Page 100 of A Tempest of Shadows

But I was so lost in my fantasy of us and the small bubble we’d built around ourselves that I never stopped to think through the consequences of my actions. And now, they were beating me over the head with the reality of our situation.

The honeymoon phase had come to a screeching end; the bubble had exploded, and I had no idea what to do. I wanted to open a portal and run, but I couldn’t leave Ryker behind after everything he’d revealed about his father, and I couldn’t open a portal out of this place.

Almost everyone in Tempest, who could afford it, had an anti-portal charm on their homes. We had one that made it impossible for anyone who wasn’t family to open a portal into our manor. The duke had the same for him and Ryker.

Until Ryker returned, I was trapped here.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

Ellery

I jumped when the outer door slammed shut. In the sudden hush, my pulse raced as I listened for anything more, but nothing came until the door opened to reveal Ryker on the other side.

His eyes were completely black, and lightning bolts shot through the center of them. He hadn’t unleashed his lightning; I would have felt it if he did, but he’d been on the verge of doing so.

He leaned against the doorway and took a deep breath as a muscle ticked in his jaw. The thick, corded muscles in his arms bulged as he crossed them over his chest.

“Are you okay?” I blurted.

“Are you?”

“I’m fine. Did he hurt you?”

“He knows better than to try something like that again. I’d kill him.”

His words made me wince. I understood Ryker’s hatred for the duke, but to hear someone talk so calmly about killing their father was a bit of a shock. I wouldn’t mind killing the man, though.

His gaze ran over me. “Where are you going?”

“I can’t stay here.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Ryker—”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

I didn’t know how to respond. How could he possibly think it was okay to stay here after that?

“Ryker….”

He pushed away from the door and strode over to me. Stopping before me, he clasped my arms. I didn’t realize I was shaking until his touch eased some of it.

“Don’t be afraid of him,” he said.

“I… uh….”

I yearned to say I wasn’t afraid of the duke, but I was. The man had helped trap us all in Tempest, he’d tormented and beaten his only child, and he’d looked at me with such revulsion I could still feel the effects of it in my bones.

“I want to be with you; it’s the only time I’m truly happy, but I hate this place,” I admitted. “I came here for you, but this….” I glanced around the room as I tried to find the right words. “I don’t belong here.”

“You belong with me.”

“Do I?”

The question was out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about stopping it.

“Yes,” he growled. “You do.”