AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Spoiled demigod. Doesn’t get his way and gives up on things.”
“I’m not giving up, asshole. I’m being realistic.”
Amell stops again and faces me with a harsh glare. “While I’m happily married to Nyssa and love her more than anything in this world, I still care for Zora and if you hurt her—”
“She can’t be hurt, Amell. Her walls are so tall and thick, nothing gets through.”
“And you don’t think loneliness hurts?” he asks. His words carry such a powerful punch they cause me to take a step back.
Scrubbing his hand over his head, Amell sighs. “I’ve known her the longest. She’s been alone from the start. There was no one to care for her here except me and that was complicated by the fact I also abused her when I helped Kymaris and her lackeys funnel dark magic her way. She got tossed into a new world without a clue as to what it means to love and when she was had almost figured it out with her sister, she died and became a god. Now she’s in a very cold, harsh group of creatures who have little empathy for the individual because they only care about the whole. Zora has no idea what world she belongs in or how to care about anyone. She was never taught it, so maybe you need to cut her a little slack.”
Well… fuck.
I don’t know what to say, but Amell’s not done. “I don’t know if you’re the one for Zora. I don’t know if you deserve her. But if you’re serious about a relationship, then you might need to give her some grace. You also might need to push her out of her comfort zone a bit. If you don’t have the ability to handle her correctly, you need to fucking walk.”
“Yeah,” I murmur as my head spins. “I hear you.”
Amell stops again, turning to face me. “Do you have a plan?”
Admittedly, I don’t. “She’s not the easiest to figure out.”
He holds up a hand as if to caution me. “Please know, I don’t want intimate details between you two but what exactly do you have going on with her?”
I sigh with frustration, running a hand over my jaw. “Some days I have everything with her. Conversation, laughs, moments where she lets go, and I can see the true Zora. Other days I only have… well, you know, the thing you don’t want details on. She’s closed up tight and after we’re… um… together… she sends me on my way. Which is why I’m really here.”
I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t observe it myself, but Amell’s expression softens, and he appears empathetic. “You have to keep at it. Zora needs to feel safe and secure to crack the door open and let you in. The best way to do that is with patience and understanding.”
I nod. “I’ve got eternity, and there’s no one else I want.”
“Good,” he says and pivots on his heel. “Because if there were, I’d have to kill you. Now, let’s talk business so you can report back to Zora that you were a good little lackey. Has she told you about the uprising?”
“One of your Dark Fae subjects was going to try to finish Kymaris’s work by kidnapping Nyssa to force you to open the veil between the First Dimension and the Underworld. You called forth some badass fire dragon from the Crimson River and turned the usurpers to ash.”
“Pretty much,” Amell says as we reach his apartments. “Since then, there have been some breaches in the veil between here and Faere, but I’ve managed to seal them up. I’ve got teams checking them every day. I assume it’s Dark Fae attempting to escape en masse and the veil is being tested for weaknesses.”
The veil is what separates dimensions from one another. Some are easy to traverse, others near impenetrable. It depends on what stone magic was used to create the dimension in the first place.
“Any other concerns?” I ask as I’m invited in. Amell goes to a sideboard and pours me a drink.
“One. An immortal human priest who was closely tied to Kymaris. I couldn’t pin him to this uprising but I know he’s up to something.”
“Want me to kill him?” I volunteer.
Amell chuckles. “No. I’ve got people watching him, but if I do find out he’s plotting something, my river dragon is at the ready.”
“Fair enough. How about you take me out and show me where the breaches were in the veil, and then I can report back to Zora I did my part to help you out?”
“What?” Amell says, his mouth curving upward. “No words of advice?”
I flash a dark smile. “Yeah… kill the immortal priest before he does something.”
Amell laughs, and it’s actually genuine. I can’t help but grin in return.
“You know,” he muses as he pours himself a drink, “if I didn’t hate you so much, I might actually like you.”
“Ditto,” I reply.
CHAPTER 5
