(Skeleton Key) Into Elurien by Kate Sparkes Page A

never really changing her darker attitudes toward monsters. She just hid some of her pleasures from me. Keeping me complacent was as much of a game for her as torturing the centaurs was. I escaped not long after that, tracked down the rebellion, and told Grys that I could get his soldiers into the city and the palace. It took years, but we built the perfect army to fight Verelle. I taught them to recognize her illusions and exploit the weaknesses in the winged soldiers she’d created. I’d kept my eyes and ears open while I lived in the palace, and it paid off. But no one has ever forgotten how I gained that knowledge.”
    “You had no choice.”
    He shook his head. “I could have fought, as the others did. I suppose she would have enjoyed that, but at least I could have tried. In the end I only angered her. Things didn’t end well for any of her slaves or servants after I left, and the humans’ mistreatment of us only became worse.” He swallowed hard and looked around the room. His wings flexed. “I took a chance, and I suppose in the end it worked out, but I still don’t know whether the cost to myself or anyone else was worth it. So no, I won’t be staying in this city. And I don’t blame the others for hating me.”
    Again, I didn’t know what to say. As far as I could see, he’d had the best intentions when he’d complied with whatever Verelle had asked of him. He’d tried to save his people by serving their enemy, and for that the others saw him as a traitor. His regrets ran deeper than anything I’d ever experienced, and my heart ached for him.
    “It must be hard, but at least you made a choice,” I said before I’d realized I was speaking aloud. He looked at me, and I made myself go on. “I’ve never had to take that kind of a chance. I thought that leaving home was a risk, moving in with someone, falling in love. They were small things, though. Your choices hurt more people than mine have, but I think they were also less selfish than any risk I’ve ever taken. I’ve always been too scared. I admire the fact that you did something.”
    “It wasn’t selfless.” The shame in his voice shocked me. “It wasn’t as though I got nothing out of my years here. I can pretend it was noble, but in truth, she gave me something I needed, too.”
    “Acceptance?” I knew how desperate that need could feel.
    He nodded. “No one else had ever wanted me as she did. And though I never stopped hating her, I began to need that. It sickens me to think of it now.”
    I stood and placed my napkin on the table, then walked slowly toward him as though approaching a wounded animal. I stopped just outside the reach of his claws. “I’m sorry that you’re hurting, and I understand why you’d want to leave. But I think the city will be worse off without you.”
    His lips curled in a rueful half smile. “Because I save libraries?”
    “More than that. You saved my life. You led your people to victory, even if they aren’t thanking you for it. I think you’re wiser than you give yourself credit for. You take chances to try to help others.” I paused, then decided that I could be as honest as he had been. “I wish I could be more like that, but I get so scared of the consequences.”
    His eyes met mine, and for the first time I noticed the way the green irises were faintly marbled through with icy blue. Not human, after all, and absolutely spellbinding.
    “Maybe you could take more chances as you find your place in this new world.” His fingers curled, as though he was fighting the urge to touch me. “Regrets are hard, but I suspect that never opening yourself to possibilities is worse.”
    I had to look away. My gaze fell to his lips, soft curves that didn’t quite match the hard lines of his jaw. Fascinating lips. The room seemed to grow warmer.
    I squeezed my eyes closed. I couldn’t think about him that way, no matter how kind he was, how weirdly attractive he might be, or how curious I was about what