Page 60 of Broken Rejected Mate

“Tonight.”

“Well, that’s awfully convenient,” he laughs, then digs his palms into his eyes, shaking his head. “You were going to tell me tonight, but only after I found out, right?”

“Was it the scent?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. “Did the scent-blocking spell wear off?”

When I look at him, his mouth is open, and he stares at me incredulously. “You…of course. If I’d smelled her, I would have known she was mine.” He pauses, rubbing his hand over his chin. “Every time, I thought there was some reason I couldn’t smell her. But it was you.”

He drops his hands, shaking his head. “You were never going to tell me, were you?”

“What?” I shake my head, holding my hands up. “Yes, Emin, I told you—I was going to tell you, but it was just about finding the right time—”

“You were hiding her scent from me!”

“I hide her scent fromeveryone!” I snap, breathing hard now and working hard to keep my voice from raising too high. “From the day she was born, I’ve been casting over her to keep her safe. And thank the gods I did, because what would have happened if you’d been able to smell her when we first got here? If you knew that she belonged to you? I would have died fighting you, Emin.”

He shakes his head, jaw ticking. “No—no, Veva, we would have been able to work it out—”

“Up until very recently,” I say, my voice low, rough as I stare at the polished wood flooring under Emin’s feet, “I thought youknewthat I was pregnant. I thought it’s what made you freak out. That you knew I was carrying your child, and you wanted nothing to do with me. So, when I saw you again, it’s not exactly like I was happy to see you, Emin.”

He stalks over to me, bringing his face close to mine. “Are you happy to see me now, Veva? Are you really trying to argue that there has been no point between then andthismoment that you could have told me the truth about this?”

Stepping back, he lets out an incredulous, shaky laugh, looking to the ceiling. “Idefendedyou, Veva. When Dorian asked if I wassureSarina wasn’t mine, I said that you wouldneverlie to me like that. Do you see how that makes me look?”

Now, I laugh, shaking my head and pushing my hands up into my hair. “You can pretend that you’ve changed, Emin, but that’s what it always comes down to—how youlook. You’re not thinking about the way I feel, or the way that Sarina will feel, or what it’s been like for the two of us to leave everything we’ve ever known—every scrap of independence we had—and move in with you. A stranger to her, a painful fucking reminder of the past for me.”

“That’s not fair,” Emin growls, his eyes dark when he lowers his head to look at me. “AllI think about is you, Veva. The two of you have become my entire world.”

“And that’s a very recent development,” I snap. “Ten years ago, you were pushing the two of us out your window.”

He lets out a frustrated groan. “Is this what it is? You’ll hold that against me for the rest of my life, even though youknowI didn’t know? Even though if I had known, I never would have done it? Even though we were kids, and I went looking for you the very next day?”

I suck in a breath, some of my anger cooling for a second. No—that’s not what I want. I don’t want to hold it against him. But over the course of the argument, it’s like I’ve lost sight of the point. Like I’ve just been hearing the last thing he’s said, responding to that, forgetting the bigger picture.

“Of course not,” I finally manage, hands shaking, gaze planted on the dresser behind him. “But I’m also not going to act like it never happened. I’ve been responsible for Sarina fortenyears. Just me, alone. And I can’t just turn off the instinctto protect her fromeveryone—and that includes you. You’re just going to have to be patient with me, Emin.”

“I am herfather.”

I whip my head up so fast I nearly pull the muscle, meeting his eyes, my entire body shaking with fury. “Don’t.Don’t you dare, Emin, because up until you saw us in that market, the only thing you were was a sperm donor.Iwas her motherandfather. You can become that now, become a father to her, but you have no claim over her.”

My chest heaves with fear and rage. I know I should push them aside, think critically about this—wewantto stay in Ambersky, after all. It’s not like Emin laying claim to Sarina will change all our plans.

But the mere idea that this man might control me, might get to say when I come and go, and if I get to take my daughter with me—it terrifies me down to every cell in my body.

“You don’t trust me,” Emin says, the words so plain and outright that they feel like a slap to my face. When I meet his gaze again, there’s still anger there, but hurt, as well. So much hurt.

“I—” I try to think of some way to respond, to tell him that I don’t trust anyone, or that I’m working on it, or that I can see myself trusting him in the future, but I’m cut off by a loudpopfrom the hallway, and a flash that shines bright through the cracks of the door, underneath it and into Emin’s bedroom like a searchlight.

“What in the hells was that?” Emin asks, whipping around and grabbing the doorknob.

My heart thunders in my chest, mouth turning acrid as we move together in the direction of Sarina’s room.

“That,” I gasp, nearly pushing him over in my attempt to get to her, “was the warning light of Sarina’s protection spell.”

Chapter 34 - Emin

The second the door to the guest room swings open, I know that Sarina is gone.

Beside me, Veva sucks in a strangled, painful gasp, stepping into the room and falling onto the bed. She rips the covers to the side, breathing hard, pulling the duvet clean off onto the floor, like Sarina might be tangled up in the blankets.

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