Page 61 of Seraph's Tears
“Everything between us is real,” she insisted. “Please, Gabriel, please believe that at least.”
“How can I trust that?”
“Look at you!” She gestured up and down my body. “Who wouldn’t fall in love with you?”
The words hovered in the air between us for four heartbeats. I didn’t think either of us breathed.
“You don’t lie to your ma—to a person you love,” I stated coldly, though the rage in my body burned like the sun.
Another tear escaped. Eve sniffed. “Please, Gabriel, I never meant to hurt you. Or lie so much. I was trying to survive.”
The ayim coursed through my veins, evidence my body knew she was distressed. My body wanted to go to her, to comfort my mate, to put right anything that hurt her. Except I couldn’t fix any of this.
I gritted my teeth. “I’m going out.” I threw the covers off the bed and stalked to where I’d dropped my clothing the night before. I didn’t check if she shaded her eyes or not as I bent over, bare-assed to retrieve my trousers.
“Zor thinks,” she began in a wobbly voice.
I turned, sneering. “Zor? Is this Zorababel Grimshaw, the leader of your cult?”
Eve tilted her head until her chin reached her collarbone, huddling under the sheets. “He’s my betrothed.”
I hadn’t thought I could get more angry. Apparently that was wrong. “Betrothed?” I roared. “You’re betrothed?”
“It was arranged a while ago. But we still haven’t married. I think because he doesn’t want me.”
“Do you want him?” I demanded, my throat burning with anger.
Eve stared at me, eyes wide and mouth agape. “How could you ask me something like that? With us?” She looked at the rumpled sheets.
The idea of another man—a human man—putting his hands on my mate made my blood boil. Red crept into the corners of my vision. “He will not come fucking near you,” I swore.
Eve blinked, jaw dropping again. “I…”
My wings flexed behind me, furious energy needing to find release. I turned toward the balcony door, snarling.
“Gabriel, please!” Her voice followed me.
I couldn't think straight, couldn’t see straight. My mate had lied to me, led me on, plotted against me, and was fucking betrothed to another man. No. It’s too much. I threw myself off the balcony edge. I beat my wings against the heavy wind, struggling to get away from Mirkwold and the sounds of Eve’s quiet sobs.
Eve
I choked back yet another whimper as I slid wrapped bread in my valise. It had been hours since Gabriel had stormed out of his bedchamber, and I had given up waiting for him to return.
It’s the perfect time to leave, my mind told me.
I hated it.
He’s gone, so now you can slip away like you’d planned from the beginning. My eyes burned, my throat ached, and my heart was heavy. I sucked in a ragged breath, wincing at the pain in my throat. I slid another cloth-wrapped stash of food in my valise. I’d be on the public coach for a day or two, once I finally decided where I wanted to go.
I didn’t want to leave him, but my deceit had ruined everything. It was best if I left. One day my heart would recover. I hoped.
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and gripped the worn wooden handles of the valise. On my way out, I glanced around the manor. I found myself making notes about draperies, furniture that needed polishing, even a window with a streak on it. Then I remembered: I wasn’t coming back. It didn’t matter anymore.
Another sob welled up in the back of my throat, but I forced it back down. I slipped through the shadows into the Great Hall. I paused at the oriel, looking up at the stained glass masterpiece. I was so close to finishing it. The depiction was beautiful, heartbreaking, and mysterious. I wished I understood where the image had come from, but now I’d never know. The background looked like gentle Anglian hills and meadows with an abbey nestled between two copses of trees. The forefront of the glass, however, looked like a body falling from black clouds.
Where had Gabriel gone? Was he brooding on the roofline?
I shook off my wonderings. I needed to get away before Zor and his men walked out here to meet with Gabriel. If they caught me everything would be for naught. I didn’t want to think of the punishment, nor the years of penance I’d have to perform to return to the community. And after the passion I’d experienced with Gabriel, I couldn’t imagine letting Zorababel share my bed.
