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She was waiting formelike this?
I stared at her, taken completely off guard.
“I… I want you,” she whispered.
Shewhat?
“Vex.”
“I’m sorry. About before. I was nervous. But I know what I want.” She was so sure, looking up at me, and there was a smile on her face.
I just stared at her.
I’d seen the promise Zeus Rogan had made to her.
That one that condemned her for choosing this. One that was a fool’s choice, but for one thing: she trusted me.
I’ve got you, Vex. I will always keep you safe.Those words rocked me, the impossibility of what waited like a looming beast casting a shadow across everything.
CouldI make that promise?
The future was impossible.
I knew what they’d ask for. There was no path that led to victory. My mind felt like it was stuck in a maze slamming into dead end after dead end with no way out.
“Ebony?” she asked again.
Anger rose in my chest.
Whywasshe trusting me like this? It was mad.
Foolish.
You make her feel safe. You built that foundation from the ground up. She is coming to you for everything you ever wanted her to come to you for.
And now…?
“I can’t,” I said.
I didn’t know enough. I needed time to get ahead. Needed time to find a way around this—for an option beyond the two before me. If I did this now, without a plan, might I be condemning her?
It was then that I realised how far that this entanglement had gone, that the lines had blurred, that her safety and my victory… they were, perhaps, becoming the same thing. And that meant neither choice I would have before me would be a win.
But one would mean hers…
Was that enough?
Her expression broke and she shrunk, arms wrapping around herself. “You don’t want me?”
“I…” I trailed off, trying to figure out what to say. “I’m not ready.”
“Oh. Okay.” She drew back, biting her lip. “That’s okay.” There was a silence, and I could see the insecurity in her eyes. “Did I… I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“No.” My voice was rough. “Never.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
She hunched her shoulders, taking a breath and forcing the smile back on her face.
