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He sounded just as pleased as Bright did.
“Just go home,”I finally told him, a little desperation in my voice.“I’m done.”
The door behind me flew open, shoving me forward with it. A thick arm caught me by the waist before I could land on my face, and then a hard chest was pressed to my back as my feet were lifted off the ground.
“You areterribleat hiding,” the king growled into my ear. He stepped inside the house, and I heard him inhale deeply. “Why does it smell like you in here?”
I tried to keep my voice even as I said, “I moved out.”
“Youwhat?” His humor and playfulness were gone.
“I moved out of your room. The people living here offered me their house when I said I’d take over growing the food, and I accepted. I belong here, now. Among the plants.”
“You’re not a veil-damnedplant, Nissa. You’re not living among them,” he growled into my ear, gripping my waist even tighter. “You’re coming back to my room.”
“I’mnot,” I shot back. “I’mnotliving with you for the next two months just so you don’t have to deal with your own territorial feelings before you jump in bed with another woman as soon as the eclipse is over. I’mnotgoing to let you touch me again before you abandon me. I’mnotgoing to be the woman you only care about in secret, or the one you ignore as soon as you leave your bedroom, or the one you lie to just to enjoy a few months of sex with a bonded mate.”
My eyes started stinging, and I reached up and wiped at them angrily. He was still holding me up off the floor, his lips near my ear, but he said nothing.
A moment of silence passed.
A long, long moment of silence.
I finally added in a shaky voice, “You don’t get to use me, Kierden. No one gets to use me anymore. You’re no better than my mother, using my magic to protect yourself without giving a damn about me. My feelings matter—I matter. Even if I’m not as important as you.”
Another silent moment followed.
Despite the anger and bitterness I was feeling, getting the words out in the open made me feel… free.
Really free.
I felt like I could breathe again.
Kierden finally set me down on my feet.
I expected him to argue.
To tell me that I was wrong—that he thought I mattered, too. To say that he hadn’t just used me or my magic, that he’d also protected me and taken care of me and more recently, fed me.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he walked away.
I turned around in time to see Death disappear into the darkness of the trees.
My eyes stung more, they stungworse. A few tears dripped down my cheeks as I shut the door. Silently, I walked over to the edge of my bed and then sat down on the mattress.
I was fine.
I was going to be fine.
Kierden was only one man, and there were so many others out there. Others who would treat me better. Others I would like more.
But my mind kept going back to the way he had washed me in the bathing pool. To how gentle his hands had been, and how he hadn’t been angry with me for risking my life when the Beast asked who was bonded to him.
My thoughts returned to the way he’d offered to wreck my mother’s town, so the people could get what they deserved for the way they’d used and mistreated me.
A few more tears dripped out.
