I didn't take his hand.
Couldn't.
My jaw locked. My pulse thudded in my throat. The open wound on his palm waited between us, patient and unyielding. The blood fell to the sand in soft drips, counting every moment I was stuck in this corner I'd found myself in.
Intisak's expression never changed. Calm. Expectant. Certain.
That certainty grated. It crawled under my skin like a splinter I couldn't dig out.
What do I do?
I looked back up to the man, meeting his silver eyes as my second mind grinded away at my options.
*Either I bite the bullet and seal off my powers to maintain this lie, and then pray to Lysha'el I survive the Caverns without my regeneration, all in exchange for possible long-term safety, but only assuming this secret can continue to be kept for the entire duration of my stay here...
Or...I reveal the truth, here and now...and still pray to Lysha'el that Intisak understands my reasoning and moves on without event...
