Page 71 of Torn By Fate

I stopped. The words caught in my throat, and I couldn’t finish the sentence.

No, that truth… he couldn’t know.

Not yet.

That truth was mine and mine alone. It belonged to me, it fueled my need for vengeance, it kept me going…

Adrian would know the truth one day.

But that day was not today.

“If you ever had a chance at a normal life, would you take it? Would you leave all of this behind?”

“I’m too deep in this to leave it all behind, Adrian.” I paused, scoffing a little. “I married The Reaper, after all.”

He nodded. “Yes, you married The Reaper,” he murmured roughly.

The words lingered between us.

Adrian stared at me for a long second, his gaze boring into mine, holding me captive. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

“I wished I had pretty words to tell you, Princess,” my husband said quietly. “There are a thousand things I could say to you. Promises that I could make, but they would all be lies dressed into something beautiful. But I’m not a keeper of beautiful things, especially not words.”

Adrian swallowed before a bitter smile curled his lips. “You’re right, I am a poison in your life. But the problem is, there is no cure for that poison.”

My heart stuttered in my chest.

“Our marriage is tainted, there’s no point pretending otherwise,” he continued. “All I know with absolute certainty is that we’re bound together, and fate has tried many times to tear us apart, but we somehow always find our way back to each other.”

I hated his words.

I hated the truth buried in them.

“We have to fulfill the duties expected of us, Serafina. It is the only way we survive this war.”

I searched his face. “And what happens after the war?”

His lips twitched again, this time the arrogance almost unmistakable. “You can go back to trying to kill me, Princess. I quite enjoy your attempts.”

I almost rolled my eyes, almost. “You won’t enjoy it very much when you’re dead.”

His smirk deepened. “Death by your hands will be a sweet pleasure, wife.”

Heat pooled low in my stomach before spreading through the rest of me. A flush crept to my cheeks, and his eyes flickered to it.

Of course he noticed.

Damn him. Damn his reckless flirting.

The satisfaction in his expression told me he caught every bit of my reaction to his words.

Adrian Salvatore, and his devastating smirk, was dangerous for my heart.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SERAFINA

The belt clicked softly as Adrian secured it around his wrists for the third night in a row.