Page 146 of Wings of Lies
I bit my lip. “He still is.”
Oliver gave me a sympathetic look. “Lucy, he’s been with the queen for his entire life. He’s carted female after female to her. He may not harm them, but he’s still guilty. Even with some magical rune compelling him, does that truly excuse his actions?”
I followed Oliver, having no answer for him. But he was right, and I didn’t want him to be.
Still a few yards away from Aspen, Oliver stepped in front of me, gripping my shoulders, and captured me with the sincerity on his face. “I see how you look at him.” My cheeks flushed. I tried to look away, but Oliver held me there, forcing me to hear his words. “I’m not judging you.” He reconsidered. “Okay, maybe just a little bit. But Aspen will never be what you want him to be. You need?—”
“Someone who doesn’t cart females against their will? Someone to sweep me off my feet and catch me when I fall?” Although, once upon a time, he had swept me off my feet back on Earth when it was just us in the forest with all our secrets.
Oliver shook his head, his gaze intense. My stomach flip-flopped. I so wasn’t used to this Oliver.
“No. We all fall, Lucy. It’s a part of this strange life we live. We need to fall. You don’t need a knight in shining armor or a broken prince to catch you on the way down. You need someone to hold you in the mess. Someone to find strength in you as you mend your broken pieces. From the ground up, not the sky down.”
“But what about his broken pieces?” I whispered.
Oliver wiped away my tears, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “What if he’s broken beyond repair?”
“What if your sister is? What if my mom is? Are we going to just give up on them?” I demanded.
He sighed. “Not give up, but distance ourselves. I said, findstrengthinas you mendyourbroken pieces. But you can give a person only so much strength before you’re giving too much. You aren’t obligated to sacrifice yourself for someone else.”
I opened my mouth to protest.
“Lucy, you said you had the Binding Rune on you for years. Don’t you think your mom could’ve taken it off or found someone who could’ve?”
“She was scared of people finding us,” I explained.
He nodded. “So instead of helping you to be excellent in all that power you have and give you the strength to stand on your own two feet, she kept you suppressed and then poisoned you.”
I frowned.
“She let her broken pieces win. She let her fears win.”
I threw up my arms. “So what? I need to give up on my mom now, too?”
Oliver gave me a dry look. “No, my point is that you should value yourself as much as you value others and vice versa. If the other person is too broken or taking too much from you, it’s important to let them go so they can heal themselves. It’s called taking care of yourself, and it’s not selfish; it’s necessary. Okay?”
“Okay,” I sighed, even if I didn’t entirely mean it. He lifted one side of his lips, leaned in, and kissed my forehead.
Who was this male, and where was the carefree insufferable Oliver?
He kissed my forehead once more before wiping away the rest of my tear streaks. “So, when you kick Aspen’s ass to the curb, I’ll be your wing-woman.”
I gave a wet laugh at his wiggling eyebrows.There he was.
“You?” I asked. He was pretty bold with his methods. I wasn’t sure I wanted his help, even if I was giving up on Aspen. Which I wasn’t.
“Yeah, me! I’ve got years of practice. Where do you think all that sound advice came from, huh?” He shot me a look. One that had my cheeks heating once more. It was easy to forget how old they were when they looked so young. I didn’t even want to think about all the females Aspen’s been through. And how inexperienced I was compared to… Well, most.
Oliver pulled me closer. “You need a wing-woman. Lucky for you, I have all the time in the world to fill that position—when we aren’t running for our lives or finding answers. And as of right now, I’m saying Aspen’s off the potential getting Lucy laid list.”
I sputtered, the flush reaching my forehead at how loud he said that.
He full-bellied laughed as we walked toward the glowering prince. I hoped that whatever god was out there, Aspen did not hear that because underneath the evil prince was the Aspen I hoped to set free.
But was he a prince?He wasn’t related to the queen. He was no demon. His mom had blue rings in her eyes, not purple, so what did that make her? Aspen was part angel, but what was the other part?
Aspen turned and led us to the witch. I hoped she held our answers.
