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Gideon’s lips curl up into a smile. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Do you even want me anymore?” My voice is small when I ask, “Am I a monster?”
Gideon’s jaw drops, and then he closes the space between us, his large hands covering mine. As he squeezes, he says, “No.”
Unequivocal.
Sure.
Absolute.
It’s exactly what I needed to hear, but I’m not sure I can believe him. “I’m entwined with Azar,” I whisper. “And I’m bonded to Axel, too.” It feels cathartic to say that, to at least acknowledge a connection to both of them. “That alone makes me feel split in two, but Gideon, I have to tell you something else.”
He’s still staring right at me.
“Neither of them has ever forced me to do a single thing, ever.”
He blinks.
“They’ve never forced me in the way that Mom has been forced. Not once.”
He frowns. “But—Axel did predicate your siblings’ safety on your behaving as he wanted.”
“Well, yes, and?—”
“He never offered to free you.”
“He couldn’t—he did search for a way. And his offer to release the kids was genuine.”
“You’re still his slave,” Gideon says, his hands tightening further. “He’s still your master.”
I nod slowly. “I suppose.”
“There’s no suppose about it,” he hisses. “And if you think that I can help you find some distance from him, I’m all in.” He releases my left arm and lifts his hand. Two of his fingertips brush against my mouth. “Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. Always.”
“Are you saying I’m your master?” I can’t help smiling.
“Liz, you always have been, since we were kids.” His head lowers toward mine. “You always will be. No matter what.” His mouth is almost touching mine. “I told you. I love you, Liz. Heart and soul, and I’m going to save you from all this, as soon as I figure out how.”
The bond flares bright red. It’s pulsing.
I should stop him. I have no idea what Axel might do out there when he’s this angry. I remember him telling me that I can never kiss Gideon. He has repeated over and over that he owns me.
As much as I hate the truth, he does own me. I know it. He knows it.
Everyone knows it.
But I can’t acknowledge it openly. I’m me. I’m not his possession. No one can own me or anyone else. So I snap my hands up, grabbing either side of Gideon’s face and dragging his mouth the last inch and a half until our lips meet.
6
Axel
When I was barely old enough to fly, Dad introduced me to Asteria and told me that, one day, we would mate. I didn’t even know what mating was then, but I knew it was true.
What Dad said was always true.
When I grew old enough to understand more about what he’d said, I asked more questions. He told me that if I was truly opposed, I had options. Her sister Ocharta was viable, as well as dozens of others. But based on our temperament, he felt that Asteria would make a good partner for me.
