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The male who had doted on me for days while only being a little infuriating was gone.
In his place, the King of Hell stood.
I sprung up from my seat. “You can’t just forbid her from explaining things when you won’t answer my questions.”
“Actually,” Cole said in a tone that told me I was going to want to strangle him. “I can. That’s what it means to be king and for her to be my adviser.”
“I was simply going to say that’s something to ask him,” Hecate said primly.
We both ignored her. I took a step toward Cole. “Oh? Because you’ve answered so many of my questions before?”
“I gave you all the information you required at the time.”
“You didn’t give meanyinformation,” I accused.
“Maybe if you hadn’t run off like an angry child, I could have.”
“Angry child?” I snarled. “I needed to rescue my best friend.”
“Then you should’ve come tome,” Cole growled.
“So after all this time, you would’ve helped me make a portal to get back to the realm of the living?”
“Not a chance,” Cole scoffed. “But I could’ve found a way.Ifyou had trusted me. Instead, we’re stuck with the consequences.”
“Which are?” I demanded.
No answer. I looked at Hecate. “Well? I’msickof hearing about these unmentionable consequences. I got my best friend back. I can’t be sorry for that. Ican’t.”
I couldn’t. Because if I didn’t trust myself in this, I would need to think about what had led me here.
I’d killed a man in the process. A crappy one. Maddox wasn’t exactly a benevolent ruler where I was concerned. But he had cared about the pack and almost everyone in it. He’d been the Alpha for as long as I’d been alive, longer even, but he had so much more life to live.
Suddenly, it hit me. I’d shoved it aside while I’d been focused on surviving, on seeing Daphne after recovering. I’d been in a bubble.
And that bubble had suddenly popped.
Arms wrapped around me, a comforting scent I could barely taste as I hyperventilated. Darkness against my face I could bury myself in.
Daphne? A calloused finger wiped the tears I’d barely registered away.Cole.
“Shhh,” he said.
The world was quiet, just me and my breaths.
“Come with me,” he whispered in my ear.
And we disappeared.
Chapter XV
ItrembledinCole’sembrace.
It was a whole-body sensation. My arms were weak as I clutched him. My throat wobbled, words suddenly beyond my grasp. My legs shook, even though I became aware I was seated on Cole’s lap.
He had me completely ensconced against him. My entire world was his scent, his body heat. It flooded into me, a comforting thing, but not enough to douse the nausea that grew in my belly.
I wanted it to be enough. To breathe for a moment and remember myself and shove this humiliating episode aside.
