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Daliah stood in front of the doorway, silver eyes narrowed. Her motives shone clear in her vision. They dug daggers into my chest and twisted. I stood behind the piled bodies, deflating. This woman I adored, had fallen in love with, had betrayed me. Again.
Even after I told her the truth. Even after I had given her all of me. My hearts and my body. We’d shared countless stories of our past. I let her take over my favorite haven in the Biblion, where we read beside each other every dawn. I’d given the fae everything, and it still wasn’t enough.
I wanted to hate her for it. To turn my wrath from the Sky Watchers and put it on her. Ever since she got here, I’d been distracted. I hadn’t attempted to escape the tower and fly for freedom. All because I was stupid enough to fall in love with a Temptress.
“Daliah,” I seethed. “Again with this rot.” I lifted my hands, then dropped them. “Why in the hells are you like this?”
She stood motionless, looking between me and the piled bodies. There was a cold, calculating expression staining her features. One that made me want to bend her over and buck it the rot out of her, permanently. She flicked her eyes my way, her gaze empty of remorse.
“You lied to me.” A scowl. “Again.”
“You betrayed me,” I snarled. “Again.”
We stood there, glaring at one another. The distance between us was a growing chasm that threatened to burn down everything we were building together.
I hated it.
“You said you loved me.”
“I do, Daliah.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“Daliah,” I barked. I felt like my hearts were bleeding. “You conniving and wickedly devious fae. Is a damned parlor so important to you that you’d sell me like kahmul dung to the highest bidder? Does everything we shared mean nothing? Rot,” I cursed, feeling my chest constrict. My eyes stung, but I’d burn in the Black Hells before I’d let this fae bring me to tears. “You’d give it all up, give us up, for your rotting pride?”
She flinched. Her shoulders caved in at my tone. My rage. Her eyes dimmed as she realized what she’d done. What she’d broken.
“I’m not trying to sell you off like cattle…”
“Then quit the bullrot, Daliah.”
Her eyes blazed, her nostrils flaring. When she caught the betrayal, the hurt, in my eyes, she bowed her head in shame.
“I… I’m sorry. I just…” She sighed into her feet, refusing to meet my stare. “I’m sorry.”
Her voice was so small. So pitiful. It broke me to hear it. With a wave of my hand, the bodies of the Sky Watchers caught fire, burned, and dissipated. Another flick of my wrist, and my chamber was back to the orderly fashion it was in before the brawl.
Without sparing another moment, I reached for Daliah with my wings. When she didn’t pull back, I curled them around her frame and pulled her close. I lifted her chin with a finger, looking deep into her eyes. Searching, trying to make sense of why she would call the Sky Watchers again.
“You are my Lightheart, Daliah. I choose you. What must I do for you to choose me, too?”
Tears fell down her cheeks.
“Zhèmson, I’m so sorry.” She turned away, but I wouldn’t let her off so easily. I tugged her chin back and held it so she was forced to look me in the eye. “A life of enchanting, undermining, manipulating… it’s all I know. Selfishness was the backbone of our survival. I just… Yes, I want to go home to Elèor, but not at the cost of your captivity. Gods, Zhèmson, I’m so sorry.”
I should throw her out of my chambers. Hells. I should throw her out of the tower and let her fend for herself. But I wouldn’t. I was pissed off. Downright furious.
But more than anything, I was in love with her.
I wrapped my arms around her petite frame, tucking her into my chest, holding her close. Then I bent my head and kissed her. Her tears, her shame, I kissed it all. I leisurely nibbled on her bottom lip. I crushed our lips together, branding her as mine. She opened to me, parting her lips further. Hungry for her, desperate to be in her, I groaned.
I feasted on Daliah, stripping away the thin silk hugging her familiar curves. I snarled in the back of my throat, grabbing her hair. Shucking off my clothes, I pushed her back onto the bedcloud, never breaking contact.
The fae was mine.
I was going to meld us together so deeply, not a rotting thing those Sky Watchers bargained would ever get her to question what we had again. Sinking in the sheets, I spread Daliah wide like an offering as she moaned against the weight of our kiss. Then I buried myself inside of her until the screaming melodies of my name were all that filled the tower.
Daliah
