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I’d never seen Bael’s fully naked body before, which I now realized had been a blessing in disguise. Every part of him was just as perfect as his too-beautiful face. He had some sort of white tattoo, almost like scars drawn into a design, on the right side of his chest, curving under his arm and out of sight onto his back. Far more noticeable, though, was how the prince was dripping in blood. It coated his skin, running over the ridges of every muscle like water and making his curls stick to his forehead. It completely banished anything about him that was angelic—too perfect—instead making him look wild and untouchable.
Now that I knew what I was missing, it would be nearly impossible to keep from murdering the entire house of Everlast through lack of willpower.
“I—” I opened my mouth but could find no words. “How could you not tell me this?”
He laughed, low and sensuous, and the sound seemed to wrap around me, hitting me everywhere all at once and making my pulse pound far too low in my belly. “How could I keep a secret from you? I don’t know, little monster, perhaps the same way you do.”
“This is a bit more extreme than my secret,” I hissed.
Probably. Possibly.It was hard to know without laying everything bare and comparing.
Bael seemed to have the same thought because he said, “Is it? I wouldn’t know.”
I pushed sweaty hair out of my eyes, and my voice cracked slightly. We should leave now, yet I couldn’t force my feet to go. “I still would have liked to know why I couldn’t see or speak to you fordays. I think I deserve an explanation.”
“You do? How deliciously ironic.” He reached me, and one bloody hand came up to cup my cheek. “Why would I owe you anything?”
I froze, knowing what he wanted to hear, what truth he wanted to wrench from me, and suddenly, I was too tired to fight it anymore.
Like Iola, I didn’t want to have to continue to say I had no one and belonged nowhere. Both my mother and my sister died alone with only the strength of their secrets to protect them, and I refused to follow them.
“Because I’m your mate.”
His eyes locked with mine, and then I suddenly could not hold back any longer. The desire to feel his lips on my skin and his hands in my hair overcame me in a rush. Yet still, I wasn’t sure who leaned in first when our lips met in a bruising kiss.
His strong hands grasped my waist, pulling my body against his. His fingertips left a trail of heat along my sides, leaving behind stains of vivid red on my lilac blouse. I gasped, losing myself in the moment, savoring every delicious second.
It would have been all too easy to ignore anything going on around us. To forget where we were standing or the revolting mess that used to be a person that lay all over the floor. To forget all about the fire raging upstairs, and the attack, and what had caused us to be standing in this hallway in the first place.
To let ourselves burn down with the castle, if only to prolong the moment.
It would have been easy, but we couldn’t do that.
“Wait,” I murmured against his mouth. “We need to leave.”
He made a noise, suspiciously like an actual growl, and finally seemed to realize the state of things. The stifling air of the hallway and the identity of the male he’d just slaughtered. Eyes widening, he stepped over the bones on the floor to drag me backward into his chamber.
I shot a furtive look at the bodies in the doorway. “What happened?”
Bael looked down at them, unconcerned. “I don’t know.”
I thought they must be guards who’d probably come to find him when the rebels first attacked or else stray rebels like the other male. Still, I’d have preferred fact to speculation. “How can that be?”
“Do you want to stand here and discuss my memory, little monster, or can we perhaps delve into details later?”
“Fine,” I agreed. “But it’s only…why didn’t you attack me?”
His gaze bored into mine, fierce determination combined with something else. Something stronger, harder to name. “How many times must I say it? It’s impossible for me to hurt you even if I wanted to. I can’t. I’d sooner tear my own heart out than yours.”
My heart fluttered, and this time, I finally believed him.
46
LONNIE
THE GROUNDS OF THE OBSIDIAN PALACE
The obsidian palace typically had four towers, all rising far above the rest of the capital and over the tree line like enormous swords standing straight up on their hilts. Now, there were only two.
