Please tell me the warlord presently holding us hostage is not on your fuck list…
I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes.
Keradoc? On my so-called fuck list?
No. No way. Impossible. I didn’t evenlikehim, let alone…
Memories rushed through me in a hot torrent, his fist in my hair, his strong, lean body pinning me against the wall, his cock grinding against me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth as my all-too-eager fingers tugged at his shirt buttons like I wanted to strip him bare and—
“Haley, are you all right? You look a bit peaked, all of a sudden.”
“Yes!” I blinked away the memories and met his gaze, his face pinched with concern. “No!” I rushed to add, fucking awkward as hell. “I mean, yes I’m all right, no I’m not peaked, and… So, are you… going to shower, or… tea? Tea! Excellent. I could make us some, I mean. If you want. That lavender mint blend—I remember you liked that one. It’s calming, so…”
I clamped my mouth shut and turned toward the cupboards, my hands shaking.
Why the hell was I so nervous around him?
As if you don’t know, girl…
“Haley.” I felt his presence in the kitchen behind me, his breath stirring my hair, his voice soft and warm, a direct contrast to the vicious, blood-soaked beast I knew him to be. “There’s something I need to show you. Something I should’ve shown you sooner.”
“If it’s another bag of heads, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m good. Really.”
“It’s not—I assure you.”
I turned to face him, my stomach bubbling with nerves that had nothing to do with his status on my fuck list. “The last time you wanted to show me something, I ended up fighting for my life in a moat full of—”
“Leaving you unguarded on the wall with a gargoyle mercenary was a grievous error I willnevermake again, and not just because I’ve decapitated most of my private guard.” He took my hands in his and brought them to his mouth, the touch gentle despite the rage in his voice. Despite the blood caked under his nails. Then, with the softest brush of his lips against my fingertips, he whispered, “I vow toneverleave you in the care of anyone but myself or the men who fought by my side to bring your attackers to justice. On that, you have my word, Haley Barnes.”
“I… I’m… Okay. I appreciate it. I believe you.” I pulled out of his grasp, unable to take the warring sensations battling in my chest. Desire, where there should only be revulsion. Trust, where there should only be wariness.
And sympathy, for a man who’d been stolen from his family, his entire life rerouted, molding him into something he was never meant to be.
“Evander,” I whispered, my heart nearly shattering for all that he and Elian had lost. “I—”
“It can’t wait,” he said urgently, ignoring the name. “You must come with me now. It… it may change everything for you.”
“Change everything, how?”
“The choice you’ve yet to make. The decision that will determine your role in this war. In this… in this everything. I need to—”
“Seriously?” I let out a sigh, my shoulders sagging. “Would it be too much to ask foronenight where we don’t have to talk about this freaking endless war? Like, I totally appreciate that you and the guys teamed up and went all psycho on the guards for me, and no one has ever brought me heads before, so that was kind of… special. But what if we just, like, stayed in tonight? We could bake brownies and make hot chocolate with little marshmallows on top, and stretch out before the fireplace with a game of Scrabble, or maybe do a little Netflix-and-chill? Or whatever the Midnight equivalent of all that is?”
I smiled at him, knowing it was futile, but losing myself in the fantasy nevertheless.
“I… only understood about half of those words, but…” He blinked at me, shaking his head. “There is so much to explain, yet so little time to do so. Please, Haley. Come with me. Trust me once more and come with me.”
The malice in his violet eyes vanished, replaced with a desperation that told me he was telling the truth.
He held out his hand.
And I took it, ready to follow him into whatever new Midnight insanity awaited.
* * *
It wasn’t until we reached the dark, dank corridor that led to the dungeons that he finally spoke again, his voice so soft and tentative, I almost couldn’t be sure it was even him.
“Do you truly believe he’s my brother?” he asked. “That I’m…” He stopped and turned to face me, his eyes dancing in the golden torchlight that illuminated our path.
