Page 108 of Wrath of the Fae

‘I haven’t thought of you every second of every day since I lost you.’

Lie. My hairs stand on end.

‘I never stopped hating that the last thing we did was betray you. Lie to you. And put you under that fucking arch. I wish I had died with you that day. I wish it more than anything in this entire fucking world.’

My hand shakes, but I force it steady as no lie reaches me from those words.

‘Why are you here?’ he asks with a rigid jaw and tears slowly brimming in his eyes. ‘I told you not to come. And if you only came for your sister, you should have left with her. Not put on her clothes and take her place.’

‘I came for you.’ My words are a husky whisper as they fight for the strength to emerge. ‘I came for all of you. To take you home with me.’

He steps closer to me. Taking my hand, he guides the dagger away from his throat and places it by my side instead. I don’t fight him. I just look up into his silver eyes, lost in their intensity.

His warm breath lands on my skin as he watches me, his fingers curling around my wrist. At the base of my back, he pulls me closer. Our fronts are now flush, and I tilt my head back to keep him in my gaze.

‘My turn,’ he says softly. ‘How did Lucca bring you back?’

‘Complicated,’ I reply.

He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger before leaning down.

‘Do you still love me?’ he asks in a whisper.

‘Complicated,’ I reply, stepping away from him. He doesn’t grab or follow me as I walk to the bathroom. I soak some cloth in cold water and wrap it around my arm before returning to the bedroom.

‘Who drew those pictures in the bathroom?’ I ask.

‘Rhea and me,’ he says. We’d get drunk and talk about you for hours. Then draw you on the walls.’

‘She forgives you for what happened then?’ I ask, nudging an empty bottle with my foot. ‘For locking up my mother and taking away our home, she forgives you?’

‘You would have to ask her.’

‘I’m asking you.’

‘I think she lives with it. The same way we all live with our pasts and shitty choices.’

‘What you did wasn’t a shitty choice. What you did was evil.’

‘I told you. Not a hero, baby. I never have been. But I am sorry.’

‘Are you going to ask me?’ I face him, feeling more at ease with the distance between us.

‘Ask what?’ he replies.

‘If I’ve fucked anyone else.’

‘I’m not. No.’

‘You’re very confident in my feelings for you to think I wouldn’t-’

‘I don’t want to because I don’t know what I’ll do if you have.’

‘You’ll hurt me?’ I shake my head. ‘Some things never change.’

‘I wouldn’t hurt you. But I can’t say the same for whoever touched you, so… better I don’t ask.’ He walks across the room and fiddles with the cloth, rearranging it to cover more of the burn. ‘I’m sorry about attacking you in the Seventh Kingdom. The power to change faces is missing,’ he says. ‘There are rumours of it being used by spies all over the place but nothing solid. I assumed you were-’

‘I know what you assumed. Jonah had that power.’ I hiss as he accidentally knocks the burn.

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