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Although I'd like to think it's just the bright light of the day that has me nervous, I remember the overwhelming feeling of wrongness that I felt after we got hot and heavy last night. What happens if we just can't ever get back to what he claims we once were?
I obviously do a poor job of hiding my hesitance because Aiden quickly pulls away from attempting to kiss me.
"Second thoughts?" he asks wryly, a vein pulsing in his forehead as he tries to keep his face neutral.
"Just a little tired," I say lamely.
"Are you even trying?" he asks, moving to the side of me to lean on the railing.
"I just wish I could remember," I tell him. "You have all the memories of our story, but I have nothing. What if we're just too different now? What if that Eva was a much better version than who I've become after all of these years?"
"You are much better than that girl," he spits out bitterly and with such rancor that I take a step away from him surprised, his statement at odds with his earlier assertions that we were supremely happy before. He turns to me and grasps my shoulders, his grip a little too tight for my liking.
"Just promise that you'll try, that you'll remember that feeling from last night. I'm never going to give up on us. I'm never going to let you go," he tells me passionately.
Although I know Aiden was going for a heartfelt plea, everything he said came across somewhat like an obsessive oath, and I feel uneasy.
Unable to say anything, I simply nod and hope that the smile I give him doesn't look like the grimace I think it does.
It must do the trick because he kisses my cheek and finally lets go of my now aching shoulders, striding out of the room. After I hear the door shut, I walk back to my bed, checking for enormous spiders first, and attempt to go back to sleep.
He's delighted with the progress I have made in flying and brags to anyone who will listen about my abilities. I get the feeling that we're both racing towards the final product of myself, Him to use me as a weapon to get whatever He wants, and me to use myself as a weapon against Him.
Although my powers continue to grow, it gets harder and harder to remember what I am doing this for. Every time I have to put a smile on my face while He gets a feel in while we're in public, a little part of me dies. I've now tasted two men's touches who I loved and it's a far cry from His desperate grasp. I feel like I've been abandoned by everyone I have ever loved. He casually let slip that Beckham has become betrothed to a Duchess from one of the provinces in the south. I think snidely that a duchess is a far cry from a queen but I can't help but feel massacred at the news. There's of course the very real possibility that He is lying to me to hurt me, but after my incubus's willing departure, I'm a little jaded at the thought of everlasting love at the moment. Besides, it would be hypocritical to expect Beckham to pine away for me forever when I so willingly left his side.
He's continued to lock me in my room due to my "bad behavior." I feel very much like an errant child rather than the person who's supposed to be in charge. While my room had been a respite from Him, a place where I could escape and practice my magic, after the stolen memories I made with my incubus, it feels just as much a prison as the rest of the castle.
I'm wallowing in depression one day when I hear what sounds like a war cry from a large group of people right outside the castle walls. I walk to my window to see what's going on. My heart leaps in my chest as I see what looks like hundreds of my people storming to the castle. What most worries me about the situation is that my gorgeous incubus lover is on horseback, leading them all.
I watch as they approach the far gate. The incubus's power must be on high because the guards at the gate open it up with just a few words from him. When I see Him striding out the inner door to the large group, I panic. I'm not sure what magic He possesses but I know enough to be very afraid of what it could do to an innocent person.
I use my magic to undo the bolts on my door and rush past a few startled guards towards the winding staircase that leads down to where everything is happening. I hear guards rushing behind me but a quick blast of my lightening ensures that they will stop following me. As I rush through the final door, to the front courtyard, I stop in my tracks. He and my incubus are facing off alone while the rest of his ragtag army watches silently behind him.
"When I win, she's mine," I hear my incubus say as I stare at the scene in horror.
He must sense me, because He turns around to greet me.
"Ah, my darling. I'm so glad that you got here in time for tonight's entertainment," He grins at me, twirling a long broadsword around in His hand. "This creature was just catching me up on something you've been hiding from me. Naughty, naughty, sneaking behind your husband's back with your nasty little lover."
His tone is light, but there's immense rage seeping out of His body.
"You know this is an interesting conversation. You've already given up so much for one lover, what will you give up for this one?" He says with a smirk.
My incubus for his part is looking very brave considering the malice stemming from his opponent. He's also holding a long broadsword and although I imagine that he is very capable with it, I'm afraid that this is a battle that he will be outmatched in.
My first thought is to try and reason with Him. If there's a way to get out of this situation without showing all of my cards it would still be best for my plan. I still don't have a handle on my powers, and Lexi hasn't sent any word that she's found a spell to counteract the curse. I take a step towards Him, holding up my hands in supplication.
"We can talk about this," I tell Him stupidly, watching terrified as the anger waiting just below the surface of His smile shows itself.
"As much as I can assure you we'd all be interested in a play by play of your affair with the palace whore, I'm afraid that I've got a busy schedule today and a tussle with your ex-lover just wasn't on my list."
With those words I watch as His black eyes spread until the white of his iris can no longer be seen. My incubus is still standing unwaveringly with his sword held aloft.
"Eva, get behind me," he tells me. I can feel him pulsing out his incubus waves towards the king to try and weaken His defenses.
"You haven't figured out yet that your Queen holds more seductive power in one finger than you do in your whole body, have you little monster?"
He laughs cruelly, appearing entirely unaffected by the push of seductive power my incubus is releasing.
