”

“You are,” he said. “I’m telling you to shift. Your second form will be more effective than any blade or bow.”

Kitty glanced down at the fabric in her hands, brows drawn together. “I’ll take my chances with Daybreak.”

Kal pivoted away from her and raked his fingers roughly through his still-wet hair. As he turned back, he saw Kitty’s eyes track the movement. “I know a thing or two about how to win a fight, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Her gaze narrowed. “I have not.”

He knew she was remembering Cindamar. The battle he waged in the desert to get her back. What had come after. He’d crossed a line that night, made his interest clear. His kissing her had only been a fraction of what he’d wanted to do. You wanted more than her body, his recalcitrant conscience reminded. He’d wanted her devotion.

Kal leaned in closer to the bars. “Good. Because I wasn’t pretending.”

Kitty winced, but only just. Her arched brows flickered with tension, and the corners of her eyes pinched briefly.

“I know what you’re facing today,” he said. “Do as I say and shift before you enter that ring.”

Kitty set his gift aside and shook her head with weary resignation. “I can’t.”