Page 67 of Seduced By Darkness
I’m no longer trapped in the dark, fighting not to drown.
No, I’m whole and handsome and able to lock my Darkness down so deep I could almost throw away the key. She’s my hope and my salvation in one.
Marrying her means I finally get a good hand of cards. I’m no longer being tortured on Fate’s rack. There is only goodness within Vi’s heart. She can anchor me to this world, and I will give her everything.
My kingdom. My crown. My heart.
Gods, maybe even my heart.
If she cannot loveme, then can she ever truly love you?whispers the Darkness within.
Be silent,I tell it.
What are you going to do?It taunts.Are you going to lock me away and pretend I don’t exist? Are you even going to tell her about me?
I steel myself.I don’t know how she’ll react. I just need time. Time to make her fall in love with me.
Maybe if she loves me, then she will forgive me this one lie.
If I can just hold myself together long enough for Vi to want to stay with me….
The Darkness laughs.I’ll let you have this moment. Only because when I finally rise again, I’m going to enjoy your pain.
But it sinks down deep inside me, until I can finally breathe again.
Will she come?
“Stop pacing,” Thalia says, hauling me into place in front of her and brushing nonexistent lint of my doublet.
“I can’t help it. Is there any sign of Baylor?”
I sent him to ensure Vi arrives safely at the ruins.
“She’ll come,” Thalia says, and I shake her free and rub my knuckles into the palm of my other hand as I pace.
Wanting someone as badly as I want Vi is like handing Adaia the knife and then not expecting her to put it to my throat.
What if this is the first mistake I make? What if I just took the wrong fork down a dangerous road?
I’m not a prince who is ruled by his impulses. I can’t afford to give into anger or fear. The only way to cage the monstrosity within me is to chain every hint of emotion that flutters in my chest and control it.
But the truth remains…. I’ve had over six hundred years to master myself and the second I caught a glimpse of Vi, that control was shredded.
I want her.
Not just the woman who dragged my face down to hers for a kiss, or the woman who cried out in pleasure beneath me, but the one who demanded that I prove myself true—her dark eyes flashing with heat and fire. The one who crept into my tents with Finn slung over her shoulder, careless of the blood that dripped down her fine gown or the fact she was in an enemy quadrant.
Vi understands what it’s like to live one’s life in a cage, and yet there’s a kindness and generosity that has managed to survive everything her mother threw at her. Maybe, if her mother had her for another hundred years, she’d manage to strip Vi of her innocence, but I can’t help thinking that she’d never manage to ruin her heart. There’s defiance there. Stubbornness. And determination.
Vi wants to escape, just as much as I want to rescue her.
I asked Maia for a queen that long-ago night, but in my heart of hearts I begged her for the love of my life. Vi could be both. She’s young, untried, her heart still fragile and uncertainty tearing at her every move, but I’ve seen the fire. I know it’s there. I know—that with a little careful guidance—she will blossom into a woman who is a force to behold.
She just needs someone who will believe in her.
She just needs to take this step.
To come to me.
