Tarnished Empire by Harrison Ava

Author:Harrison , Ava
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AH Publishing
Published: 2020-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

29

Phoenix

I’m shocked by how relaxed Alaric seems. Playful, even. This is a different side to him.

Without his men around, he’s lighter. Funnier. He was always sarcastic, but before, he had a huge chip on his shoulders.

And now, with each day that passes on this tropical paradise, he seems to change.

I wonder if this is the real him. If this is who Alaric Prince truly is and the rest is a front.

Or maybe the actual world is so bad that he had no choice to be any different.

I guess as the saying goes, Only time will tell.

For now, we’re stuck here. I can’t even try to unravel or understand how much I like this unlikely alliance between Alaric and me. But what will happen if we live long enough to be free of this life?

What happens if we make it back home? Will he go after my father again?

I shouldn’t think about it. Right now, the chances of us even … my mind starts to go dark, and then I’m biting down hard on my lower lip.

Maybe I’ll think about it later.

Just not now, when we have finally found a level of peace between us.

I lift a berry I found. “What about this one?” I ask.

“Unless we are planning on a joint suicide, that’s a no.” His words and grim joke have me staring down at the berries in my hand, the ones that look yummy and delicious right now.

The perfect killer. Like Alaric—beautiful to look at but lethal if you take a bite.

But like the glutton for punishment that I am, why do I still want to know this?

“Yeah, I’ll pass on that. How do you know so much?” There is a sick need inside me to find out everything about this man.

“Now, that is a long story.”

I lift my hand and gesture around us. “Does it look like I have anything better to do?”

“Pick berries.” He dismisses my comment with a shrug.

“Since I’m doing such an awful job, you might as well tell me.”

He looks up and to the left as if thumbing through files in his memory before his gaze drops back down and into my eyes.

“I guess.”

He’s quiet for a bit, and when he kneels before another bush, I think he’s not going to tell me, but then I hear his voice.

His low timbre.

I should probably continue to look for food, but when he speaks, I’m too enthralled to do anything but listen.

“My knowledge for the great outdoors is all my father’s doing. To be a man, he believed you needed to be able to survive on nothing.” He looks up, and his eyes scan the surrounding area. “This isn’t my first time stranded on an island,” he says, and I can feel my eyes widening at his admission.

“What do you mean?” My voice cracks with confusion.

“My father was a strict man. He thought a man needed to be able to survive anything.” He stops talking, and I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs. “Alone.”

My stomach muscles tighten, and I can’t even figure out what to say.

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