Max crushes my hand in hers, and I caress her knuckles with my thumb.
Elio’s brows pull together. “How did it happen? How did you end up in the new world with no memories in the first place?” he asks.
“Devi ran up to the tower after Iris fell. She was heartbroken. Livid, really.” My gaze drifts to somewhere far away. “I made an inappropriate joke—can’t even remember what it was. Then I blacked out, and when I regained consciousness again, we were at her flat in the new world. And I was—for lack of a better word—a ghost.”
“Devi cursed you?” Max gasps.
I run a hand through my hair, but for the life of me, that part of my past remains out of reach. “That’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
I can remember fragments of the first few days after the curse.
“But she didn’t erase my memories,” I breathe.
I plunge into the murky sea of those first few months, and scraps of conversation rise to the surface. Arguments. Self-loathing. Difficult, terrible thoughts. Nights during which I begged Devi to kill me.
The realization hits with sickening force.
“I think—I think I did that,” I stammer, shame cramping my gut. “I buried them because I couldn’t bear to live with myself anymore. I buried them so deep that even if I went looking, I’d never find them again. I didn’t want to live anymore.”
Max pats my back in a soothing rhythm, her hand moving up and down between my shoulders.
A muscle twitches in my jaw. “I’m sorry, kid. There’s no excuse for what I put you through. I was jealous because you were powerful enough to scarehim. You were a Fae king, the strongest of them all, while I was his heir—still under his control.”
The confession hangs between us.
Raw. Ugly. Honest.
Of all the people I betrayed, Elio was the worst of them.
Seeing him unlocked my memories, but why? To what purpose?
Max’s green eyes are full of tears. I hate myself for putting them there, for dragging her into this mess in the first place. For letting her fall in love with a man like me.
A man so broken he carved out his own memories rather than face what he'd become. A coward who chose bitterness overjustice. A ghost who turned away from the wreckage of his own life.
And still she looks at me with love.
Not fear or disappointment or disgust, but compassion.
Her kindness hurts more than any accusation could, and I lower my gaze, unable to bear the tears shining in her eyes.
My sins are beyond forgiveness, and Max deserves someone better than Ezra Lightbringer.
Someone who doesn't come with decades of bad choices attached to his name. Someone whose past isn't littered with betrayals and broken promises.
My little fox should be with a man who protects and supports her.
A good man.
“Where is Lori?” Elio finally growls, as though discussing my feelings further would be a waste of time.
My mind goes blank. “Who’s Lori?”
“Since Iris, you've missed a lot.Lori’s my wife. I came here to rescue her.” He shakes his head, his fists balling at his sides. “Which proves I’m a proud, overconfident idiot.”
A strange look clouds Max’s face. “Lori is upstairs. But she calls herself Iris.”
Elio goes very still, then exhales sharply through his nose.
