Trinity by Clare Davidson Page B

skin
prickle and his stomach churn with the memory of burning. He hung
his head again and bit into his lower lip, forcing down the
emotions that were bubbling within him. There was a burst of warmth
as blood welled at the fresh wound.
    Skaric shivered and tried to pull
away as Kiana knelt down before him and placed her soft hand
against his cheek. She looked more than a little hurt at his
reaction.
    “ I don’t know
what’s happened to you,” she said, her voice kind despite
everything. “But I can tell that you’re hurting and that you need
answers. So I’m offering you the same choice that I did last night:
will you help me?”
    Skaric stared past her, focusing on nothing but thin air. He
shook his head. “Your Guardian is right: you can’t trust
me.”
    Kiana sighed and shook her head
once. “Fine. Carry on feeling sorry for yourself.” She threw her
hands up. “Curl up and die for all I care!” She pursed her lips
thoughtfully. “Is that what you want? To die? Coward.”
    Skaric clenched his bound hands into fists, digging short
nails into his palms. Anger flushed through him. Kiana had no right
to brand him a coward. He strained against the bonds that held him
pinned against the tree, but only succeeded in hurting his arms and
chest with the effort. “Coward? They branded me a coward
because I didn’t want to die. And you call me a coward because you
think I do?”
    Kiana stood up and stepped away
from him.
    “ I
don’t!” Skaric didn’t bother to lower his voice or hide the anger
that was spilling out of him. “But what do you want me to do? Lie?
Tell you that you can trust me? Pretend I don’t want to see you
dead?” Do I?
    Kiana raised her hands to her
mouth whilst Nidan moved to stand in a defensive position. It
wasn’t as if Skaric could focus or direct his magic; Nidan had made
sure of that.
    “ I’m
a traitor.” The words cut him as he said them. “Traitors cannot be trusted. Do you think I wouldn’t kill you as easily as I
killed my own people?”
    Kiana half turned away from
Skaric, which made him feel an even greater sense of anger.
    “ Isn’t that what
you wanted to hear?” He strained against the leather
again.
    “ I thought you
wanted answers,” she whispered.
    Skaric closed his eyes and leant
his head against the rough bark. “I do. I killed my people to ask
you questions. But you couldn’t answer them.”
    Kiana’s eyes grew large and her
mouth dropped open slightly. “I’m sorry…”
    Skaric opened his eyes and stared at her coldly.
“ Sorry ? What good does that do anyone? You want me to come with
you to search for answers? I could do that. But what do you think
will happen after we find them?”
    Kiana shook her head. Skaric could
see tears sparkling in her eyes. He almost held back his words.
    “ I’d still want
you dead.” He looked away from her. “That’s all I’ve ever been
taught to want.” Those words had probably just got him killed.
Skaric strained against his bonds, breathing in harsh rasps—partly
in anger, partly in desperation. He didn’t want to die.
    “ Thank
you.”
    Kiana’s words made Skaric
freeze.
    “ Thank you for
finally being honest with us.” She reached out again but didn’t
actually touch him. “I don’t doubt that you hate me and yourself.
It’s clear that you don’t trust yourself. But I want to try to
restore the trinity. I can’t do that without your help.” She
glanced at Nidan. “Or yours.”
    What could I possibly do to help
you?
    When Kiana looked at Skaric again,
her eyes were wide and imploring. “Do we really have to think about
what happens after that now?”
    She tugged Nidan’s dagger from his
belt. Despite a gasp of warning from the Guardian, she cut Skaric’s
bonds.
    Skaric rubbed his sore wrists,
realising how easy it would be for him to wrest the dagger from
Kiana’s grasp to stab her before her Guardian could even react. But
he didn’t. He couldn’t. “You are far too trusting.”
    Kiana