back, the other pressing her head to my chest. I felt like my heart might explode with relief. She was soft, warm, and smelled of jasmine and dark chocolate. She looked healthy enough, not starving as I’d feared.
I spoke to her in a quiet voice, attempting to rush through an explanation: “I wasn’t able to come to you. The helm has kept me from leaving the Citadel. I’ve been working to remove it, but the magic is stronger than I expected.”
Silver eyes gleaming, she touched my cheek. When she pulled open her cloak, I found that she was wearing a sheer silver dress that showed off every curve of her body—her delicate waist, perfect breasts. I slid my gaze down her form, my blood roaring in my ears.
Desire ignited. And yet … somehow, rational thought intruded. “How did you get here? The Citadel is full of guards. It’s not safe for you—”
“I’m a trained assassin,” she said with a smile.
“That’s not enough of an explanation.”
“The Lords sent me to you. They know you want to help us.” Gently, she pushed away from me, but she still let her cloak fall open, rendering me practically mute. “Tell me what Gorm’s weakness is. What can we use against him?”
I had to tear my eyes away from her just so I could concentrate. I looked out the window as I gathered my thoughts. “Have you been chosen for the Winnowing?” I asked, stealing another look at her.
She shrugged, her silver hair falling in her eyes. “Galin, please, I don’t have much time.”
“But are you getting enough to eat, Ali? I heard about the blight.”
“What’s his weakness?”
Vaguely, I wondered why she’d come here in that transparent dress if she wanted answers, because it was deeply distracting. All I could think of was lifting it up around her waist and wrapping her legs around me. The effects of the magic zapping my brain seemed to have put me in a haze, but Ali’s beauty wasn’t making it any easier to think.
With a great deal of effort, I said, “Gorm believes that a king must lead with fear and violence. He will always take the most vicious, most brutal approach to any problem.”
“And you can use that against him?”
“Just put him in a situation where his desire for blood is in opposition with his need for restraint. He’ll overextend every time.”
“Ah,” Ali breathed. “And what of your sister, Revna? Doesn’t she advise him now?”
“She does, but her desire for blood is even greater than my father’s. He’s the one with restraint, not her.”
“Why does Gorm hate the Night Elves so much?” she pressed.
I frowned as I thought over the thousand-plus years I’d known my father. “He’s always spoken of how he hates the Night Elves. Even when I was a boy, before Ragnarok, he talked constantly of killing them. I think he blamed them for any problems in Elfheim. They were always scapegoats.”
I turned to look at her again, my pulse racing. I didn’t want to talk any longer.
I stalked closer to her. She backed up against the wall, looking up at me, and I pressed my hands to the stone behind her head. As I leaned in, my eyes were on her lips.
She held her hand up, stopping me from kissing her.
I turned my face slightly. “Ali, how did you get here? And tell me if you are part of the Winnowing.”
“I am.”
A protective fire burned in me. I’d have to kill my own kind to keep her safe. “Ali, most who fight in a Winnowing die. “
“I’ll be fine.”
“When I see you on the battlefield,” I continued feverishly, “we must pretend to fight, or we will be killed by our own people. But I will use the fight as a chance to speak to you, to get up close.”
She gave a little shrug. “We might be busy killing others.”
I felt a distance between us, and it made my chest ache with the emptiness of a world without gods. “What happened after I last saw you?”
“After you sent me back to the Shadow Caverns, I went straight to the Shadow Lords. I told them everything that happened. How we travelled into the Well of Wyrd. How you killed the Emperor of the Vanir …”
Confusion stirred in my chest. “How I killed him? I helped, but you delivered the final blow.”
Ali shoved me with unexpected force, so hard it felt like she could have broken a rib. “What did you say?” Her expression was suddenly furious.