Page 124 of Her Dark Promise

I remained silent, stubbornly so. I didn’t want to hear it—didn’t believe it. Nobody ever chose me except Circe. And only because I was weak, and begging to be loved. She knew she could twist me around her finger and break me.

“I choose you,” he said.

“It’s too late.”

He shook his head. “I don’t just choose you. Iloveyou.”

I tensed. My jaw slackened as I stared into his eyes to find another lie, but I couldn’t. I was a master at sensing deception, and there was none on his face. I turned away from him, the tears threatening to come back full force and overtake me. I didn’t need him seeing me like this. He couldn’t have picked a worse time to fall in love with me. All I wanted to do was die.

“Go away.”

“Please don’t hide from me.”

Anger pierced me, and I whipped my head back toward him. “All I have done for the past four hundred years is hide. Hide from my pain, from the truth that everything that has happened in my life ismyfault, and there is nothing I can do to fix it.” I looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to stop the tears that were now flowing freely down my face. “Do you even comprehend how I have lived my life? The fuckingagonyof living in this castle all alone!”

“I—” His skin looked pale at everything I was saying to him.

“I am cursed to be alone for all eternity. I lost every single person that ever mattered to me. First, my sister, then my family, and lastly, my entire kingdom in a matter of a few days! Thousands of people who counted on me.Trustedme.” I knew I was saying too much, but I couldn’t stop the words from flowing. “I have not trusted anyone in so long. How could I when the last person I trusted took everything from me? And in the moment when you were wrestling with whether to kill me or not, I realized that I wanted to. I wanted to trust you. I wanted it to be you.”

“It still can be.” He leaned forward.

I shook my head. “You proved to me again that being by myself is the best option. If I never hope for more then I won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t end up working out. And truthfully, it never would have. You are a human, and I am not. You will die one day, and I will not.”

“I don’t care about any of that… If all I have are a few decades left, I want those moments with you.”

“Why can’t you get it through your thick head? You can’t love me. I want you to leave. Just go.”

He got up from the ground, determination now set in his features, and sat down in the chair, pulling it closer to the bed. “My vow to you is to never leave your side ever again. Even in death, I will come back for you. I am yours. Always.”

I rolled onto my side, my back facing him, and tried to process everything he said. Even though I wanted to cast him out, and keep him away, I couldn’t help how those words warmed something in my frozen heart.

Chapter twenty-three

“You are both insufferable.”

Bastian and Callum had not left my side for one moment. Bastian was the one who carried my salvation with him, who cut me like clockwork every time the chime first sounded at midnight, who kept me weak to keep me alive.

They were talking amongst themselves near the fire, the roar keeping me from hearing their conversation. It wasn’t until they turned and Bastian spoke to Callum that I understood the reason for the secrecy.

“I don’t care what she says or how much she tries to seduce you. You do not give her what she wants. She is on bedrest until she comes to her senses.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “I think you forget that I have been here taking care of her for years.”

“And have spoiled her.”

“I am not going to give her a chance to kill herself,” he insisted, now seemingly annoyed.

He walked over to me, looked me up and down, then settled his gaze back on my face. “I will be right back.Don’ttry anything.”

I turned my face away from his, and he left. The moment he was gone, Callum replaced him by sitting on the side of my bed. “I don’t approve of what he did to you, but he has been working hard at trying to earn your forgiveness.”

“I don’t remember asking for it.”

“Just give him a chance.”

“Since when did the two of you become the best of friends?” I glowered.

“Since he was the reason we went to check on you in the first place.”

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