Page 32 of Imbalance
Ama's lips opened in surprise, hurt flashing through her gaze as she shrunk against the wall, and instant guilt hit me. I didn't have a moment to fully explore that, though, because the cold knife against my throat and Finias’ grip on my hair had everything inside of me turning cold.
"Ama, say the word," Finias' voice was nearly pleading. "Tell me I can kill him."
Ama's eyes were dark, and her expression was shuttered as she shook her head, "No, it's not worth it, Finias."I wasn't worth it.That was what she meant. Tears started to sting my eyes again as she stared at me with what I assumed was pity, and my defenses started to fall, leaving me feeling like a devildamned shell of a man.
Finias shoved me away from him, and I fell forward, my knees folding so that I was kneeling in front of my mate, her face filled with a sadness that caused me an immense amount of pain. I had put that sadness on her face. I'd done that. Holy shit. I'd fucked up big time.
"Ama—" My voice was choked and strained, but she was already shaking her head. Stepping back, she looked at the others and, without a word, closed her door.
I fisted my hands on the ground, dropping my head as I muttered a curse under my breath, hating everything about this moment. Hating myself. When I heard the lock to her door click in place, I knew I had to walk away from this situation tonight. I was only making everything ten times worse.
"Let's go," Damien pulled me up by my collar like a misbehaving pup as I stumbled to standing. I kept my gaze down, not willing to look any of them in the eye, since they'd just born witness to my humiliating and toxic display of emotions.
"I'm standing watch first," Drayven said evenly.
"I'll switch with you in an hour," Colt agreed.
No one asked me about doing a shift for Ama, and I knew why. I couldn't be trusted with our mate. Not her safety. Not her emotions. I was untrustworthy, just like my parents, and now everyone knew it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ama
"Oh, what in the fuckity-fuck is this?" I cursed under my breath, examining the pile of fresh clothes that had been purchased, courtesy of Jace's coin.
I wouldn't lie, the color was stunning and almost flame-like: the ombre effect of the bright fire orange top transitioned first to a burnt copper, finally fading to black at the bottom. But the black corset? Now that just did not seem necessary, especially since the material was light cotton. I tossed the corset aside and slid on a pair of black panties and bra, their simple styling matching the rest of the dress I pulled on.
A knock on the door had me jumping slightly as I turned to face it, wondering who was coming to see me. It was fairly late into the morning and I knew Jace would be by to grab us to go to the castle...but I didn't think that was who was waiting outside my door.
Maybe it would be Finias.I blushed, nearly rolling my eyes at myself because I was so ridiculously smitten with the man it was verging on insane.
That thought did push me, though, to walk towards the door and fling it open, coming face to chest with...Drayven?
"Princess." His large hands steadied me as I tilted my head back and looked up into his familiar gaze, which was filled with a lot of heat and a bit of concern, but mostly affection. I couldn't help but feel thrilled by that.
"Morning," I offered a bit shyly, not knowing exactly how to act, since everyone was keenly aware of what had occurred between Finias and me. All because of Nico. Speaking of which...
"Where is everyone else?" I asked curiously.
"Downstairs," Finias’ voice had my head snapping over to where he was walking out of the bedroom at the far end of the walkway, his eyes lit up and completely focused on me.
My cheeks instantly turned pink, and Drayven's fingers curled around my waist possessively—something I knew Finias noticed but seemed not to view as worth commenting on. That was probably for the best because I had a feeling Drayven was a bit grumpy this morning, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.
"Okay," I murmured as Finias led the way through the pub, which was far more crowded than when we had come back to it the night before. The bartender narrowed his eyes at the men with me but offered me a hesitant smile when he met my gaze.
I didn't offer one back, but I also didn't give him a piece of my mind for being biased against purebloods. I wasn't positive how I felt about there being so much anger against my mates in this kingdom. I mean, it was nearly as much as there was against hybrids back home, if not more.
In a way, it felt justified because hybrids had been subjected to so much. At the same time, these hybrids hadn't been back in the Kingdom of Pura in hundreds of years, if ever, depending on how old they were. Most of the bias was institutionalized and learned from a young age, so did that make them any better than the people back home? No. No, it really didn't.
"Morning!" I called out, and Adrien turned immediately, his eyes lighting up and a small smile filling his face.
I squeaked as he was suddenly in my space and grasping my chin, laying a sweet kiss to my lips that had Drayven grunting. Honestly, the grumpy bastard seemed to be on his best behavior today. It made me wonder why. When I pulled away, Adrien stepped to the side, allowing me to step forward to where Damien was waiting for me as well, his heated gaze focused on me.
"You look beautiful, little flame," he murmured. Honestly, the authentic emotion emanating from him really did make me feel beautiful, even if I was only in a cotton dress.
"Look pretty good, yourself," I chimed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "Honestly, after cleaning up, we all look a bit better."
"Jace should be here soon," Colt interrupted, seeming to appear out of nowhere. I realized the only person now missing was Nico.
