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The knot in Aiden’s jaw ticks until he closes his eyes, clenching his jaw. When he opens them again, you would never have guessed Fynn’s words irritated him. “Just one last time, Emma. Please. I want to apologize, and then I promise to let you go.”
“She’s not leaving my side,” Draven’s voice holds no warning, just a promising threat.
Aiden’s eyes look like they flicker with something dark, and I would have missed it if I wasn’t watching his every move. “Then join us, if you must.” Dragging his gaze back to me, he says, “I just hope you’ll allow me one last conversation before I let you be.”
There’s an odd desperation clinging to his eyes as he waits for me. If he thinks he’s walking out of here with his hair perfectly intact and not a single mark of revenge, then he’s delusional. I never claimed to be the one who always forgives, because there are some things that are unforgivable. And there are times when it feels good to become the fear in another’s eyes.
My mind is stuck on how many ways I can cause Aiden as much grief as he has caused me. To make him know the torment of my heart being shredded apart, and to understand that his selfish actions only lead to the pain of others.
“One last conversation,” I find myself saying, making Aiden’s eyes widen with a single drop of hope.
“Thank you,” Aiden responds.
I only have to look at my mate to know that he understands. That I mean one last conversation in a literal sense because I need Aiden’s betrayal to be paid with flesh and bone. Even fate deems it okay if what Queen Zoraida said pertained to Aiden. With a smirk, I dip my head for Draven to voice what I heard him mumble in his mind.
“You misunderstand,” Draven chuffs. “One last conversation here, in this fucking room, with all of us. I don’t trust you.”
Aiden audibly gulps before you can practically hear his teeth grind to dust. “Fine,” he forces out. “Is that all?”
“For now,” is all Draven responds with, as a feather of amusement tickles me through the bond.
A shiver works its way through my body as I peer out the windows arched beside the double doors, looking at the expanse of the forest. It all seems so tranquil, how the grey fog rests itself between the branches without a worry in the world, sedately clinging to the towering pines. Yet something prickles the back of my neck, setting me on edge.
Chewing on my cheek, a sense of urgency twists my stomach, making my fingers twitch with the need to act even though nothing is amiss. But the one thing I have a gut feeling about is Whiro. If my soul has made it back to my body, then so have the others’, alerting him to the lack of power in the Sea of Souls.
A throat clearing pulls me out of my daze, only to find Aiden’s gaze zeroed in on me. Wiping my hands down the front of my tunic in hopes of getting rid of any lingering nerves, I let out a deep sigh as I wait and watch him carefully.
“I went about it all wrong, and I’m sorry,” Aiden rushes out. “I have no excuse for what I have done. I just wanted you to want me back because all I have ever dreamed of was for us to finally be together.” His chin drops to his chest as he breathes deeply.
A snort snaps my neck to the side, the noise quickly covered by coughing as Fynn brings his arm up to his mouth. Cora gently pats his back with her head turned the opposite way. A light bubble of amusement once again seeps through the bond. I have to inhale fully, and then hold my breath to fight off the laugh threatening to slip because of them.
Aiden’s feet shift. His nostrils flare slightly with a quick darting glare towards Fynn before it all wipes away, as if nothing had bothered him.
When those familiar eyes connect back with mine, he inches closer. “I know now that dream will never come true.” He quickly glances at Draven standing tall and menacing beside me. If it were possible, I have a feeling smoke would be pluming out of his nose.
Aiden’s hand disappears, digging into his pocket. “I brought you something.”
Draven shifts closer, but I already know what Aiden brought. It’s what he always brings me. White shells. As if it will remind my heart of a time when we were close, and when he used to offer me some semblance of comfort.
The beautiful shell looks out of place in the hands of someone so warped that not even finery threaded with gold can hide his true nature. No care what is right and wrong. He hides his own demons behind his polished mask, but I’ve seen them, and they aren’t pretty. They are ugly and vicious with sharp teeth, never walking beside Aiden but instead dragging him with them. It’s the same reason why the food in my stomach sours as I stare at the shell being held out to me. A pretty distraction.
“A peace offering,” Aiden says, rolling the shell over in his hand as he continues to hold it out to me. “To have a clean slate and start over.”
I eye him warily, wanting to hear the nonsense he’s conjured for everything he has done. But the moment my eyes laid upon him, I had already planned on not letting him leave.
Shaking my head, I drag my gaze away from the shell and back up to Aiden. “Our time has already ended, burning to ash only to be lost in the wind.” My brows furrow as I steel my spine. “My new beginning is not with you.” I tilt my head to peer up at Draven, curling my pinky around his at our sides. “It’s with my mate.”
Pride swells down the bond, but a harsh gasp has me finding Aiden stumbling back a step. His eyes are wide and locked on my hand. My left hand.
“No…” Aiden says on a strained breath, his whole body shaking as something in him seems to snap. His cool exterior now contorts into something menacing. “It doesn’t matter. You are mine. He said you would be.”
Draven growls so deep it vibrates in my bones.
That only irritates Aiden further as he throws the shell to the ground, making it shatter between us. “You lied to me!” His eyes are wild as his chest races. “I heard you that night, with him in your room before everything was silenced. The night you claimed exhaustion. You said you were done with him.” His emerald glare pierces Draven before sliding back to me.
I don’t let any shock display on my face. I had an inkling before, when we had lunch on the shore, because the things he said… Whiro already confirmed this knowledge, but it seems Aiden needs to get it off his chest.
“This is all your fault,” he seethes, specks of spit spraying from the harshness of his words. “And everything I’ve done and what's to come is because of you.”
