Page 143 of The Call of Crimson
“It did,” Breyla confirms.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, it just started bleeding again.” She shrugs. “I didn’t want to bother the castle surgeon.”
I hold it closer, inspecting the wound closely. “Did you pick the scab off this?”
“Why would I do that?” Her voice holds none of the usual snark I would expect from such a question.
“You didn’t answer,” I say, meeting her gaze.
“No. Of course not.”
Lie.
I choose not to call her on it. Instead, I use my Gift, weaving the blood back into order, forcing it to clot. I suck in a deep breath, wondering what she’s doing in my room after pushing me away so definitively.
“You meant it earlier,” I say quietly, “when you suggested we never should have been.”
Her voice is soft, trembling as she says, “It’s not a lie.”
“That doesn’t make it the absolute truth.”
“We’ve always been a bad idea, Aurelius.”
I flinch, her words striking as sharply as a slap to the face.
She’d always been off-limits, something I should have never wanted. But I never once considered her a mistake.
Her tone is regretful, but I wouldneverregret her.
“I know that, Princess,” I rasp. “So then, what are you doing here?”
“You kissed her,” she hisses, diverting her gaze to the floor.
I pinch her chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at me. “You know damn wellIdidn’t kissher.The only female I wanted to kiss is standing right in front of me.”
“Wanted?” She asks, emphasizing the past tense.
“Yes, wanted.” I let the word hang there between us. “She also happens to be infuriatingly stubborn and determined to shatter my heart. I can’t keep wanting the female who has made it painfully clear she belongs to another.”
I watch her endless emerald eyes search mine as the blow of my words settles on her. Tears pool at their corners.
“Take it back,” she pleads, wrapping her small hand around the one still holding her chin.
The gentle squeeze nearly breaks my resolve.
When I remain quiet, letting her feel the weight of her words the way she made me, she makes a startled choking sound that I feel in my soul.
“Aurelius, please,” she chokes. “Take it back.”
“Why should I?” I demand. “Give me a reason, Breyla.”
“Because every time I close my eyes, I see her kissing you, and it fills me with a rage so poisonous it burns. Because every time I lose that stupid bargain and have to kiss Ayden, I desperately wish it were you.” Her tone grows frantic, desperation filling every word. “I would wear dresses every dayfor the rest of my life if it meant I never had to kiss another who wasn’t you.”
Her chest heaves, breath coming in short, as her free hand twists into the hair at the back of my neck. The tips of her nails dig into the skin on the back of my hand and neck as she pulls closer.
“Do you hear me, Aurelius?” Her voice teeters on hysteria. “I would give up pants for the remainder of my days if it meant having you. Forget Ayden. Forget this gods-damned marriage. I just want you.”
