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.
• No matter what she seemed to think, there was no shred of goodness in Andrei's soul. He would never risk or sacrifice anything that truly mattered. He wasn't made for love nor commitment. All he had to offer was sex and money—and though Illyra seemed to very much enjoy the sex, she didn’t care about money. So what could she possibly see to love in his black soul? What could make her desire to give her heart to him?