Page 51 of War of Her Heart

“I just told her the truth,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

My eyes widened at her response. I was ready to . . . to consume her, like Violet said.

“Notthat,” she said as she shook her head. “She told me about her and Calum, and I pretty much told her she’s delusional. I mean, I don’t understand why you haven’t already told her that.” Bronwen walked into her bathroom, and I followed. She touched up her lipstick before she added,“Speaking of, when did you find out she was fucking him, and how did you manage not to destroy the entire castle at that information? I’m proud of you.”

I ignored her added questions because evenIdidn’t understand how I managed to keep my composure. The smallest thing used to send me into a darkness where I would destroy anything that got into my way.

But now, I didn’t want to do anything that would scare her.

I was constantly trying to hide a part of myself because I feared that the darkest parts of me would be too bad for her to accept.

I was surprised that the things I told her about when I killed my father didn’t scare her off. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. It was nothing compared to other things I’d done.

“I am just getting to the point where I feel like she is starting to trust me. I’m not risking ruining that by telling her something she’ll figure out eventually,” I said.

“So you’re, what, just going to be patient? Yeah, I give that two days.” Bronwen pushed past me and walked back into her bedroom.

“Just stay out of it. Okay?” I turned to her. “I appreciate you trying to push her to me, but I want her to come herself.”

“Yes, my lord,” she said as every bit of emotion left her face.

“Bronwen—”

She cut me off. “No. You told me to get close to her and now you want me to back off? I like her, and I don’t want you and your ‘patience’ to cause us to lose her. If you would just tell her the truth, or better yet, take those fucking pills so she can see for herself, we wouldn’t have to do this tiptoeing around her.”

She was right, but I would never admit that to her.

“I’m not going to do that to her,” I said, trying to keep my composure.

“Why? The Sebastian I know wouldn’t have hesitated to take what he wanted. And you know once she feels the pull, she won’t care about what happened before. It’s got to be more than that.” She paused while she studied me. She was always so good at reading me. “Does your apprehension have something to do with you losing your powers?”

I walked away from her, running my hands through my hair. No one could get under my skin more than Bronwen.

“We have to be on the same page,” she said as she approached me and laid her hand on my shoulder.

I knew Bronwen well enough to know that she wouldn’t let up until I told her.

“I will not force this on her. But also, I fear that once others find out about our bond, I will not be able to protect her. Not in the way she needs to be protected. Not until we find the black opal,” I said as I turned back to her. “I have a lot of enemies. And she would have a target on her back.”

“Some honesty. Finally,” she said.

I rolled my eyes.

“We will find the object. And we will all protect her. No one would stand a chance against all of us,” she said, trying to reassure me.

“And Adar? He didn’t speak to me for days after I made him go with the two of you to the city.”

“His duty is to you. He will do as you command, even if he doesn’t want to.”

She was right. He would do whatever I said, but not without giving me the silent treatment—his favorite weapon of choice.

I didn’t know why he seemed to have a problem with Violet, but every time she was around, he closed himself off.

Another dinner planned by Bronwen. I hated having to look at Lilian and Nathara. Every time I saw them, I was reminded ofmy mother and what their presence took from me all those years ago.

I hadn’t been around them this often in centuries. Even though they lived in my castle, they’d kept to the area that I designated for them after I became Sovereign. I didn’t want to see them, but I also couldn’t let them leave.

The only reason I’d agreed to these dinners was to see her. Bronwen had valid points that I needed to keep up appearances in front of our Mountain Realm guests to ensure the marriage went through, but I wasn’t really worried about that.

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