Page 42 of Queen of the Wicked
“Did you want to talk about it?” he asked. “The nightmare?”
She contemplated it, she did, but after everything that happened today, her mind wasn’t in the right place to do so. How could she confide in someone who let all of that pain and suffering go on today? Lord of Hell or not, she saw that this man had compassion and empathy. Why else would he be in her room right now?
But today, he didn’t care about anyone but himself. And everything wasdifferent.The weather, the people, the servants… She didn’t know what was real and what was fake, and because of that, she didn’t want to confide in him. Trust had to be earned, and after his display of riling her up in the courtyard, he had lost any shred he may have gained over the past two weeks with her.
Erebos dipped his head in agreement at her silence. “As you wish.” Rising from the bed, he started to head for the door, but the sight of him leaving made her chest ache. Physicallyache.
“I’m sorry,” she found herself saying. “For not being able to keep the shield up.”
The muscles beneath his t-shirt tensed. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I guess because I feel like I failed today. I know I’m not fully to blame because I was kept in the dark about whatever it was you were trying to hide from him in the first place, but I still felt as if I should have tried harder. Maybe if I had done something differently, I could have kept it up, but I don’t know how to control my powers fully yet, and I?—”
Erebos turned around and closed the space between them, sitting closer beside her on the bed than he was when she awoke. “You were exceptional today. It was my fault for putting you in that predicament, Alessia. I should have refused the moment Kael suggested that you do anything at all.The only person responsible for the knowledge exposed today is myself.”
“But whatwas so important, Erebos? Why was it imperative that I put a shield up?”
Erebos’s hand shifted on the mattress, inches from brushing against hers. She almost forgot her question when he said, “Some things might be too soon for you to hear right now.”
No red aura.
“Well, whatcanyou tell me? Because I’m confused. How could you let so many people suffer today? The weather was scorchingand is now back to a cool breeze. Your wings are gone, but they were there earlier, and?—”
“A glamour, Alessia.” He breathed heavily, blinking up at the ceiling. She had a feeling this was a piece ofinformation he didn’t share with many people. “Heaven hasn’t been a good place for decades since King Bastian took over. He is an evil man who expects people to do despicable, torturous things. Once a year, he conducts a visit to ensure Hell is as horrible as he intends for it to be, so Izara puts a glamour up.”
“A glamour?”
He nodded. “She is the only person I’ve ever met with enough magic to cast them. It is not a feasible task. What you saw when you first came to Hell is what I’ve made this realm into, but when he visits…”
“You have to cover it up,” Alessia finished in a hushed whisper. Erebos only stared at her as she soaked up the information, his hand still centimeters from hers, and suddenly, everything Isla had said started to make sense.
Remember the truth.
“When your shield came down, Kael sensed our…connection.If he sends word to King Bastian that there is anyone here who remotely brings me joy…” He sighed again, but Alessia was still stuck on the sentence. “What?”
“I bring you joy?” she pressed.
Erebos rolled his eyes, and the manner was so boyish that it made him seem younger in that moment. “Of all the things I’ve said,thatis what you choose to focus on?”
Alessia shrugged, toying with the corner of the luxurious comforter. “I guess it makes sense now. I didn’t realize our transfer of powers had a scent. Kael figuring that out doesn’t seem like a good thing.”
Erebos hummed, deep in thought. “No, it is not.”
Having him this close to her fed a light source into her exhausted body. She unconsciously shifted her hand until their fingers touched, stroking her thumb against his. It wasn’t unnatural or forced. It was like coming home after a long day, and something clicked deep within her gut as her entire body vibrated with pleasure.
“Good grief, Alessia.” Erebos pulled his hand away. “You are making this very difficult.”
“Making what difficult?”
“Nothing,” he muttered. “Get some sleep.”
“Wait!” She clutched his arm more forcefully than intended, causing him to lurch forward on the mattress. His face was inches away now, and like a gravitational pull, his hand found its way back to hers again.
With a confidence she didn’t have, Alessia grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and silently asked for permission to lift it. Erebos looked seconds away from having his restraint snap entirely, but he allowed her to reveal his toned chest, shivering when her fingertips trailed over the cross tattoo in the center.
“What are you doing?” he asked shakily.
“I need to confirm something.” Leaning closer, her heart faltered at what lay beneath the inked barbed wire around the cross. The same scars from her nightmare peppered his flesh. Some large, some small, but they werethere,and she didn’t think that was a coincidence.
