Page 273 of The Nightmare Bride
The Lady Marche. She must have been hovering again, because Olivian’s eyes glinted. Some whisper—some ghost of an emotion—reached him, because he grunted and turned away.“Fine. But he’s not staying. You can leave with him if you like, but I won’t tolerate him under this roof.”
My chest inflated as I let my hands fall. “Thank you.”
“Thirty. Seconds. That’s all.”
I whirled and grabbed Kai’s arm, then towed him past the bewildered stewards. At the doors, I grabbed the lapels of his wedding jacket.
He peered down, his infuriating smile as crooked as ever. Ruby slickness coated one side of his throat, but he paid the wounds no attention. “Well, that was rather dramatic. I think I preferred my first wedding, to be honest.”
A buzz filled my ears. This man had almost died, right in front of me. Howdarehe? “For once in your life, can you stop making jokes? It’s a terrible way to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” He stiffened. “What, you’re just going to let him toss me out?”
“Of course I am. It’s not my decision.”
“Well, no. But whether you come with me is.”
Now I stiffened. “What? No. Olivian won’t let Amryssa go, so...you can’t possibly think I’d leave her. And I’ve already told you how this ends. I said so upstairs.”
He stared into my eyes. Something built inside me, a growing shadow that tinted my vision dark. He’d almost died. He’d nearly left me, permanently, in a way that would’ve replayed itself on the insides of my eyelids until I was old and wrinkled. Even then, I still would’ve seen him leaving me. Making a graceless exit from my life, never to be patched over or apologized for, just borne forever. He would’ve carved an unhealing wound into me that would’ve chased me into old age and beyond.
The nerve. The unbelievable audacity of this man.
“What, no last-minute change of heart?” he said. “No third-act realization about how you can’t live without me?”
“No.” I nearly choked on the word. “This isn’t one of your plays.”
“But what if I want it to end like one?”
“It doesn’t. You were always going to leave, and I was always going to let you. I wasalwaysgoing to put Amryssa first. And now I have to get her to Hightower, some other way. So go. To Fairmont, like you wanted. See your last territory. Get your last accent.”
A scowl marred his perfect features. “That doesn’t matter to me nearly as much as you seem to think it does.”
I held that wide-sky gaze. Oh, goddess. Part of me was crumbling, collapsing, each word from my mouth a wave battering at my resolve. Except...he’d almostleftme. The knowledge was like a fist around my heart. I had to hide, had to get away. “Just think of me sometimes, okay?”
His expression darkened. “This is absurd.”
“It’s not.”
“Come with me.”
I swallowed the stone in my throat. “No. I already told you. I’ve been telling you this whole time. That isn’t how this works.”
His face hardened. His eyes chilled, but he straightened, tugging at his ruined coat. “So that’s it, then? You’re absolutely certain?”
“Yes.”
“Well.” He sniffed. “Even I can tell when I’m not wanted.”
A steely weight descended on my shoulders. Goddess, I couldn’t manage another word. If I tried, I would break.
He leaned in and kissed my temple. Tears invaded my throat, but I walled them off.
“Goodbye, then, just Harlowe,” he murmured.
“Goodbye, just Kai.”
He scanned the great hall, then nodded at those assembled. “It’s been a pleasure.”
