Page 20 of Underworld
His footsteps sounded quietly on the floor as he circled me, coming to stand just a foot away, dark eyes rapt on my face. “You’ve never been afraid to meet my gaze, pet.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Hendrik. I’m just…” Sighing, I shook my head. If I wanted comfort—and, okay, Idid, this so wasn’t the guy to talk to. He cared for me, yes, but he didn’t have a soul and I already knew thatcomfortwasn’t exactly his specialty. Ass kicking and good, hard sex? Sure.
But right now…
Was it bad for the Princess of Hell and the Champion of Calamity to just need a damn hug?
“So help me, Hendrik, if you’re going to flip on me like Dante, I’m going to knock you on your ass.”
“Is that so?” he asked dryly.
“Don’t,” I warned. “Just don’t.”
He inclined his head but said nothing.
Throwing up my hands, I demanded, “What, are you pissed off at me, too? I justdiedand came back. Could I get alittlebit of time to cope with that?”
“Oh, I’m pissed.” Hendrik’s eyes glinted with the fury he held in check. “But that’s been my default for a while.” He paused, then softly said, “Youdoknow it’s been a year for us, right?”
He ventured closer and the scent of him made me dizzy with fresh need. Hendrik always seemed to have that effect on me.
“A year,” he murmured, his lips close to my ear as he invaded my personal space. “We didn’t know if you would come back. Kaito and Logan never stopped believing, of course, but they’re like puppies; they’re so damn hopeful. I think Kaitohadto believe, otherwise he’d go mad. And that wouldn’t be a good thing, considering what he truly is. So… we let him believe. But then, even Orion started losing hope. A year, never knowing if you would return…” He brushed his nose against my check, breathing me in. “Smell you.” His lips brushed over mine. “Taste you.”
Hunger and longing built inside of me, and just as I reached for him he slipped away.
“A year of that is enough to drive anybody insane, pet. And most of us weren’t too far from the line to begin with.”
I drew in a ragged breath, hating how I had to keep defending myself against my own mates. “It’s only been a few hours for me.” I was trying to understand where my guys were coming from, but what about me? When did I get to cope with all of this?
A few hours and I come back to find everything so different.
“Dante hates me,” I whispered.
“He doesn’t hate you,” Hendrik said flatly. When I stared at him, he shrugged. “Well, okay he hates everyone right now, but he doesn’t mean it.”
“You weren’t the one he tried to kill just now, were you?” I started to turn away but Hendrik moved with me. “It sure as hell wasn’t my plan to die and disappear for a year, but I’m supposed to be punished for coming back? What the actual fuck, Hendrik?”
My Dark Mage said nothing.
And even though Iknewhe wasn’t the sort of person to offer comfort, I kept going.
“I know Cole is playing mind games and using Dante’s anger against me—I’m not an idiot.” A knot the size of my fist seemed to have taken up residence in my throat but I kept talking. So what if it sounded like I was ready to cry? I had to get this out. “Cole can’t fuck around unless the anger is already there,” I pointed out, that little truth twisting a knife in my heart. “So Dante was already angry with me to begin with. And it sucks because Ididn’t ask for anything of this.”
Spinning on my heel, I stormed over to the window and glared outside. If the heat of my wrath and the depth of my pain could be weaponized, then I’d win this war against Calamity right then and there.
“I know none of this happened because you wanted it, Lily.”
I peered at him through the filter of my dark feathers. The large appendages wouldn’t fully obey me and I awkwardly lowered them.
“Are those things for show?” he asked, his characteristic comment breaking the tension.
“You’d think they’d serve a purpose other than getting in my way,” I retorted, making Hendrik smirk.
Sighing, I leaned against the windowsill. “Tell me, Hendrik. Is this what you wanted like Dante claims? Do you get off on all this misery?” While I could practically smell the power on him, I hoped that Hendrik didn’t want to gain his magic like this.
He joined me at the window, peering out over the dark campus. “I doubt you’d believe me, but I don’t like seeing you unhappy. And I’m glad that you’re here. I…” He hesitated before continuing. “I did miss you.”
“Wow. My heart is leaping at that declaration.” The hollowness inside me spread and I crossed my arms over my chest, squeezing, as if the act would ward further pain off.
