Two Eyes Cenote Rattlesnake

Her pulse leaps. His one-word question cuts across her ears like a lash cracking upon spine.

why?

Machiavelli had come into protection only to fall victim to the same old cruelties. Here: where Eset held sway.

“No one else will lay a hand on you,” she promises, voice thick with unshed tears. Her eyes search the dark, but she can no longer see him.

What good was her word, burned as it was? She had no right to his trust, and she would not force it on him.

She was hebsut. She would do what she must. And she would earn it back.