Page 108 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

“Why are you here, Evan?”

I stilled at the voice. Slowly, I turned to see Onyx standing beneath a tree with bright blue flowers. There were so many things I wanted to say to him. The days apart had been brutal on my heart, just as, I expected, they’d been the same on his. But talking about how much I missed him would only be salt to the open wound. For both of us.

“I brought you some honey cake,” I said, motioning to the plate. “I meant to leave it outside your room, but you weren’t there.”

“And you thought to look for me here?” He left the confines of the tree and approached me, his steps seemingly cautious. Like he didn’t trust himself.

I nodded. “It’s your happy place.”

A soft laugh left him. It came out raspier than his usual. More pained. “Why must you do this to me, little bird? It’s taken all I have to stay away from you, yet here you come to find me anyway.”

“I…” I swallowed the tightness in my throat. “Guess I’m not as strong-willed as you.”

“My will is not strong,” Onyx responded, stepping toward me. His scent tickled my nose, and my heart thrashed in my chest. “If it were, I would have cast you from my realm the moment you told me about the red spider lily.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” I lowered my gaze to the stone walkway. “Meeting you… falling for you… I don’t regret it, Onyx.”

“Regret will come in time.” He stopped a foot in front of me. “Especially if you keep seeking me out like this.”

“That seems to be the consensus among Maddox and Callum too,” I admitted, my breath catching as I finally looked up at him. The silvery light of the moon kissed his porcelain skin and amplified the bright crimson threads in his eyes.

“A thing your knights and I can agree on,” he said with a click in his jaw. “You’d do well to heed their warning and keep your distance from me.”

I was playing with fire and knew there was a chance I could get burned. But Onyx was worth the risk.

“Phantasia took me to the sacred weeping willow,” I said, walking over and sitting on the nearest stone bench. It was the one we’d sat on the other day when I first told him I loved him. “She hoped the willow could offer me some guidance now that my powers aren’t blocked anymore.”

“And did she?” he asked, staring at the spot beside me. So much longing showed in his gaze, the mask he normally wore to cover his emotions nowhere to be found.

“Yep.” I patted the spot. “Come sit with me and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“I shouldn’t,” he said and lifted a hand to his chest. The mark appeared to pulse where it peeked out from the top of his inner robe. “It’s best if we… put an end to this while we still can. Before I do something we’ll both regret.”

“See? You really are kind.” My smile felt shaky on my lips. Unsteady, just like the beating of my heart. “Choosing my safety over what you really want.”

“I want nothing more than to embrace you, little bird.” Something I could only describe as a raw ache tore through his voice. Like maybe his heartstrings were fragile as well, barely keeping him together. “But I’ve let this go on for far too long. I must finally let you go.”

“Let me go?” I asked as a strange pressure gripped the base of my throat.

Onyx tipped his chin up. Steeling his expression once more. “I hear Briar is crafting you another protection stone that will make you undetectable to the mercenaries again. Once he’s finished, I wish for you and your mates to gather your belongings and leave my realm.”

“But I don’t want to leave you.” I stared at the plate still in my hand, vision blurring.

“Nor do I wish for you to.” There was a quick swallow in his throat. “Yet, we haven’t a choice, Evan. I was foolish for thinking there was ever another path for us. That I could keep you here forever. Even while pushing you away and denying our bond, a small part of me thought that you and I could…”

Be happy. He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Not sure what hurt more. The thought of leaving him or the defeated look in his eyes—in his voice—as he told me to.

“What if I could lift your curse?” I asked, the question barely more than a whisper. “Because that’s what the sacred willow told me, Onyx. She showed me a vision of you and I living a happy life together and said I had the power to make it happen.”

I felt like Charmander trying to protect his burning tail from the rain, holding a leaf over the little flame. Refusing to let that fire burn out.

Refusing to accept that Onyx and I were destined to end in tragedy.

“How do you intend on lifting it?” Onyx stepped toward the bench, then stopped in place, as if fighting an internal battle with himself. “I saw you speaking to a twig in days past, telling it to float then threatening to toss it in the swamp with the vipers when it didn’t.”

My responding laugh scraped against my sternum. Both amused that he’d been spying on me but sad too. Because he was right. My powers were no longer blocked, but no signs of them had shown since they’d been set free, despite my numerous attempts at making something magical happen.