Page 68 of Queen of the Wicked
He smiled softly, running his thumb across her cheekbone. “You’re turning into a vicious little thing, aren’t you?”
“I’m serious, Erebos.”
“I know.” His smile faded, but his hand still lingered on her cheek. “That is one of the reasons we’re here, to discover the king’s true intentions, but right now, I need you to focus on resting. We will have to move again in the morning.”
“Kind of hard to do that on a stone floor,” she grumbled.
He shifted her on his lap, cradling her while his back rested against the hard wall. It couldn’t be comfortable, but Erebos didn’t seem to mind. “Rest, Alessia.”
She couldn’t fathom that the Lord of Hell was purposely putting himself in an uncomfortable position simply so she would get a good night’s rest, but the more she got to know him, the easier it was to accept that Erebos wasn’t at all how she painted him.
And when Alessia curled into his chest, allowing the beating of his heart to lull her to sleep, she decided to throw all of her original assumptions away.
Erebos was a good man.
And she was done pretending like he wasn’t.
Chapter 28
Erebos
Izara and Alessia were visibly uncomfortable on their journey through the Dead Zone the following morning. Stripped of their powers, they traveled across a wooden bridge connecting them from one side of the cave to the other. Some of the planks were rotted, close to falling apart, and where that normally wouldn’t have been too much of a concern, itwaswhen the swaying bridge helped them cross a fifty-foot drop of bubbling lava beneath. One wrong move and they’d careen over the edge to their deaths.
Erebos was accustomed to not having his powers after being without them for so long, so he didn’t feel much of a difference. He and Eryx cautiously moved behind the two women, avoiding rotten planks in their path.
“Are you really not going to tell her?” The general whispered. It was the first sentence he’d uttered to the lord all day.
“It’s not the right time,” Erebos replied,keeping his gaze pinned on the woman in question. She followed Izara’s lead ahead, navigating the planks with expert skill. Her braid from yesterday was still hanging at her mid-back, some pieces falling out of the tie from the battle with the mutated creature yesterday. Even with her clothing soiled with blood and dirt, Alessia was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. It was impossiblenotto admire her.
“Whenisthe right time? If Alessia knew you were her mate, it would change things.”
“Change things how?”
“Oh, come on,” Eryx said, as if stating the obvious. “If she agreed to be your mate, she would be next in line for the throne, not Bastian, which would extend the decree. Something could happen to you at any point, and we should be prepared if it does.”
His general wasn’t wrong. It would be the most logical solution as an extra precaution to their realm, but Alessia wasn’t a means to an end for him. Despite the bond, his feelings towards her were genuine, which meant takingherfeelings into account before dropping another bomb on her that she didn’t need.
“She is overwhelmed,” Erebos explained. “Obstacles keep popping up that she’s having difficulty handling, and the last thing she needs is me to add another thing forced upon her to figure out.”
“Is that what you think of yourself? An added obstacle? You are hermate,Erebos, and Alessia doesn’t strike me as the type of person who will take kindly to being lied to when she finds out. Notif,butwhen,because this secret will come to lighteventually.”
“You don’t think I know that?” The bridge swayed from a gust of heat, causing a bead of sweat to trickle down his forehead. “It has taken everything to withhold this information from her, becoming excruciating with each passing minute she remains unaware, but she is not ready to hear that she has a fated mate. I am just the Lord of Hell to her, someone she loathed when she first arrived, and is learning to tolerate. Hearing this news will only make her think of me as another person stripping her of control when we have just become cordial.”
Not to mention that accepting him as her matewouldbe an added obstacle for her. The lord had given up on finding his mate decades ago. The thought of allowing someone in to see all the ugly glimpses of his past was too much to bear. He wouldn’t know the first thing about carrying on a relationship with his baggage of trauma, let alone a fated bond, but Alessia made it impossiblenotto want more with her. She made him believe that maybe he could be vulnerable. Hell, he already had been.Being in her presence gave him comfort, making him an open book to her.
But there would always be a part of him that believed he didn’t deserve to find his mate. Blood would permanently stain his hands as long as he lived. Those he killed because he was ordered to. The lives he deemed unworthy when he had no authority to do so. They pressed down around him like walls closing in. His victims were the only faces he saw when he looked in the mirror and closed his eyes at night.
He didn’t deserve to be happy.
He didn’t deserveher.
Eryx glanced back at him with an arched brow, clueless to his thoughts. “Is that what I walked in on yesterday? Seemed a lot more than cordial to me.” Then, on a more serious note, “I was out of line for telling you how to handle yourself when it comes to your bond. I have not been granted that connection yet, so I can only imagine how difficult it must be to watch them become injured. I was just…” He sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. “I was thinking like a general. About the realm and the repercussions it would face. I apologize.”
“No apology necessary,” he replied. “I wouldn’t expect you to act like anything but my general when that is the title I gave you. All I ask is that, should another situation like that present itself, it is notmeI require you to protect any longer.”
“Erebos—”
“That is an order.” His tone was firm, and he could tell Eryx wished to fight him on it, but he knew better than to start an argument he wouldn’t win. The mating bond was the most cherished connection in all the realms. Very few found their fated match, but if they did, they would go to any lengths to protect each other. Alessia showcased it yesterday when Erebos was seconds from having a talon rip through his spine. Since he didn’t have powers to protect her, the next best thing would be an added person to ensure her protection remained above his own.
