Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
She catches sight of her husband and stops short. “Sol?”
“Briar.” Gods, he’s so in love with her that it makes me feel like a voyeur being in the same room as them.
She starts to move toward me, but I fling out a hand. “I swear to the gods, if you throw yourself into his arms right now, I will send you back to the human realm.”
Briar spins on me and gives a truly impressive snarl. “You’re so high-handed, it’s no wonder Eve doesn’t want you!”
I flinch. I can’t help it. She’s speaking words I know for truth, with such conviction that they would convince me even if I had doubts. I’m suddenly exhausted. It’s clear these two love each other, and equally clear that Sol committed no harm against Briar. It takes a little while to get them out of my office and on their way home. It passes in a blur. All I can think of are Briar’s words.
No wonder Eve doesn’t want you.
I sit in my office for a long time after they leave, thinking of nothing at all. I love Eve. I’ve loved her for years, even as I resigned myself to always occupying a specific space in her life. Manipulating her into signing a contract was shitty. I could have explained the situation. Or I could have gone over her head to Pope and explained what they needed to know of the danger. They could have sent her into hiding.
I’ve been selfish and just as much an overbearing asshole as she’s claimed.
I push to my feet with a sigh and go in search of my woman. Except she’s not mine. She never will be. No matter what she feels for me—and I know Eve well enough at this point to understand that she does have feelings for me in some capacity—my deception will always stand between us and any future we could attempt.
For once, the castle is feeling kind. I only have to climb a single set of stairs before it spills me out into what I’ve come to consider Eve’s Garden. She’s here, knitting away at a blue garment. She’s fast, needles clacking steadily even as her gaze is on something a million miles away. It’s clearly a sweater, the fabric spilling over her lap. This mundane act of creation is a beautiful kind of magic as far as I’m concerned. I can’t wait to see it finished.
If I do right by her, it never will be.
“Briar went home with Sol.” When she doesn’t immediately respond, I clear my throat. “I, uh, might have acted too hastily in that situation.”
Her gaze flicks to my face, finally focusing on me, and there’s such deep sadness there that I nearly hit my knees and beg for forgiveness. It won’t make a difference. I’ve apologized, and she’s rightly called me on the truth that I wouldn’t do anything differently. She won’t believe that my regret has taken hold enough for this apology to be true. I’ve given her no reason to.
Even so, I can’t stop myself from moving closer. “I’ll make things right.”
Her lips twist. “Some things you can’t make right, Azazel. No matter how hard you try.” She finishes a row and carefully sets her knitting aside. “But I’m glad you saw reason when it comes to Briar and Sol. I think I’d like to meet him properly at some point. After hearing about him for the last few days, I feel like I know him.”
My throat is so tight, I can barely get the words out. “I think Briar would welcome any chance to see you again.” And then I do fall to my knees, because how can I not? “I’m sorry, Eve. Truly sorry.”
She reaches out and cups my cheek. I would welcome her fury, her spite. Instead, she just smiles sadly. “I know you are.” It feels like she’s saying goodbye. She’s touching me, but she’s retreating all the same.
It makes me want to clasp her to me all the more, to hold her so tightly, she wouldn’t dream of leaving. Which just proves I’m exactly the monster she believes me to be. I close my eyes. “With Ramanu back, we’re closing in on Brosh.”
“Azazel.” She waits until I open my eyes to continue. “What difference does it make? I understand the situation well enough. If you kill or imprison him, it will just start a blood feud within your family. I won’t be any safer then.” She drops her hand and sits back. “You know, if you’d come to me with honesty, I probably would have signed the contract.”
I stare. “No, you wouldn’t have. You were happy in your life.”
Her smile dims. “Not happy.”
“Content, then. You’ve said before that you liked your job. You have Pope. You . . .”
Eve clears her throat. “You know I grew up in foster care.” She continues before I have a chance to respond. “I was one of the privileged ones. Nothing bad ever happened to me.” Her eyes shine in the fading light streaking through the trees around us. “But no one ever chose me.”