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In the worst moments of my pain and torture, in that prison, I had always known I wasn’t alone. Akari and Diora were always there, and at the end of the hellish moments, Akari would always have a calm romance story to tell us, to take our minds off the pain. I knew it had been difficult for her to anchor us there, and I knew how afraid Diora had been, not just of our captors but of herself.
And honestly, I had never wanted to leave them.
But even when we’d escaped, I knew I was dying. And I knew it would be terrible for them to see me suffer more. They would be better off looking for me, or wondering what had happened, or even hunting for me, than watching me die. The last thing my sisters needed was more pain, and I loved them too much to give them that choice.
And if Diora was truly mated to the shadow king, and defending him with the magic she was so afraid of, then I had made the right choice. Despite everything, that made me happy.
There hadn’t beenany soap in the other bathroom, so I made my way into the dark king’s. His bathroom was almost identical to the other one, but completely dust free, so I carefully peeled my sweater off before I placed it on the countertop, and then stepped in and turned on the water. It warmed quickly, and I relaxed easily beneath the comfort of it.
Peace—this was what it felt like.
A pretty bathroom that smelled nice.
Hot water.
Safety and security.
Maybe I shouldn’t have felt safe with the dark king, but I did. In my experience, if a man intended to hurt me, he wouldn’t be kind to me first. Perhaps that wasn’t always true, but all I had to go off of was my own experiences. Plus, I couldn’t imagine a wicked king taking the time to clean my vomit before he raped me.
So, I felt safe.
I tookmy time in the shower, using the shampoo and conditioner to cleanse my hair. It smelled like the forest, and that relaxed me further. In the years I spent in the elemental fae lands, I had lived among the wind fae, surrounded by gorgeous trees with long, flowing branches and leaves.
The way they danced had made my heart happy, and that was probably the only positive memory I had of those times. But I had survived, and ever since, memories of the forest soothed me.
Eventually my legs grew too exhausted to hold my weight, so I shut off the water and eased myself out of the shower with a hand on the wall to prevent me from falling.
Thick, soft-looking towels were draped over a rack just outside the walk-in shower, so I slipped out and carefully tugged one free. It was warm in my hands, already heated up by some kind of magic within the rack I supposed. The heat felt heavenly on my skin as I wrapped the towel around my middle, then grabbed a second and maneuvered it around my hair.
Since I still didn’t have any clothing to put on, and I was too tired to go out and ask the king about it, I padded over to the bed and slipped beneath the blankets. The fabric was silky smooth against my skin, so I tossed the towel to the floor, leaving the one wrapped around my head so my hair wouldn’t soak the pillows.
The blankets were insanely soft against my skin. I found myself relaxing quickly, and completely. My eyes began to close, and I didn’t try to stop them.
I fell asleep slowly and easily, surrounded by soft comfort, and the thought crossed my mind that I hoped dying felt just as much like coming home.
Chapter4
Laith
I halted justinside the doorway. A large wooden trunk was tucked awkwardly beneath my arm, the immense weight of it causing me no stress or problem. It was full of clothing and jewelry for the female that fate had given to me. Most of the clothes would be slightly too large for her at the moment—I intended to cure her illness as fast as our world would allow me, and feed her as much as she could eat for the rest of her days.
She was mine, after all, and no woman of mine would go hungry or deal with illness.
My gaze moved slowly over the bed, my body slowly heating and my cock reacting too quickly to the sight before me.
She had made herself at home in my room, slipping beneath the blankets that smelled of me.
The one woman in the kingdom who didn’t look at me like I was a fucking monster.
Even if she did, I supposed it didn’t matter.
We belonged to each other, regardless of anything else.
The blankets were pulled up to her neck, and both of her arms were hidden by the pillow her soft little cheek was resting against. Her long, golden hair covered most of her face and neck, half of it trapped beneath the blankets and half of it wild and messy, tangled around her.
Fuck.
She was perfect.
