Chapter 81

As he entered the ballroom and walked through the crowds, his feet dragged. He had no idea what to do. He didn't know what to say to her. “I love you,” Illyra had said. His heart beat with the rhythm of her words. “And what I need to know is, can you ever love me?” How could she love him? Illyra was too smart for that. She was too calculated to be like that. He’d warned her that he would never love her. He had told her it was impossible. He wanted to make her happy, yes. He’d bought her clothes, spent time with her, gotten rid of the men who’d threatened her and Lyra. But what had that cost him, really? Nothing.