I squeezed my knees together even tighter.

“No death has been easy, but that one?” His hand opened and closed as if he were trying to work feeling back into his fingers. “That one will always leave the deepest mark. He was a friend.”

I pressed my palm to my chest. “You…you killed your friend?”

“I didn’t have a choice.” He stared at the lake. “That’s not an excuse or justification. It was just something that had to be done.”

I couldn’t understand how he could do that, and I needed to. “Why would it need to be done? What would’ve happened if you hadn’t?”

A muscle throbbed along his jaw. “Dozens, if not more, would’ve died if I hadn’t taken his life.”

“Oh,” I whispered, feeling a little sick to my stomach. Had his friend been hurting people, forcing his intervention? If so, then I could understand that. Do it. Had his friend known that he needed to be stopped? I didn’t ask if that was the case. I wanted to. The question practically burned my tongue, but it didn’t feel right. And it didn’t feel right knowing that he’d been forced to do that and had also lost another friend to those three gods. “Then I’m sorry you had to do that.”

Ash’s head jerked toward mine, his stare searching. “I…” He fell quiet for several breaths. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I gathered my damp hair and began twisting it, wishing I could share something so intimate, but I didn’t know how to do that. How to make myself comfortable enough to do so. The only other thing that came to mind and unfortunately spilled from my lips was utterly ridiculous. “I hate gowns.”

There was a beat of silence. “What?”

Perhaps I needed to have my lips sewn shut. “I just find gowns to be…cumbersome.” And I also hated for my thighs to rub together, but that was not something I would discuss with him.

He watched me. Being the focus of those steely eyes was unnerving. “I imagine they would be.”

I nodded, face feeling too warm as I stared at the gently rolling waters of the lake. I knew I shouldn’t say anything, especially to a god who served a Primal, but what I’d done was something I never talked about. Not even with Sir Holland. And I hadn’t realized until that moment how much weight those unsaid words carried.

But I couldn’t voice them. They revealed too much. They were too much of a burden.

Staring at the lake, I sought to change the subject. “Have you found out anything more about why those gods are killing mortals?”

“Unfortunately, not. The three gods have been hard to track.” He sighed. “And I can only pry so much without drawing unwanted attention. If I do, then I won’t discover why they’re doing this.”

“Your friend, the one Cressa and the others killed?” I asked. “What was his name?”

“Lathan,” he answered. “You would’ve liked him, I think. He never listened to me either.”

A small grin tugged on my lips but faded quickly. “Was his body left or was he…?”

“His body was left, soul intact. He didn’t become whatever it was that woman became last night.”

“Oh,” I whispered, watching the light of the moon ripple over the black waters. “It doesn’t make his death any easier, I’m sure, but at least he wasn’t destroyed.”

Ash was quiet for a long moment. “You know what you remind me of?”

I looked over at him again, and his gaze snared mine. Warmth hit my skin once more, seeping into my veins. There was no sting of embarrassment. This was different, a more languid and sultry type of heat. “I’m half afraid to ask.”

He was silent for a moment. “There was this flower that once grew in the Shadowlands.”

Every part of my being zeroed in on him. Where he lived… He was talking about Iliseeum. One of the things I was looking forward to as the Consort was the chance to see the realm. I couldn’t listen harder if I tried.

“The petals were the color of blood in the moonlight and remained folded in on themselves until someone approached. When they opened, they appeared incredibly delicate, as if they would shatter in the softest wind, but they grew wild and fiercely, any place there was even a hint of soil. They even grew between the cracks of stone, and they were incredibly unpredictable.”

Did I really remind him of a delicate, beautiful flower? I wasn’t sure what part of me could be considered delicate. A fingernail? “How are flowers unpredictable?”

“Because these were quite temperamental.”

A laugh burst out of me. The wisps of white pulsed behind his pupil once more, churning slowly. His gaze shifted back to the lake. “Is that the part that makes you think of them?”

“Possibly.”

“I’m curious to learn how a flower is temperamental, especially such a delicate one.”

“The thing is, they only appeared delicate.” He was closer now, having lowered his arm from the rock. “In truth, they were quite resilient and deadly.”

“Deadly?”

He nodded. “When they opened, it revealed the center. And in that center were several spiky needles that carried a rather poisonous toxin. Depending on their mood, they released them. One needle could take down a god for a week.”

“Sounds like an amazing flower.” And slightly horrifying. “I’m not sure if it’s a compliment to know that I remind you of a murderous plant.”

“If you’d ever seen them, you would know that it is.”

I smiled, flattered despite it all, and imagined that it must not take much to flatter me.

“I have a question for you now,” he said.

“Ask away.”

“Why are you here by a lake? I imagine a Princess has access to a large tub filled with steaming hot water.”

I stiffened, having forgotten that, in my anger, I had revealed that I was a Princess. “I like it here. It’s…”

“Calming?” he finished for me, and I nodded. “With the exception of the Hunters,” he added. “How often do you come here?”

“As much as I can,” I admitted, studying his profile. It was all so strange. Him. Me. Us. This conversation. How at ease I felt around him. Everything.

“Do you never worry that anyone could happen upon you?”

I shook my head. “You are the first person I’ve ever seen in these woods—well, the first god. And not counting the spirits, but they never come close to the lake.”

“And no one knows what you do out here?”

“I imagine some of the guards know I’ve been in the lake since they see me return with wet hair.”

His brows knitted. “I find it hard to believe that none of them has ever followed you.”

“I told you, people are afraid of these woods.”

“And what I know of mortal men is that many of them will overcome any number of fears the moment they realize a beautiful female can easily be caught in a compromising position. Especially a Princess.”

“Beautiful?” I laughed again, shaking my head.

He cut me a look. “Please don’t expect me to believe that you’re unaware of your beauty. You do not strike me as the coy type, and I’ve been rather impressed by you so far.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. But thanks, I will be able to sleep soundly knowing that you’re impressed by me,” I retorted.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly impressed when I told you to go home and you remained.”

I stared at him.

“But then you kicked the Hunter, and I was…well, I felt something, all right.”

My eyes narrowed.

“I can’t say I was impressed when you appeared as if you were about to embrace the Hunter,” he went on. “But then you disarmed it. That was impressive—”

“You can stop now.”

“You sure?” The teasing grin had returned.

“Yes,” I stated. “I’m not sure why I’m still sitting here talking to you.”

“Perhaps you feel indebted to me since I watched over you while you were unconscious.”

“I was unconscious for a few moments. It’s not like you stood guard for endless hours.”

“I am quite important. Those moments felt like hours.”

“I do not like you,” I said.