I knew what she wasn’t saying. She was willing to accept the pain that came with dark magic… in order to give me my dream.
Such a thought gutted me.
I had to take a few deep breaths in order to prevent myself from erupting. I came closer. “Show me your neck.”
“Fuck off.” She cringed away from me.
“Emma. I’m not giving you a choice.”
She hesitated for a moment before, slowly, she removed her hand. Underneath her armor and the tourney colors were harsh burn marks, set into the skin where the necklace rested. The burns were bloody and discolored. The veins around the area were black, spiderwebs lacing over her porcelain skin.
I felt sick to my stomach. “By the gods, Emma.” Seeing the way that necklace had burned her… it brought tears to my eyes. I could barely speak past the lump in my throat. The anger drained right out of me to be replaced with agony.
“I did it foryou,” Emma forced out through a strained force. Tears rose up in her eyes, and a few broke free down her cheeks. “All of it was for you.”
Her words broke me. I was ready to pack up and go home. This was too much. My ambition was too much. If she was willing to use Unseelie magic so I could become king… no. I wouldn’t let that happen. I refused to allow my mate to sacrifice her good health so I could achieve my goals. I’d be no kind of mate if I allowed this to continue. I didn’t deserve to marry Emma if my dreams required her suffering.
I stepped away from her. “I’m going to the officials. We’re withdrawing from the Contest.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. “We can’t drop out! We’re in the last round!” she protested.
“Because we swindled the system! We shouldn’t even be here,” I hissed.
“And if Gabby and Elijah get through to the last round, and no one else does? You’re just going to hand them the monarchy on a silver platter?” she spat.
That got me to pause. “Didn’t think about that, did you?” she asked quietly. “I’ve been watching them this whole tournament, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win, Ethan. Which means so do we.”
“I won’t stoop to their level,” I said firmly. “And I’m disappointed you thought you had to.”
Her eyes watered again. “I don’t think you understand how this world works. You have to play dirty if you’re going to get anywhere.”
“No.Youdon’t get how this world works. You’re new to everything here, Emma!” I shouted. “I know you haven’t had an easy life, but I lost my leg! Myfather died.I know better than anyone how terrible this world can be, but no matter how far I’m pushed, I won’t bend my morals.”
Emma gave a soft, skeptical noise and whispered, “You just haven’t been pushed far enough.”
A heat of anger flared through me again, but it was there and gone in an instant. Being mad at Emma… gods, it was so hard. And it was even harder to be upset with her when she’d been willing to hurt herself for my benefit.
Yet she was right. We couldn’t stop. We’d come too far. And there was too much at stake if we backed out.
I lowered my voice and made it gentle. “All right. I understand why you did what you did. But we can’t do it again. Just… please promise me that you’ll never use dark magic after this. And you won’t use the necklace to get us through the last round of the Contest. We play fair.”
Emma’s resolve broke. “Fine,” she said. “I won’t use it in the last round. It’s just a duel, anyway. We can beat whoever’s out there.”
I sure hoped so. Things fell quiet between us. We sat on opposite sides of the tent and didn’t speak to each other.
I hated the tension that was between us. But at the same time, I didn’t know what to do about it. I felt guilty that we’d gotten this far at all. Yet Emma had a point. We couldn’t let Elijah and Gabby win. No matter what.
Hours passed, and night fell. Eventually, Lord Lucien entered to deliver the news.
The other two couples had died in their battles against the monsters. Elijah and Gabby were the only other couple to pass the last test.
In the last round, we’d go head to head in a duel for the crown.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Emma
Iknew Ethan was disappointed in me, and it was the shittest feeling in the world. He acted like Iwantedto cheat. I desired to rip that necklace off my neck as we were fighting thebiezlast round. Having that thing on fuckinghurt. It burned— not just my skin, but also my insides. I was starting to realize why our professors warned us about using Unseelie magic.
