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I tried to convince him to tell you—but he was ssscared. Ssscared you would leave him and he would have no other choice but to follow. He would have to leave behind hisss brothersss and hisss father…and me.
I continued to stare.
I told him you would ssstay. To have faith in your commitment.
“It sounds like you’re ratting him out…”
His lie wasn’t maliciousss. He just wanted to protect what you have.
I continued to stare at him.
I can’t feel his sssorrow the way you can, but I can see it. I can sssee it—and it hurtsss.
* * *
Kingsnake approached the gate.
I left the castle and went to the wall. The guards had just opened the gate, and Kingsnake’s black stallion entered Raventower, carrying his mighty rider upon his back.
I knew the moment he noticed me because a tidal wave of emotion swelled in his chest at the sight of me. He jumped off the horse and approached me, tall and powerful in his armor, his dark eyes gripping me like anxious hands. His intensity deepened the closer he came, his affection wrapping around me and smothering me. He stopped directly in front of me but didn’t touch me, his greeting the emotions he knew I could feel.
“You would do it for me?” I said quietly.
It took a moment for him to understand my train of thought, like he hadn’t expected those to be my first words. He shifted his eyes away for a second, drawing a deep breath like this conversation was perverse. “Yes.”
“You would have children with me? Live one life with me?”
Another breath. “Is that what you’ve decided?”
“Yes.”
Disappointment rushed through him, not just in his eyes, but in his heart. “Then I have no other choice…because I’d rather live one lifetime with you than a thousand lifetimes without you.”
Elias had refused to give up his power to be with me. But Kingsnake didn’t. That was when I knew I’d found the right man. “As much as I want children…I don’t want to lose you. This time together has blown by like the blink of an eye. I know a single lifetime would pass the same way.”
The disappointment was replaced by a glorious sunrise in his chest. His eyes lightened subtly as he looked at me. “Forgive me.”
I didn’t feel an ounce of bitterness. An ounce of resentment. I appreciated him more than I ever had. “I wish you could feel what I feel every time you step into a room.” His heart had exploded the moment he’d seen me, and I wished he knew that my heart had done the exact same thing. “Of course I forgive you.”
25
COBRA
“I need to travel to the Mountain to fetch my army. It’s an arduous journey, so you should stay here.” I didn’t want to part from her so soon, leave her in Grayson without my companionship, but she needed to rest before the battle. Her blood was more invigorating than any sleep I could ever get. “Viper will be at your disposal.”
She looked like she wanted to challenge my decision but probably realized it was the most logical.
“I would marry you now, but I want Kingsnake to be there.”
“You want to marry now?” she asked. “Maybe it should wait until after the great war—”
“I may not survive the great war. This moment is all we have. I’d rather not squander it. And I’d rather marry you as a human…then turn you afterward.”
“You’re going to turn me before the battle?”
“It’s the greatest protection you could have. It’s been weeks since the obelisk was destroyed. Your glow is duller than it used to be. Your strength already wanes.” She would be much stronger as a nightwalker, especially against foes several feet taller than her. “Unless you’ve changed your mind—”
“No.” Her heart rate was slow like water that dripped from a broken faucet. “But you can’t die, Cobra. Cursed to live an eternity without you…I couldn’t bear it.”
