I let the broken lantern slip from my fingers. “Why else?” I asked. “Duty?” I flung the word at him.

His eyes snapped back to meet mine. “To hell with duty. I came for you – I came because I was afraid you weren’t going to make it. I came because I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to you.”

A soft gasp filled my ears and I dimly realized it had come from my lips. This was not what I had expected. And even though I didn’t know entirely why, I knew his statement changed everything.

The ropes of power that wrapped around me were blissfully warm as they lifted me out of the slime and settled me on the ledge next to Tristan, holding me steady until I had regained my balance. I looked down at the place where I’d almost met my end. The pool was murky and faintly green, but beneath the floating skeleton and scraps of fabric, there lay a carpet of glittering gold. “It’s Luc.” I gestured below. “My purchase price.”

Tristan scowled. “Then he got what he deserved. The labyrinth always kills the greedy ones eventually.”

“No one deserves this,” I whispered, imagining what it would be like to be paralyzed and have the flesh stripped from your body. A shiver ran down my spine, and I wrapped my sodden cloak around me.

“He lied to you. He stole you from your family. He sold you with no more regard than a trader sells a side of beef.” Tristan’s hands balled up, and my own teeth clenched from the fury emanating from him. “If any man deserved to die, it was him.”

I regarded the bones that had once been Luc, finding it hard to hate a dead man, no matter what he had done. Besides, there was another side to the bargain. “And you purchased me, with as much regard as a nobleman buying a side of beef.”

“I did not!” His silver eyes locked with mine and I shivered at the intensity in them. “I fought this arrangement at every turn. I’ve told you that.”

“He gave you the choice. I was there.” My lip trembled. “I heard you agree to me with my own ears. But the whole time, you wanted it to be her, didn’t you?”

Tristan sighed and the heat left his eyes. He wiped a weary hand across his face and looked down at the glittering pool of gold. “Anaïs and I are only friends.”

“Oh,” I said, my voice weak.

“We have never been anything more and we never will be,” Tristan continued, “but we pretend we are in order to give me the time and privacy I need to meet with my followers.”

“Oh,” I repeated. “I thought that maybe before I came that you and her…” I trailed off as he shook his head. “Did you ever consider it?” I asked, my mind having a difficult time coming to terms with what he was telling me.