Page 168 of Taken By Shadows

So better not to give in if we were on opposite ends of desire’s tether. It would be lust for him. I felt that too. But it was now closely laced with feelings I didn’t understand for him. And I wasn’t prepared to hurt for him.

No one said anything for a moment.

“Are we quite done here?” Tymon, the mediator between us.

Neither of us answered. Our eyes were mirrored flames of violet and blue.

“We’re done,” I said eventually, my eyes not leaving Kaed, as if I could set him on fire if I stared hard enough.

Tymon’s magic shimmered and faded, and the sound of the world around us rushed back in.

“I’ll be in in a minute.” I knew we had a job to do, but I needed space.

My chest ached, and my limbs felt like they wanted to pull apart. I’d have clawed at my skin if I thought it would get rid of the feelings inside of me.

This was Kaed’s game. And I was still a part of it. He’d asked me to stay, baited me with the hope of help for my family and that search. But was it all just for his benefit somehow?

My chin wobbled, and I was glad my back was to him.

“Imogen—” Kaed started before Tymon ushered him back inside.

Finally alone, I stood on the lawn and threw my head back to the blanket of stars and inky skies above.

I wasn’t ready to go back inside, to play a role. Because all I wanted, and I could admit it to myself, was for it to be real. Not pretend. I wanted him. It might be deep down inside of me, so deep maybe that feeling had been there since the very start. But it was awake now. And he’d offered to help me, given me freedom and then a reason to stay. He’d swayed me to him; he’d kept me even when I could leave.

Had I stayed for my family, or because he’d asked me to? Because I wanted to. It troubled me to feel the need for Kaed swim through me the way I imagined magic felt, part of you. Consuming. Woven into you like air in your lungs. It stung to want him in a different way from how he wanted me.

Godsdamned beautiful fae bastard making my life difficult from the moment I met him.

Minutes passed, and the stillness of the air soothed me until my heart steadied into a calming beat.

With a deep breath, I gathered my skirts and turned to head back in.

I halted before the doors. “Eryk. I didn’t see you. Have you been there long?”

“Long enough to wonder if you had reconsidered my offer from earlier?”

I had been thinking about his words all night. Eryk had been right. Perhaps I should have been thinking of his offer to leave this city.

Had I been foolish to stay on the promise of Kaed’s help only to end up tangled in feelings? It dawned on me then that Eryk was probably the first person to have truly offered me a clue to my family. Had he known I was Auroran and, in his way, tried to help me understand that? I wanted to ask him, but all I could think of were his words from earlier. I could have left with him.

Eryk didn’t know Kaed had offered help with my family, offered me freedom. How could I explain that to him? To Eryk, he was saving me from an unhappy marriage.

I laughed at the twisted irony wrapped up in all of that. How could I explain I was unhappy because this wasn’t a marriage?

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.” My brow knitted as a headache bloomed between my eyes. “I’m sorry, Eryk. I don’t know what to say.”

“Walk with me?”

It was hard to resist his charm, but I knew I shouldn’t give in to it.

“Please. I can’t promise Kaedian will be happy about it, but I can promise some company.”

Ease washed over me as I took Eryk’s offered arm.

Chapter fifty-two