The whiskey hit my chest and then my stomach in a warm rush. “I’m not really following what you’re asking.”
“Most wouldn’t attempt to seduce and kill the Primal of Death. Not even if it was a duty drilled into them from birth. Not even for their kingdom. Then turn around and plan to do the same thing to another Primal. I wouldn’t even say it would be a lack of courage on their part.”
“Just a lack of common sense on mine?” I retorted.
That damn eyebrow rose again. “You said it.”
I took another drink before I threw the glass at his face. “My kingdom is dying. I believed—we all believed—it was due to the deal King Roderick made. What was I supposed to do?”
“Literally anything else.”
My fingers tightened on the glass. “Like what, All-Knowing One? Ask you to stop the Rot? Why would that have even crossed my mind when we believed the Rot was due to the deal expiring, and not something you were doing? We didn’t even know who Kolis truly was.” Or even who and whatIwas. But gods knew I wasn’t going there right now. “So, what should I have done? Summoned a god or Primal again and tried to make another deal? Kicked the can down the road for someone else to deal with? Live my kind of life?” I laughed harshly. “Or just do nothing and let my kingdom die?”
“And what kind of life did you really live?” he asked quietly.
The heat returned, sweeping through my chest, and it had very little to do with the whiskey. I set the glass on the desk. Rhain returned then with the items Nyktos had requested. Sending me a sharp look, he quietly placed the bowl and towel on the desk beside the swords. He quickly left, closing the doors behind him.
But what the god had said before Nyktos arrived remained with me. “What have you sacrificed for me?”
Nyktos’s eyes lifted to mine. “What has one of my guards said?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“That’s not an answer.” My heart thumped heavily.
“It’s because I haven’t sacrificed anything,” he said, and I wasn’t sure I believed him. “Lift your sweater.”
I blinked, wondering if the whiskey had gotten to me that quickly. “Excuse me?”
“You were wounded. I want to see how bad it is.”
“It’s not—”
“Lift your sweater and allow me to check your injury, Sera.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”
I hesitated, only because he’d asked this time. And only because he’d saidplease, and that was still a weakness of mine.
Nyktos briefly closed his eyes. “I don’t think you’re wounded enough that you’ll need blood, so you don’t have to worry about me taking advantage of you.”
The fact that I felt even the tiniest bit of disappointment at hearing that told me I needed a hefty dose of whatever Nyktos had just insinuated I lacked. Common sense.
Thick lashes lifted. Silver eyes lit softly from behind pierced mine. Knowing my luck, this was probably one of those moments where he was either intentionally or unintentionally reading my emotions. He would’ve felt the disappointment, and I didn’t even want to know what he thought—if he saw me as someone so desperate for affection that I would seek it from someone who didn’t even want friendship from me.
And that would be accurate on some level. My entire life lacked not only touch but also affection. I did crave it, but I wasn’t desperate enough to take whatever meager scraps were offered to me by anyone.
I just wantedhisaffection because I thought I’d had a taste of it before he learned the truth. He’d wanted me then, to the point of distraction, but I thought he had also been fond of me. That he cared. Now, there was only a physical desire, one that he’d likely deny to his very last breath.
Then what he said struck me. “Wait. Do you think you took advantage of me after you gave me your blood?”
“I knew what my blood would do to you. I should’ve been able to restrain myself or left you alone the moment you started feeling the effects.”
I stared at him. “My reaction had very little to do with your blood.”
“Sera.”
“And everything to do with my attraction to you. I told you that then. It hasn’t changed.”