“Aries.” I pull away and fold my arms. “Tell me what’s wrong.” When he doesn’t immediately start talking, I poke his chest with my finger. “Stop treating me like I can’t handle things. I’m managing just fine, aren’t I? Stop protecting me, dammit.”
He sighs and runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Did you take my book back down to the library?”
“You mean the book that contains your story?”
“Yes.”
“No,” I reply, fear icing up my spine. “Why? Is it gone?” I turn, frantically looking for the book that was in my nightstand drawer the last time I checked. Now, it’s open on the coffee table. I exhale, relieved it’s not among the missing titles. If Constantine had gotten ahold of it—
“I found it downstairs.”
I look back at Aries, worried all over again. “How did it get down there?”
“I don’t know,” he replies. “But it was there, lying on one of the tables outside the break room. And when I opened it—” He closes his eyes, and the knot in my chest grows. All of a sudden, I know exactly what’s happened.
“The story has changed.”
He opens his eyes. “How did you know?” The accusation is clear, but it brings me no offense. After all, I just accused him of murder mere hours ago.
“I’ve seen it happen. When something gets out and we have to terminate it. It’s almost never a main character, though, so the changes are small.” I mutter a curse. “I should have been keeping an eye out. We should never have let you stay this long.” I sink down in a chair, and Aries sits beside me.
“I chose to stay. I want to stay. To be with you.”
For some reason, those words only twist my own guilt deeper. “How bad is it?” He doesn’t answer. “Aries, how bad?”
He takes a deep breath. “My people will not survive long if I do not return with a queen.”
I shove back from my chair. “A queen?” I choke out.
“It’s our law. I told you as much, didn’t I? I cannot take the throne unless I have a queen. The horde is getting close to overthrowing my family, Paige.”
Tears prick the corners of my vision, but I blink them away. “Then go home. You need to go. I can send you right now.” I hold up a hand, ready to conjure a portal right now, but Aries grips my wrist and shoves my palm down.
“I’m not going anywhere without you. I made my choice.” He sits up straighter, pain laced in every single line of his handsome face.
“Aries. You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything, Paige. I love you. You are mine.”
“But your family—”
“I refuse to return to Astronia without you.”
“I can’t leave. Not now. But you could go back. Fix things. Find your queen.” I nearly choke on the words, sick over the thought of him with someone else. But if it means saving an entire realm, I can’t stand in his way any longer.
Aries leans forward and brushes my hair behind my ear. “I will not leave you unprotected.”
"And I won't let your world die because I’m selfish."
His shoulders slump just enough that I take notice. And I hate it. Save this world, condemn his. Save his, destroy this one. There is literally no good choice.
I fall to my knees before him and reach up to cup his cheeks. The stubble scrapes against my palm. “Go home and fix your world, Aries. I can manage this one until you get back.”
Aries grips my wrists. “When are you going to believe what I feel for you is bigger than even my own survival? You are my world, Paige.”
Chapter18
Aries