Page 120 (1/1)

"Maybe not afraid Maybe … unwilling You forget, Jonny I knew you before you were … this You have a heart, and it's a very good one You've just forgotten how to use it"

"That person had to change to become who I am now," he said firmly

"Not all of you had to You care about me"

"You're a means to an end"

"I'm a tool you won't send onto the battlefield when you think I can't handle it Some part of you cares I've always known it, noood leader does"

"You sound stubborn like h

"Emotions will not win this battle with Valon," he replied "Strategy and planning will"

"That's not true," she said "If you don't fight with your heart, you lose This isn't a gaame, because your life can't be taken fro"

"That's not entirely accurate," he replied His eyes were beginning to glow red, like they had when he kissed her "Valon is a godslayer He's the only person on the planet who can kill me"

"You're not afraid?"

"Of course not I can't let ement"

She studied him He was so different fro with hi nature had been a thrill to her when she was seventeen, yet it was the quiet moments like this one that captured her heart

"Soht when you feel like you can't," she er and pain and hope out"

"For what purpose? So I becoh to be killed?"

"No" She rolled her eyes at hier, too"

"I can't afford to feel, Ash Not for anyone or any cause"

Her instincts sparked She'd always thought he cared for her at some point, more so than he admitted to If she broke that barrier, if she reh for him to understand what she and Charles needed him to know? Ashley debated internally and then decided to do what she did sometimes when she sparred: dive in and see how her eneainst his fraht and quick When she leaned away, she saw his gaze riveted to her The tension between therew thicker quickly, and they observed one another for a long moment