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Honestly after my cousin had mentioned Beauty having dinner with the Beast, a part of me imagined dancing teacups and a long, ornate table. The reality was quite the opposite. Rather than opulent, he’d gone with a laid-back approach to dinner. Instead of a grand dining hall, we were in a cozy room, seated at a six-seat rectangular table. A grand fireplace was centered on the wall, lit and flickering, but not creating too much heat. It was strange, as though it was a cool fire, fueled by magic. Warm furnishings accentuated the space. We sat at opposite ends of the table, eating each course in an awkward silence that had dragged on for so long, the sound of my own chewing became deafening.
Every now and then someone would come in to check on us and serve the next course. The tension in the room was palpable, and a few of the servants gave me dirty looks. Clara's words came back to mind. What I had said spread like wildfire. It seemed like the best thing that I could do was be pleasant and hope that replaced the narrative. Jana and Isobel had already been running me cold baths. Who knows what else they would do to me over the next six months?
I cleared my throat nervously but couldn't think of what to say, so I went with just. “I don't really know what to talk about.”
Caius hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “I wasn't sure if you were enjoying the silence. You've been dead set on avoiding me. We all wondered if you actually planned on following through with hiding away for six months.”
Pushing aside the desire to be defensive, I forced a small smile. “I'd considered it. You would deserve it, you know.”
He raised his brows. “Do I? I feel that I've been most accommodating, all things considered. Your cousin is here to stay with you. I’ve provided you with rooms across the hall from each other. Clara has even started a list of things to bring back from the other side of the portal. I understand you’d rather be home but look at this from my point of view. My mate wants to leave. I want her to stay, and I want her to want to stay.”
Setting down my fork, I placed my hands in my lap and sat back. “All of that is true, yes. In that regard, I'm only kind of sorry for being bitchy, but I'm also not sorry at all. You were going to come through that door to kill me. It’s hard to let go of that. First impressions, and all.”
He pursed his lips dabbing his face with a napkin and setting it down he placed both hands on the table nodded quietly and looked up. “Fair enough. I think we need to lay it all out on the table, so to speak. That way we can start fresh.”
I huffed. Doubtful. “Okay,” I said slowly. “How do you propose we do that?”
“By being honest. You're upset because my intention walking through that door was to kill you, yes. I can’t change that any more than you can change the fact you’re a guardian. It wasn’t personal.”
“It was personal to me,” I said, clenching my teeth and trying to calm my anger.
“Of course it was. Let me ask you this. If reversed, are you telling me you wouldn’t kill someone to get your soul back? Regardless of why you think it was taken. It’s yours. Would you or would you not take it back?”
I wanted to protest and tell him I would never do that. I would never harm another person. That wasn’t entirely accurate. We lived in a strange world. Did I want to kill anyone? Absolutely not. I hated the idea of it. Would I do it to defend our family? Yes. Would I do it to get back my soul? I sighed. Probably.
“Fair enough,” I conceded, looking down to my hands and picking at my fingernails.
“I didn't know you were my mate. I didn’t know you, but I would like to. I want you to give me a chance. The very little that I do know about you is from what Clara has told me.”
My head snapped up. “You've been speaking to my cousin about me?”
He shrugged. “I had to. You didn't give me the opportunity to speak to you myself.”
“What did she tell you about me?” Clara and I were going to have a chat. She’d failed to mention this little tidbit.
“For one, she told me that you're an incredible cook. Her favorite in the entire family, apparently. She told me that you and your cousin Jo are very close and always have been. She told me you loved to paint; that you will disappear for hours to paint whenever you're stressed. She also said you are secretive and it’s hard for you to trust people.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Not at all. It’s hard for me to trust people as well. Once you’re betrayed and thrown in a realm of your own making, it leaves a lasting mark.” He drank what looked like whiskey, slamming it back before setting the glass down.
“Oh yeah? Who betrayed you?” I couldn’t help but think of how my mother was murdered by the people that raised her. The people she thought loved her and only wanted the best for her. The same people that raised me and planned on doing the very same.
Any attempts at civility were soured when those thoughts flooded my mind. We were forced into guardianship. Forced to bear the burden of the ward. Betrayed by our caretakers. Whatever he did to lose half his soul was his own fault.
Caius shook his head lightly. “That’s a story for another time.”
His features hardened for a moment, and I studied the angles of his jaw, and the smoothness of his perfect skin. He was gorgeous—if I were into the idea of falling for my captor, of course. Which I wasn’t.
“Could roll around a bed with him for fun.”
Eres barged into my thoughts the moment I’d let my guard down.
“You need to knock or something first. And no, I will not do anything of the sort.”
“Just a taste.”
