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Her head lifted. She let out a laugh that could have been a sob. When she slid a sidelong glance in my direction, she asked, “Does he have anything good to say about me?”
I pressed my lips together. He’d held his past close to his chest, but I did know a few things.
“Why did you cheat on him?” That’s not what I should have said.
I should have told her that he regretted how he treated her or that he was still mourning her. Instead, a huge wave of protectiveness overcame me and brought out my claws. She had no right to hurt a good man, no matter what had happened between them.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair while gazing off into the distance like she was reliving something. “When I learned about what I was and that I wouldn’t have much time, I realized that I didn’t want to waste it. I chased love, even while still bound to someone else. It was a foolish, mad dash brought on by panic. I…I never meant to hurt. I just wanted tolive.”
As badly as I wanted to condemn her, I understood how she felt. As it was, I found myself in a time of selfishness, too. Reapers weren’t given a whole lot of time. Of course, each of us found ourselves scrabbling for a little bit of life when we were surrounded by so much death.
“I’m not going to ask anyone to forgive me,” Paige said. “I know I don’t deserve it. I am, however, going to do my damnedest to make it up to him. And that starts with helping his mate.”
The word mate caught me off guard. It wasn’t that I didn’t expect it. A different sensation hit me when I heard the word. There was a wrongness to it that wasn’t upsetting. It was like hearing someone call a cat a dog. It just…wasn’t correct.
Maddox and I had a connection. It just wasn’t a mate bond. What we had wasn’t any less valid; it was just different.
Paige waived her hand. “I know. I know. Reapers can’t have mate bonds. What you two have is as close as it gets.”
She held out her hand. I had no reason not to trust her. Maybe Maddox would get bent out of shape about this later, but I had high hopes that we could rebuild some bridges. Paige had regrets about her life, and Maddox might still have wounds from his past marriage that could be healed before he moved forward.
Forward…with me.
The thought put a spring in my step as Paige led me deep into the darkness.
