Josephine's voice kills any man who hears it-except for the assassin sent to capture her for the king that's been chasing her all her life...but what happens when he decides he doesn't want to hand her over and keep her for himself instead?
...
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"This is where you live?"
"My permanent residence is here in Hefeta. It has been for quite a few years. They've been the only ones who would even entertain the idea of possibly going against my mother and the curse that she placed on me, so I stayed. I was good with a sword and was immune to the Siren call, but I decided to stay here with the rest of the men who aren't so lucky."
"So...your mother...she wouldn't like it, you trying to break this curse?"
Oren turned to me as we stepped further into his set up on the outskirts of Hefeta.
He'd built himself a modest wooden log cabin with the scent of cedar and oak invading my senses while I took in the large fireplace residing in the middle of the space.
There was only one room that contained a small kitchen, a living area and a large bed with a large, luxurious soaking tub off to the side.
The bed...gods, it was magnificent. Covered in furs that looked so soft I could barely resist the twitching in my fingers for wanting to reach out and touch them, it was a canopied bed a few feet up off the ground and I had never wanted to rest in something so decadent before in my life.
"My mother is a goddess. No one would dare say a bad word against her. The last mortal who did was stricken with exploding boils all over their face. No one could prove it was Adira who'd done it, of course, but it was obviously her handiwork."
I flinched as Oren's voice came from directly behind me, though I didn't dare turn around to face him. Not yet.
"So, what exactly am I to do here while the rest of the community is at war? Most likely with my uncle."
"Or the King of Valencia."
"But if it is my uncle, then why am I to be trapped in this cabin with you while they are all out there fighting for their lives against an evil I lured here? How am I supposed to live with myself if someone gets hurt, and it's my fault?"
I did turn to him, then, taking in the small amount of space between us.
I hadn't forgotten my suspicions of him, nor had I let myself fall into his trap. Although...
Maybe if I let him think that I'd fallen, just the smallest bit...
I raised my hand to place against his armor clad arm.
"I can't stay in here with you. I have to help them. Please—let me help them."
Oren stared down at me with some kind of fire lingering in the depths of his amber eyes.
Or maybe it was just the flicker of the flames in the fireplace to my back dancing in them.
"I can't do that."
"Surely you don't think that I wouldn't be able to help? These are your people—you grew up with them, didn't you? Then why are you sitting here keeping me under lock and key when you could be helping me to help them?"
