The Rose & the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) - Renee Ahdieh Page 0,63

had destroyed her mirror in an attempt to stop her. In response, the sorceress had flung Khalid’s sword far out of reach.

Now Artan stood between Khalid and his aunt.

He did nothing while his aunt stole into my mind. Where do Artan Temujin’s loyalties lie?

She initially thought Artan had stepped between Khalid and his aunt to prevent Khalid from attacking her.

But Shahrzad realized she might have been mistaken. Artan seemed inclined to side with them, not with his aunt. His back was to Khalid, and only a fool would turn his back on his enemy. Artan was not a fool. At this moment, his expression revealed a complicated mixture of resolve and remorse. As though Artan knew he had erred.

So Artan had not stepped before Khalid to stop him; he had stepped before him to save him.

He had chosen to side with a boy he barely knew over his own family.

But why?

Shahrzad’s gaze drifted to the sorceress seated across from her.

It’s clear Isuke meant to rob me of my thoughts. To what purpose?

The sorceress remained with her back as straight as an arrow and her hands upon the table. Unapologetic.

“You promised,” Artan said, his voice laden with accusation. “You promised it would be nothing more than a search for the book. You prom—”

“I did not make any promises.” Isuke’s reply bordered on serene, despite its biting undertone. “You did. In any case, the girl is not hurt.”

“You’re lying,” Khalid replied in a savage whisper. “She cried out.”

“I’m not hurt. I was . . . startled,” Shahrzad said. “But I demand to know—”

“Your demands are of little consequence to me,” Isuke interrupted. “But the book your father has—he cannot be allowed to keep it.”

Confusion settled across Shahrzad’s brow. “I don’t understand. Is it the reason my father—”

“Your father’s wounds will heal in time. But he has unleashed something much more destructive on your world.” The only change in the sorceress’s affect was a shift in eye color, from flint to obsidian, then back again. “If you destroy the book for me, I will lift the curse from the boy you love so dearly. I will render its debt repaid.”

Though Shahrzad longed to ask all the questions collecting in her mind, she chose the most pressing one. “Why must the book be destroyed?”

Shahrzad had to know the sorceress’s reasons, for she did not trust her motivations. Nor did she have any intention of trusting someone who knew everything about her and had yet to offer anything in return.

Isuke paused in consideration of her. “That book offers nothing but tragedy to its bearer. You should be proud to bring about its demise.”

“Forgive me, but that’s not an answer,” Shahrzad said in equally cutting fashion. “What does this book have to do with you?”

“My reasons should not matter so long as you achieve your goals, but I will say this: the book involves Artan’s parents. When you destroy it, you will free him of their debts.”

“These debts—of what sort are they?” Khalid said, looking Artan’s way.

“That book has brought about untold suffering and destruction. Death in its most grievous form,” Isuke answered, her eyes flashing. “When it was gifted to a foolish king many years ago, we thought it had been lost and were glad of it. Now I would have it gone, once and for all.”

Her mind brimming with suspicion, Shahrzad studied the birdlike woman across from her. “If you now know where the book is, why would you not destroy it yourself?”

Isuke almost smiled. “As I learned from entering your thoughts, you are not as big a fool as I first surmised.”

“No.” Artan laughed, though he did not sound the least bit amused. “She is not.”

“I cannot destroy this book,” Isuke confessed. “Nor can any member of my family. It is a book fashioned from the magic running through our veins. Blood freely given must be what destroys it. But it cannot be our blood.”

“So it must be mine.” Shahrzad nodded in grim understanding. “And I must do it willingly.”

“No,” Khalid interjected, the angles of his profile sharpening even further. “I will not—”

Shahrzad turned toward Khalid, prepared to meet him with resistance of her own. “If there is a way to break the curse, then I will do it. And you will not stop me.”

“Shazi—”

“This is not your choice to make, Khalid. It is mine, and mine alone.”

“It is your choice to do as you please.” His hands balled into fists. “Just as it is mine. There is no cause for you to