Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,34

been nothing to set me off to induce such a feeling. It had been instinctive, the need to force myself beneath his skin, flesh him out, and see what made him tick.

Instead, I’d spent the day in the tent in pain. I’d slipped into my head, speaking with my creature. She was keen on talking about how we could torture Knox, slowly peeling the skin from his body to eviscerate him from our system through painful techniques.

Knox was trying to get me out of my head, initiating conversations that ended one-sided. He’d brought me fruit and whiskey, spending several hours silently waiting for me to speak, but I refused. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, and Knox continued to add to it. Any chance he got to strike out at me, he took it.

Knox entered the tent, and I paused, turning my downcast eyes away from where he stood. My body tensed as he moved to the table, sitting in front of me. His fingers drummed on the wood top while he sat back, relaxing as I glanced at him from beneath my lashes.

“How long do you intend to pretend you can’t speak, Aria?” He sat forward, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. “Brander said the damage to your tongue wasn’t extensive. He also said that it didn’t interfere with your ability to speak.”

I turned, staring at the front of the tent, wondering if I could escape him or if he’d try to prevent me from leaving. Knox had given me space, which I’d appreciated. Today, however, he’d apparently decided I’d had enough time to heal in silence. Swallowing past the tightening in my throat, I ignored him and the rapidly increasing beat of my heart.

At night, when I’d chosen the floor over the bed, he’d allowed it until I’d fallen asleep, then he’d pick me up and tuck my body against his. The first couple of days, I’d fought against his hold until I’d realized it was futile to try escaping him. His arms would wrap around me, trapping me against his steel-like grip. I hated he offered comfort, and my body craved it from him.

Knox swore under his breath, slamming his hands on the table, causing me to jump. My eyes swung to his, watching his lips tugging down into a frown at my reaction. Standing, he paced in the small tent, exhaling as he set his hands on his narrow hips.

“I shouldn’t have mistreated you. I know that now. I reacted poorly when you brought up Liliana and acted worse when you forced her memory into question.” His eyes slid over my face, trying to read my expression, but there was nothing for him to read. I’d mastered schooling my features around Knox since he’d hurt me deeply, visualizing mortar around my skin to save it since I was still soft when I needed to be hard.

Knox strode closer, kneeling in front of me, forcing me to back up in the chair, away from him. He slowly released the breath he’d held and scrubbed his hand down his face. Knox radiated regret, but I didn’t care. He’d told me my worth and had cut me deeply.

“Killian was bringing you to me when the witches captured you. I’d passed villages filled with mangled, mutilated corpses on my way to Steely Keep. I found Lord Andres’s entire army dead, without a single wound upon their bodies. Witches and warriors alike had appeared to drop dead without cause. Good men died without being given a chance to die in battle, Aria. I found Killian on the road. He was still sending wounded men back to camp. Finding you gone made me question if you were a part of what had happened. Then we heard your rattled cries, and everything within me snapped. I lost control to get to you, woman,” Knox grunted, looking away as he stood, slowly moving back to his seat.

Silently, he poured two glasses of whiskey and pushed one toward me. I ignored it, looking anywhere but at him. My breasts rose and fell with my breathing while he studied me. His heated gaze scorched the side of my face while I refused to speak.

“You assumed this world was black and white, but it’s not. You thought I would take your word when I have no reason to do so? You spoke of my wife, trying to make me question everything that had happened over the past five hundred years, Aria. What you