Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“I thought you felt the same.”
FIVE
Huntley
I carried the headstone to the hole that I’d dug and set it inside. I compacted the dirt back into place with my bare hands, pressing it tightly so the stone wouldn’t come loose and slip in the rain. The stonemason had engraved it with his name, his title, and the children he’d left behind. Then I grabbed the shovel and dug the hole in front of it, making it six feet deep, seven feet long.
“Son.”
I stabbed the shovel into the dirt and rested my arm on top of it.
“What are you doing?”
I dropped my arm and looked at her head on. “Burying her father.” I expected her disappointment, even a look of betrayal, but her expression didn’t change.
“Your father’s headstone is beautiful.”
I’d done his yesterday. It was in front of an olive tree, right on the bluff. His body was long gone, but his memory would be revered. He’d been avenged, but other than the thirty-second high I’d felt initially, I didn’t feel any better. The most comfort I’d ever felt was in my wife’s loving embrace.
“Ivory hasn’t forgiven you?”
The mention of her name made me look away, the pain in my chest so raw. In the week we hadn’t spoken, I’d felt that agony in my heart, the same agony I’d felt when she was taken by the Teeth. It was a million times more profound now than it was then. I knew when she was asleep because it turned into a simmer.
“I’m sorry.”
I grabbed the shovel and got back to work.
“Huntley.” She stepped closer to the grave site, coming right beside me.
I tossed the dirt aside then straightened.
“You need to fight for her.”
“Mother.” I didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want to think about it.
“I’ve never seen you like this. It’s visible all over your face.” Her hand went to my shoulder, and she gave me a squeeze.
I pushed her arm down. “I can’t take it back.”
“Don’t forget that she’s still your wife. No amount of anger or pain can change that fact. She’s bound to you for eternity, as you are to her. Remind her of that. Remind her of the blood you shared, of the vows you exchanged. Even if she doesn’t want to be with you anymore, she has to.”
I stared at the dirt.
“Use that to your advantage.”
I reached for Ivory in the middle of the night, and she wasn’t there. I’d done that every night since we’d been apart, even though I knew she was gone. A part of me wished it’d been a bad dream, that I would wake up and it’d be as if it never happened.
“Fight for her.”
Ivory spent most of her time in her room. If she wasn’t there, she was either with Pyre or Ryker and Effie. At sunset, I went to her bedroom and knocked.
It was quiet, but that didn’t mean anything.
I opened the door and found her in the exact same place as last time. She sat on the couch, a book in her lap, wearing a nightgown. Her long hair was pulled back out of her face, showing off her elegant neck and the hollow at her throat.
Her look was full of animosity, and her posture was stiff. That look of love in her eyes was long gone.
It hurt me every time I looked at her.
I sat in the chair that faced the couch, the same place I’d sat when she’d said there was nothing I could ever do to fix this. Her attack had inflicted a level of pain I’d never felt before. It was like a fiery sword that cut the skin and burned it at the same time. Never in my life had I known agony like this, and now I understood how my mother had felt every single day of her life since she lost my father. “You know how much I regret what I did. I don’t have to tell you that. You can see it all over my face. You can see how miserable I am without you.”
Her green eyes stayed on me, her cheeks fairer than they used to be, like she’d lost the rouge that used to bring her color. She glanced down for a moment, taking a second to process my admission.
“I lost my temper. I lost my logic. It had nothing to do with the way I feel about you. If I could love you more, which I can’t, it wouldn’t have happened any differently. I know this is hard to understand, but my actions have no reflection on the strength of our relationship. I lost my mind…and I couldn’t stop it.”
“Huntley.” She inhaled a slow breath. “We can talk about this a million times, but it’s not going to change anything.”
Another knife between the ribs. “And you can be as angry with me as you want, but we’re still married. You’re still my wife. We’re still bound together forever. When I die, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side, just as my father is waiting for my mother.”