Page 72 of Fae Farewells

I wrapped my hands around the tops of her arms, shaking her a little as I pushed her once more. She broke my hold, slapping my hands away.

“If you push me again, you’ll need to find a dentist, demon.”

“Prove it.”

She scoffed. “I have. I don’t need to touch you to know what I’m capable of doing. This doesn’t help. Emotions cloud my judgment when it comes to the six of you. I’ve detached from them before. But I don’t want to do it again. Fighting Vaughn was enough to show me the only people who could actually hurt me are the only people I refuse to hurt.”

“You fought Vaughn?”

“Unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately. I see now that I don’t give you enough credit for things you can do.”

I chuckled humorlessly. “Don’t give us credit where it isn’t due.”

“If you each pushed yourself instead of pushing me, then you would see what I now see,” she stressed.

“What about what we see?”

“What’s that?”

“You could have done all of this without us,” I pointed out. “The same can’t be said in opposite.”

She leaned away from me. “You don’t know that.”

“But we do,” I confessed. “We may have brought you back to a softer side, but you’ve made us stronger, better than we were. We’re still not capable—”

“You’re not understanding me,” she snapped. “You’re not just a fucking dentist. You put me on this fucking pedestal like you can’t achieve me, but I’m here, ready to fight for you. I’m not better than you. If you can’t see that we’re on the same playing field, then why are you here?”

“What?”

She shoved me backward with more force than I was expecting. I stumbled before righting myself, still trying to process her words.

“My mates aren’t weak,” she whispered slowly, her anger and annoyance layered in her tone. “They don’t need me. They want me. That’s the difference.”

“What?” I repeated, shaking my head as I tried to understand how this got turned around on me.

“There’s the door.” She waved her hand, blank eyes staring back at me. “Should I piece the fae whore back together so you can take her with you? Or would you rather me call her Mandi with an i?”

I took a step toward her. “That’s not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

“I don’t want anyone else.”

She shoved me again, but I saw it coming this time. “Prove it.”

“Why would you question my feelings for you?”

“I didn’t question your feelings,” she replied calmly. “I asked why you’re here, why you’re with me. When an army comes, will you be just a dentist, or will you be a demon? Will you take the easy road, or will you fight for what you want? Will you be weak, or will you be my mate? These are questions you need to be able to answer, otherwise you’re in the wrong place with the wrong mate.”

“I—”

“I’ll give you a few minutes to think it over.”

And then she turned on her heel, heading toward the bathroom like I was actually going to let her walk away from me.

“You’re not wrong,” I murmured, anger riding me as I slid through the shadows to stand before her. “I am a demon. Why run or fight when I can take what I want? I am your mate. That’s a fact you can’t change with questions or logic, Kitten. I don’t need minutes or seconds to think about any of that. You know the answers as well as I do. And you don’t get to walk away.”

I reached out, grabbing a handful of her hair as I tugged her against my chest, unwilling to leave any space between us.