Page 164 of Promise of Darkness
I hate the way my mother stole him from me.
And a little lick of fear curls inside me at the thought that she might do it again.
How do I fight a curse when I have barely any control of my magic?
How can I promise my heart when she might take it from me?
End your life.
End hers.
Or find something with the power to undo the curse.
“If I could lock you away,” he whispers, thumb stroking my hand, “then I would. I would defy your mother, defy the entire alliance if it meant forever in your arms.”
Though I yearn to linger in his embrace, I shake my head. The other courts are too powerful, and he gave his word. “If you defy the treaty and keep me, then you play directly into my mother’s hands. If you kill her, then Asturia will march. And I won’t be the reason our peoples go to war.” I lick dry lips. “We could find someone who could break the spell—”
“And what would they expect in return? No.” His hands tighten over mine. “We could flee.”
Flee? I draw back sharply as he turns to face me. “Where?”
The answer’s in his eyes. North. We could go north. Cast aside all allegiances and run into the Unseelie lands. We’d be on our own, constantly hunted by both of our kinds, but we might find freedom for a while. A chance to be together.
“No.” I curl my fingers around his hand. “You’re not the only thing my mother stole from me.”
And I want it all.
My power. My magic. It feels like she’s stolen an entire lifetime from me, and I want the truth.
“We face her. Together,” I whisper.
Thiago brushes his thumb against my lips. This time, he doesn’t bother to shield me from the bleakness that crosses his expression. “Forever, Vi. You will always be mine.”
How long does forever last?
I don’t want to answer that.
I lean closer, capturing his mouth, my tongue dancing with his. All hot and sleek. The caress deepens until he’s inside me again.
Forever will last as long as we’re in each other’s arms. And maybe I don’t remember him, but as I gasp for breath, shattered by pleasure, I can’t help stroking my hands up his back, feeling the thick muscle where his wings should meet his shoulders.
This prince is mine, and I will curse the entire world to keep him.
No matter what I must do.
* * *
Hours later,we lie in each other’s arms.
My fingers trace the tattoos that drift across Thiago’s chest. Tension lingers in him at the touch, though he allows it, and his tattoos have started shifting in response, as if they enjoy being stroked.
I can never forget their voices. The hunger in them, the viciousness. There’s no light in this Darkness of his, and yet some part of it yearns to be touched by light. Accepting him means accepting them.
“Does it bother you?” he asks.
To be married to an Unseelie prince masquerading as Seelie? It might have bothered me a few weeks ago, before I knew him for who he was. Before I faced the Morai and my own truths.
“For thirteen years, you’ve been patient enough to wait for me,” I tell him. “You believed in me, even when I knew you not. You believed inus. I can do nothing else but return that trust.”
