Page 136 of The Beast King's Bride

“I’m all right,” I reassure him, taking another careful step, wrapping an arm around my middle. I feel like I had a claw inside me, shredding my insides.

Did I?

“Sire, stay where you are,” Jassin says, his voice cracking. He starts toward me, his face still caught in that grimace of pain. “Stay.”

“I said I’m all right,” I mutter, “and you haven’t answered my question. Was the Empress here? And…” I lick my dry lips. “And Ash? Did I imagine it?”

“Indeed, Sire.” Jassin’s voice falls into that even tone he takes when others are around. “You weren’t mistaken. The Empress was here, though she has just departed and—”

“Stop calling me Sire. No more masks, do you hear me? No more rank. Jas…” I shake my head to clear it. “Where is Ash?”

“Sire. Talen—” His voice breaks right down the middle. He stops, hands clenching at his sides.

Ice spreads through me. “Jas, stop this theater, you are… you are scaring me.” I try to inhale but the air feels too thick. “What are you trying to say? Where is she?”

He only hangs his head, and then I know.

I know who is behind the wall of the women, why Jassin wanted me to stay right here and not join them.

No.

I push off the desk, make my legs take my weight, make the burn in my middle fade to nothing as fear drags cold fingers down my spine. No.

“Talen—”

“Where. Is. She.”

Jassin silently steps out of my way.

The women part.

A man I don’t know, a human, is crouched on the floor, weeping.

My knees give out when I see her sprawled on the floor, eyes closed, face white, a puddle of blood around her. Beside her lies a bloodied short sword, her fingers open as if it rolled out of them. I cannot feel the impact as I hit the ground, falling forward on hands and knees, a wordless howl tearing from my throat, from my shredded insides.

NO.

I place a shaking hand on the spill of her bronze hair on the floor, wet with her blood. I drag my fingers over her face, leaving crimson tracks.

“She did it for you,” Auria says. I had not noticed her there. “To save you.”

“I didn’t want her to save me,” I breathe, choking on air. “I wanted her to save herself.”

“She lifted the curse,” Jassin says quietly. “The horns. They’re gone.”

“Gone?” I lift a hand to my head. They’re gone.

But who cares now?

A glance around the room shows me that the Decay has receded, the black mold that covered everything last I recalled vanished.

And I find I don’t give a damn. I wasn’t supposed to come back.

She wasn’t supposed to be gone.

She came back. For me? I’m not worth such a sacrifice. What was it all for if she’s not alive? If she’s not smiling and laughing and shining on my thoughts like a star?

I roar, the sound scraping my throat, and then I bend over, my hands cradling her face, feeling like I’m fucking dying all over again. To join her, maybe that is how I’ll join her.

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