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He’s sleeping? During the day? He’s hardly able to sit down during the day, let alone relax or sleep.
“What do you want?”
“A moment of your time,” I say, hearing my voice but wondering if it sounds like my own to him. Or if he’d hear the person I’m appearing to be.
“Did you and the rest of the castle staff not get the hint? I want to be left alone.” I meet his eyes in the mirror hanging on the wall. Even as he rests, as calm as ever beyond the grumpy attitude, it’s not the man who stares at me. Jet-black, obsidian eyes with jagged veins splayed across his cheeks reflect in the glassy surface and, for some reason, it sends a thrill through me.
I shove inside the room, closing the door, and leaning against the slab. The gesture pulls a visceral growl from Kai as he sits up, tossing the covers off. “I’m not sure how many people have to die before people get the hint.” I gasp at his admission, even as he storms toward me, shirtless, with sweatpants slung low on his hips. It’s only when his hand snatches my jaw that I move. Something worms its way across my flesh, blinding me with a black fog. It tugs at my power, at my very soul, as I snatch the mustache off my face, dropping it to the floor.
“It’s me,” I manage to get out before his hand closes around my throat, robbing me of air. Watching the shock register across his face, he quickly lets go, taking a step back. As if something has switched back to life within him, his face–once vacant–fills with emotion. The lines around his eyes fading until bloodshot amber eyes search over me, looking me from head to toe, only to do it again as if he doesn’t believe what he sees.
“How can this be? You’re dead.” The color of his eyes burns brighter as they gloss with fresh tears. “What is this?” His voice raises, thrumming with power as he steps closer, something monstrous swirling within the depths of even his human eyes now. “I’ve officially gone mad, haven’t I. I’m imagining this, or maybe the fates have put it in my head. A last ditch effort to mess with me. To let me know I failed to keep her safe.” His eyes forming into slits as his will ripples out through the air, threatening to bend me to it.“Which is it?”
“I’m…” I open my mouth to explain, but can only get out a single word before my throat clamps shut, going dry. I swallow, trying to gather the nerve to speak, but under the pressure of his allegations, it’s next to impossible. “I’m… so sorry.”
Tears spill from my eyes as I plaster myself to the door, doing anything I can to shrink away from the look he gives. Like he could break every bone in my body with the mere snap of his fingers.
Slowly, he softens. His shoulders lower as the tension and anger are swept out of his body. A warm hand cups my cheek and I lean into his touch as my lower lip quivers. I want him to forgive me… I want him to drag me into his arms, to kiss my lips, and hold me in a way no one else ever can.
“You look so much like her…” he whispers, and his forehead rests against mine.
“That’s because I am her.” He chuckles as if I’ve told a joke. For a moment we sit like this, debating on what to do next. Then Kai stands to his full height, tipping my chin up to look down upon my face. “I’m so sorry for the pain you’ve felt the last few days,” I say, trying to figure out how I begin to tell him what I’ve been through.
“It’s not your fault,” he says. The lump in his throat bobs as he swallows. I can see the war happening within his gaze as he fights to discern the truth in what he’s seeing. All it does is make my guilt swell. Using my eyes, I glance around the room as he holds my chin in place, hoping to look anywhere but at his piercing stare.
The room is not nearly as torn apart as the hallway and the rest of what remains of our floor. There is still smashed furniture and objects have been tossed and shattered around the room. Yet, everything that was mine remains intact, like he’s been preserving my possessions. My memory.
Similar to the way his father locked his mother inside a glass box, he’s displayed pieces of me. The mannequin with my armor is no longer in the closet. It’s front and center in the living room. My crown–though I’ve hardly ever looked at it, let alone worn it–is encased in a decorative box. A golden placard has been made and placed on the side. “Crown of the late Queen Alice, may she rest in peace.”
He named me his queen in my death… Which means he superseded his father. Malakai Morningstar is no longer The Prince of Darkness, rather the King of it. Meeting his eyes once more, I catch the tick of his jaw as he grinds his teeth.
My heart breaks for the pain I’ve caused, yet blooms with that fact this room… his heartache… it all proves one thing that I’ve questioned despite my many reasons not to. He does love me. It wasn’t a result of our parent’s deal, or because our souls are linked in a way we can’t even describe. He lovesme.
Tears shimmer in my eyes, blurring my vision as I stare into his. There’s no way I can leave him here again… After everything I’ve gone through, that Asmo has gone through to get me to the bay near Solaria, I can’t go back. Asmo was right… As much as I wanted to come here and put his worries at ease, it would only hurt worse if I was to leave again to finish what I set out to do. It’d break his heart all over.
I can’t bring myself to do it, which means Finn will die tomorrow.
“What am I to do with you?” Kai asks, his hand slipping up the side of my face, running my hair through his fingers and tucking it behind my ear.
“Whatever you see fit, my king.” My bottom lip quivers, but quickly I trap it between my teeth. “Trap me in the dungeons, or place your mark on my flesh… Whatever it is, you need to feel at peace. I’ll do it. I’ll say whatever it is you need to hear.”
He’s quiet for a moment, coiling my hair around his finger, mesmerized as if he’s seeing it for the first–or the last–time. “Tell me you love me.”
I choke back a laugh, feeling my lips war between trying to smile and trembling as tears stream down my cheeks. “I love you…” Goosebumps pebble across my skin as my stomach swirls with butterflies. “I love you more than anything in this entire world, and I promise to never forget that, or to question whether you return it.”
The corner of his lips twitch up as a single tear rolls gently down along the outline of his nose. He sniffs, brushing it away. His tongue sweeps between his lips as he lowers his head, gently lifting my chin until our lips brush against each other. Kai pulls back for a moment, as if he’s still uncertain, but I don’t give him the courtesy to back out. My hands thread into his hair, as I kiss him deep.
I want him to know how much I’ve missed him, to feel it in his fucking soul. My fingers form into fists, holding him to me as I devour him, kissing away the tears he’s cried, and sewing closed the gaping hole I tore in his chest. Within moments, his strong arms are hoisting me up so I can wrap my legs around his torso.
Our movements aren’t hurried. They’re not rushed and there’s no race to who can get undressed first. I savor it, every slide of my tongue against his, every feather-light touch of his fingers. I need it more than I need air.
His large hands palm my ass, grinding my center against the hard ridge of his cock, straining against the fabric of his sweatpants. Before I know it, I’m falling and my back lands against the mattress. Kai doesn’t waste a moment, climbing between my legs, staring up at me as his lips skim over my body, until he can crush his mouth to mine once more.
He tastes sweet, like wine, yet his lips are salty from the tears–or maybe it’s residual from mine. My fingers run down his chest, over his rippled stomach, and dip beneath the waistband of his pants so I can feel his want and need in my hands. He groans against my lips the moment I slide my grip from the base to his dripping tip.
No one has ever been able to make my body come alive like Kai. It hums beneath his touch, my blood singing through my veins as my magic spills into the air. Power guides every move he makes, radiating into me until my stomach spins with it, drunk on the intoxicating high it provides. His hand latches onto the fabric of my shirt and bra, lifting it off me as his free hand darkens into the smoke like designs curl up his arms. Blade-sharp talons slip through his fingertips as they gently coast up the smooth plane of my stomach, cutting the constraining fabric free.
Kai’s hand returns to normal as he tosses what’s left of my shirt and bra off the bed and smooths his palms over my chest. The friction against my hardening nipples is both striking and pure ecstasy. I barely have time to comprehend what’s happening before he starts kissing down my throat, across my collar bone and through the valley between my breasts.
