Jarek's hand closed over mine and his fingers were warm and calloused. He started to pull me toward the stairs, but I dug my heels into the marble.
I couldn't just walk away. No, I was no coward. If his best friend was going to try to taint me in front of his household that had welcomed me with open arms, I wouldn't run away like a scaredy cat.
"Wait," I barked, my voice cracking slightly before I found my footing. I turned to Hera, whose eyes were still narrowed into slits of pure ice. "You're right."
The room went still. Even the maids stopped their whispering.
"I did think all of that," I continued, meeting Hera's gaze head-on. "I was brought up to believe that the mark of a rogue was the mark of a beast. And even as an adult, when I found out that Jarek was the one who engineered the very poison used to kill my father... it proved the point even further. To me, you weren't just dangerous. You were the architects of my ruin."
