Page 206 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“Ah,” he said, setting the gun down between them.“That I did.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I tried to use my magic to break the bond,” Graves said, staring down at the weapon. “She asked me to do it when we ran out of options. I thought I had that kind of power. I was so arrogant.”

Kierse’s stomach twisted at the thought. “Did you do it?”

“No. Well, I thought I had started to make it work, but it went all wrong so fast.” He shook his head. “I removed memories of the bond and her soulmate and everything related to it.”

“I didn’t even know you could do that.”

“It is delicate work, and I rarely use it anymore. One change can have a ripple effect through the entire mind. It can crush a mind. The one memory taken from you has left a ripple,” Graves explained. “Just touching it causes you physical pain.”

“And that’s what happened with Emilie? You did too much and she died from it? That sounds like an accident.”

He looked directly into Kierse’s eyes when he said, “I want you to understand that I am not the hero.”

“None of us are heroes.”

“I am what he says I am in this. I was overly confident, arrogant, and convinced of my rightness. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Trying to do anything to shred the bond with my own crushing power.” His eyes never left her face as if he wanted to impart the truth to her as clearly as possible.

“But that still sounds like an accident,” she tried to argue.

“It was not an accident,” he said, his voice stern. “I decided while it was happening that I’d rather she was dead than with him.”

Kierse’s heart ached for him. “You were so young. That doesn’t sound like the reason it happened and more like your own self-loathing.”

“I should loathe myself after what I did. What Lorcan says is correct. I robbed her of her choice. I killed her, Wren. I did it.”

Her stomach twisted.

“And I swore I wouldn’t make that mistake again,” Graves said, reaching for the gun. “I’ll killhimthis time.”

She laughed as she put her body between him and the door. “That’s ingenious. Killing himwouldsolve this problem.”

“I’m glad you agree.”

“I don’t,” she said, putting her hand to the front of his suit. “Lorcan isn’t the problem.” Graves scoffed. “He’s not. Even if he was, now is not the time to kill him. Not this close to the solstice. Not with the heist tomorrow.” She swallowed as she took his hand in hers and let her absorption drop. “Not when I love you.”

Graves’s brow furrowed. His perfect lips opened in incomprehension. “You…love me?”

“I do.”

And then she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

With her magic down, he could read her thoughts, and he’d taught her many tricks since they started training. If she wanted to control what he saw, then she just had to focus on it…so she did.

She showed him the first time she’d seen him and how terrifyingly beautiful he was. The moment he’d held her crying in the subway tunnels for the first time. The trust she’d given him before their first mission. The sight of him calling herwifein the halls of Versailles. The knowledge that he had her back no matter what. And then every single minute look and detail she could conjure up since they’d returned to the city. How she felt about every facet of him.

The villain he claimed.

The monster she desired.

The man he’d become.

He’d changed. While he may still be dangerous, he was not dangerous to her. Everything had shifted in their time together.

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