Page 87 of When Roses Burn

Something flickered through his eyes, but his face remained stony and distant. I was sure he felt the same way Lyra did about my experiences over the past ten years.

So what if I’d been kept in a tower and kept under surveillance? That was nothing compared to the way they were used, abused, tormented, and terrorized for years on end. My life had been miserable, but I didn’t endure the atrocities they did.

“If you’re not going to return to Nightshade or Luminaire, where would you go?” he asked again.

“I don’t know.” My gaze traveled to the windows and the distant mountains. “Maybe to Terra to find Devnair. He said he’d help if I needed it, or maybe I’d go to sea. There must be more lands or islands if the dragons live out there.”

That was something we once hoped to discover together, but fate had other plans for us.

“That would be incredibly dangerous,” he said.

I shrugged. “I don’t have many options.”

He rocked on his heels while studying me. “When you were sneaking out of Nightshade to meet me, could your mother have realized it?” he asked.

I tore my attention away from the window and frowned at the change in topic. “I was always very careful. I knew that if she ever discovered what I was doing, she’d make us pay for it, and I wasn’t willing to take that chance.”

“And I always made sure no one followed you, but do you think there is some way she figured it out?”

I bit my bottom lip as I pondered this. “Maybe. I don’t know. I was careful not to be happy and to avoid seeing others after meeting you. She’d hate seeing me happy and would do whatever she could to take it away from me… which is exactly what she did.”

There was that strange flicker in his piercing orange eyes again. “If she somehow did learn of us, could she have cast a spell over you to get the truth without you knowing?”

When I crossed my arms over my chest, his gaze dipped to the valley of my breasts, barely visible through the slight opening in the robe he’d given me. Hunger blazed through his eyes.

My pulse quickened. I resisted looking at his cock, which was probably showing against the outline of his black pants.

“I… I’m not sure. Actually… that’s not true,” I whispered. “She’s far stronger than me. She’s stronger than all the other casters, or at least the night ones. I’m not sure about Cozameal’s powers; whenever the king of the day casters visited us, my mother locked me away.”

“Why would she do that?”

“At first, it was because I was a child and told to stay out of the way. Later, it was because I was an embarrassment to her that she preferred not to see, but I’ve never met the man.”

“I have, when I was a child, and I recall him being extremely powerful. So do you think she could have cast a spell over you without you knowing?”

The idea of it made me sick; to be violated in such a way wasn’t something I’d ever considered, but… “I wouldn’t put it past her. She cares little for me, or what such a thing would do to me, but I don’t think she did.”

“Why not?”

“Because she wouldn’t take the memory of it from me. She’d want me to know I was the one who told her everything about us. She would have loved gloating about it every chance she got.”

Knox’s eyes grew distant as he pondered before replying. “You’re right. She would have.”

“I don’t know how she found out about us, but I swear I didn’t tell her. I wouldn’t have done that. I loved you more than I ever dreamed possible. You were my future, my joy, and my love; I would have done anything to protect you.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

Knox

I didn’t miss that she was talking about her love for me in the past tense. I’d repeatedly told her Seth was dead, our relationship over, and made it clear I’d never claim her as my mate again.

While her past tenses bothered me more than I’d anticipated, it was far better if we kept our distance. She’d stopped referring to me as Seth, and I was glad about that.

Her mother had turned me into a beast, destroyed my animal, and torn away the man I once was. No hope existed for me; it might for her.

“You still think I’m lying,” she stated.

“I don’t know what to think.” I was still trying to process what I’d witnessed her do during her Needing. “I do believe you don’t know about the curse.”