Page 106 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“You cannot be unmarked. Once marked, it cannot be undone. That’s why we don’t do it. That’s why we have rules about it.” He tried to explain, but she wasn’t ready to hear it. She was still processing that no matter what she did, no matter how she died, she was destined to become a vampire.
A monster.
“No. I won’t.” Her eyes stung from holding back tears. “I don’t want it.”
“I know.” He steepled his fingers and averted his gaze. It was clear he hated this conversation just as much as she did.
A memory crept into her mind like a spider sliding down silk. His words before he marked her. “An eternity dealing with you.”
A sad smile played on Emrys’s lips. “Yes. But I'll never force you to be a part of our family.”
“How can I trust you?”
Emrys fidgeted with a pocket watch, clicking it open and closing it over and over again. But his pattern had no rhythm to it like Jevon’s mindless tapping. But the sound caused her to remember a question that nagged at the back of her throat. “Does touching me hurt you?”
“It used to.” He tapped his fingers against the table. “I should probably explain. Being a council member is a protection. Touching you is like getting jolted by a volt of electricity. It’s excruciating. But now that I’ve marked you, it no longer affects me. Although now, other vampires will be repulsed by you. Being near you will be like smelling rotten eggs. And drinking your blood will burn and feel like daggers slicing open a vampire’s esophagus.”
“Oh.” She gulped. “That’s both horrifying and comforting.”
“Yes,” he breathed, and his lips were so close to hers. Butterfly wings tickled her stomach.
“It hurt you when you kissed me?”
“Yes.” His eyes moved to her lips. “But sometimes there is pleasure in pain.”
She inhaled sharply. Fuck. Her face fell, and her bones grew uncomfortably heavy.
“What’s wrong?” He tilted her chin up while simultaneously steadying her.
“It’s all my fault.”
His eyebrows creased. “I am not following, Quinnevere.”
“Jane’s death,” she said, “I thought we were equally to blame because you wouldn’t kiss me, and you kiss everyone.” His furrow deepened, but she continued. “It’s about my Age-of-Majority Mirror-Rite. To complete my deal, I had to passionately kiss you, and you wouldn’t comply. And because I failed, Jane died.”
“Oh, Quinn, that’s not your fault,” he said, pulling her into an embrace.
Her head rested on his chest. “It’s all my fault.”
“Jane was murdered. Mirrors can’t just make people murder someone else because of your deal. It doesn’t work like that.”
“How do you know?” She sobbed into his shirt. “No one truly understands how the deals work.”
“What if Jane’s death was simply a terrible consequence of timing?”
“It’s not.”
“Right.” He said it as if he knew it wasa fruitless argument he’d never win. “Who did you bargain with?”
“Beautiful Decay.”
“Oh, hmmm,” he said, and she could almost hear the gears in his head churning. “Nightshade would never kill Jane. If he did, his lover would gut him like a fish and hang him out for the world to see. Harlowe Merriweather is not one to trifle with.”
“But what if the mirror didn’t intend it to be the consequence?” Quinn murmured into his chest.
“Then that’s Nightshade’s fault, not yours.” Emrys tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “I know you like to control everything, but Jane’s murder was because she was involved with the Blood Mirrors, not because of your rite.” He stroked a thumb along her chin without a flinch or any sign of pain. “I promise.”
She sucked in a breath. Much of their bodies were touching. Even when she was entirely distraught, Emrys was an electrifying force. “You truly don’t feel pain anymore touching me.”
