I don’t need your fucking protection.
You do,I shot back.Because without it, I’ll kill Camillia De la Croix.
Silence met my statement.
She’s a threat to my kingdom, Azazel. To everything we’ve built. If you want me to tolerate that threat—to allow her to live—then you’ll grant me control where I need it.
Az said nothing for a long moment, but the waves of furious energy swirling between us told me he was still very much present.
I’m doing this for you and Melek.
You’re doing this for yourself,Az bit back, his sharp words shocking me to my core.
You know me better than that.
I thought I did,he returned.But perhaps I don’t. We’ll have a counteroffer prepared for the ball. See you next week.
A wall slammed between us, sucking the air out of my lungs.
In all my millennia of knowing Azazel, he’d never locked me out like this. Not so thoroughly.Angrily.
I ran a hand over my face. “Shit.”
Melek knelt beside me, gloriously naked, but I couldn’t even enjoy the view. Not now. Not after…
I swallowed. “Azazel is furious with me.”
“He’s protective,” Melek murmured. “Kind of like someone else in the room.”
My gaze narrowed.
“How would you feel if someone propositioned me in the way you propositioned Ajax?” Melek asked softly.
“I would kill the propositioner,” I growled without hesitation.
He smiled. “Exactly.”
“You supported my offer,” I said through my teeth. In fact, I was fairly certain my little prince had orchestrated my every thought, playing me as he always did in his endless games of fucking riddles.
“Because it was the right one to make,” Melek murmured, referring to his support. “Our Commander just needs time to come to the same conclusion.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re pulling my strings again, little prince?” Although the nickname was typically one I voiced whilst in a sensual mood, there was nothing sensual about my current tone.
“You know me well, my king.” Melek reached for my face, his palm cupping my cheek. “And I know you, too. Just as I know our Commander. We’ll be fine, Ty. I promise.”
“Nothing about this is fine.”
“No, not right now,” he replied. “But give it time, Ty.” He ran his thumb along my jaw in a warm caress. “We’re on the right path.”
I leaned into his touch, something I rarely did. However, I felt… oddly vulnerable. Hurt, even. “Az shut me out.” It was different from our usual distance, the wall somehow firmer now. Like he’d constructed it with a devastating purpose, one underscored with finality.
The end, I thought, swallowing.
He couldn’t dismantle our bond. It was resolute. Infinite.Eternal. Azazel might not be my lover, but he was my mate. I loved him in a different way. Like a brother, perhaps. I trusted him.
And he trusted me.
Or he used to, anyway.
