Page 339 of House Ignis

No disappearing into shadows. No carefully constructed half-truths. She could scream. She could rage. She could tell me she never wanted to see my face again.

I’d stand there and take every fucking piece of it.

I owed her that much.

Zya shifted at the edge of my consciousness, her displeasure rolling through our connection.

"You should have told her."

I grimaced. "Your support is overwhelming."

Silence.

Fantastic.

Even my own boundling thought I was an asshole.

I was reaching for the decanter when the door opened without a knock.

Of course.

Nobody entered my rooms without knocking. Nobody except the one male alive who considered a locked door a personal insult.

“Well, hello, brother.”

I closed my eyes.

Of fucking course.

“Khai.”

I turned.

He stood in the doorway like he’d been invited, lean, gilded, and insufferable. His pale eyes swept over the room, taking in the dying fire, the whiskey, the state of my hair.

Then me.

His mouth curved.

“You look terrible.”

“Get out.”

He stepped inside instead.

Naturally.

“I crossed an ocean and that’s the greeting I get?”

“I didn’t ask you to come.”

“No. You rarely ask for anything. It’s one of your more irritating qualities.”

“Khai.”

His gaze dropped to the whiskey. “Drinking alone?”

“I was enjoying it until recently.”