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I remember the look in that hunter’s eyes—the recognition and familiarity.
It was hard not to. He knew her, and more than that, he loved her.
My Kai.He loved her.
I swallow my anger and jealousy and speed up, desperate to put as much distance between us and that human. I don’t stop until we are in the cabin, the door slammed shut. I press my face to the wood, breathing heavily, and try to calm my racing heart. I feel her step back, still silent.
“Kai, what is it?” Kaito demands.
“An attack?” Weyland questions.
“Little oblivion?” Rook murmurs.
“Dade?” she asks softly, and her voice is what unleashes me.
Turning, I meet her eyes. “Do you still love him?” My tone is cruel, accusatory, and she flinches. I want to take it back, but Idon’t. I stare her down, ignoring the others. I need to know. In my eyes, Kai is already mine. I can stand her loving these other monsters, but I can’t stand her loving a hunter.
The small voice in my head tells me it’s because she would leave us for him—her own kind, who would hunt and kill us for simply being born. I lost my family once, and I can’t lose another.
“Well?” I demand when she just stares at me.
Her eyes are wide and glassy, her shoulders slumped. She’s the picture of anxiety, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I have to know.
“Well?” I yell, and she flinches again, her eyes dropping to the floor. Her flinch, that sign of fear, makes my chest hurt, especially because I caused it, but I’m afraid, too. I’m afraid of losing her.
“I did once,” she admits softly, and all the air whooshes out of me as I hit the door, barely able to hold myself up.
She loved him. She loved him, and he still wants her.
She’ll leave me like everyone else.
I feel her gaze on me, and she suddenly blows out a breath, the anxiety in her stance disappearing. “I loved him once, but I was a different person then.” I meet her gaze, my heart breaking. “I was just Kai from the Shadow Lands. I loved him, yet when the king took me . . .” She shakes her head. “He never came for me. He never even tried to help me.” She laughs bitterly, tugging at her hair as I step forward, drawn by her pain.
“I don’t know what he would have done against a king, so I can’t even blame him, right? But he didn’t try. He didn’t once try to stop him. He never came looking for me. It’s selfish but deep down, I wish he had done something. So yes, Dade, I loved that man once in another lifetime, but any love I had for him died with the girl in that castle. I was given a second chance here with you. I chose you. All of you. I will always choose you.”
My heart stutters and speeds up. She chooses us?
“I would never let you go,” I admit, my voice raw. “I would fight for you until my last breath.”
“I know you would.” She smiles brightly as she looks at the others. “All of you would. It took me finding monsters to find my place, but it is my place, Dade. No matter what happens, we will face it together.” She holds out her hand, hope in her eyes.
I don’t hesitate. I lay my own in hers, curling my bigger one around her fingers.
I tug her closer, and she giggles as she hits my chest. I wrap her in my arms, holding her tightly. “I would have fought for you,” I whisper, and she nuzzles her head against my skin.
“We all would have,” Kaito adds, coming over and wrapping himself around her from behind.
Weyland and Rook quickly join us, and we embrace her until she’s held in all of our arms.
We are four monsters who would carve out their souls before they ever let the little human in our midst be hurt again.
She’s right. He’s her past, and he’ll remain there, but the four of us are her future.
Chapter
Forty
KAI
