Page 60 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

Nope. “I’ll start. I know more than just your name, Thandriel. I know about Rafe.”

His face shadows over. “Alana⁠—”

Still not ready. “You sent him to her. While I’ve been so afraid of what was happening to him, you knew… you knew because you saw him with the slavers and you recognized the same shadow magic that Queen Celeste used to make the Shadowed Woods. You stole him and you gave him to her.”

Thane doesn’t deny it. How can he? I’m doing everything to cut off our bond so that his emotions for me don’t sway my heart when my head really, really wants to lop off his, but what’s done is done. He has my essence. If he’s figured out how to access it, he knows how I know.

He stays on his back, though he juts his chin just enough to draw attention to the healing cut on his throat. “I did. Is that what you need to hear? Your Rafe was incredibly valuable. A demon with shadow magic? Celeste would pay dearly, and I never want you to forget who you mated, Alana. I’m a bandit, and⁠—”

My sword is right back at his throat. “Don’t you remind me who I mated, Thandriel. I know who I mated.” I tap my temple. “I know more than I wanted to. And you dare try to justify what you did?”

Thane pushes his skin into the point.

“Do it,” he says hoarsely. “If that’s what you need. I don’t blame you one bit. I never wanted to hurt you. So do it so that I can’t again.”

My hands are shaking, though not bad enough that the sword isn’t steady in my grasp.

“You watched as they enslaved him,” I whisper. “You allowed him to be put in chains for your precious gold. And then, even after you helped me, after you told me where to find him because you knew… you never warned me that it was to your benefit.”

“For gold, yes. For my benefit, always. But for freedom, too. For my freedom.”

“Because you owe the queen a debt.”

“Because Celeste owns my life! Gold. I don’t want gold. She does. Until I can pay her my weight in gold, I can never be free, Alana.” Thane leans his head back, smacking it into the ground even as another slice appears on his skin. “All I wanted was to be free… and then I met you and⁠—”

I swallow the lump lodged in my throat. “And then you mated me.” My voice shakes, but I forced myself to get this next part out. “You bound yourself to me while promised to another female,” I accuse him. “You gave me your heart knowing you were betrothed.”

Because that’s what I saw. A beautiful fae woman in a white dress threaded with gold. She’s everything I’m not. No horns, no claws, no butterflies… she has poise and grace, and it doesn’t matter that all of Thane’s emotions toward Fiona tend toward frustration, hatred, and refusal, he agreed to the betrothal once… and then he bonded himself to me.

His face goes slack, as though he hoped I wouldn’t see that tucked in his memories and he doesn’t know how to react now that I have. I wait, and he closes his eyes.

“That betrothal was politics,” he rasps out. “What happened between us⁠—”

“Was real,” I cut in. “That’s the problem. You lied to me.”

His jaw tightens as his eyes spring open. He’s still at the mercy of my sword, but that doesn’t stop him from saying, “I never said I was honest. I just confirmed that fae can’t lie when you asked.”

My mouth falls open at his fae audacity. I mean, he’s not wrong. If I believed he was being truthful all the time just because fae can’t lie… that was my fault. It’s like acting Binx to be a faripoz when he’s an ungez. Thane is fae.

I should’ve remembered that.

Next time, I will.

CHAPTER 18

THE GILDED THRONE

If only because I have the urge to stab him again, I move the sword away from his neck.

Taking that as a sign that I’m accepting his explanation, Thane hurriedly pulls himself into a seated position before turning to me imploringly. “You have to understand. I was betrothed to Fiona during my centennial celebration. The queen insisted. The only way out of it was to buy my freedom from her. With enough gold, there’s no betrothal… there’s no Celeste making orders that I have to spend all my time in the Shadowed Woods as a bandit to ignore. I never meant to hurt you… I didn’t think⁠—”

“I don’t care what you thought,” I snap, digging the tip of my sword into the dirt so that I have both hands to articulate. Finally daring to step out from behind the tree where he was hiding, Binx scampers over to the sword, protecting it in case Thane gets any idea of reaching for it. “I gave you my essence,” I shout. “My body. My heart. You can’t just break the bond with gold. You’re my forever mate, Thane, and you betrayed me.”

His gaze never leaves mine even as I storm away, pacing in my boots. “I want to be your mate, Alana.”

“And yet,” I say, voice breaking despite myself, fury giving way to further hurt, “you want gold more.”

“I don’t,” he says in a ragged whisper. “Maybe I did, but you… you gave me hope that it’s not gold that will stop Queen Celeste. It’s golden eyes and yellow hair and the taste of fire on my tongue. It’s you, demoness.