His fingers search my exposed skin, his touch rough and demanding. I place my hand flat against his stomach, pressing myself closer into him. The breath hitches in his throat.
“You worked tirelessly,” I say, switching to the other side of his neck, just barely brushing my lips over his flesh. “You made it a home for our family.”
“Yes,” he breathes. I look up to see his eyes slide closed. The ecstasy is clear on his face. “Our son, he nearly froze to death that first winter. But we made it through.”
“Together,” I say. I bring both of my hands to his chest, clinging hard.
“Yes,” he whispers. His eyes slide open and bore into mine. His hands come to my arms, clinging tight. “Sevan? Have you come back to me?”
This is such a dangerous game I play. But I need it. I crave it. Because this is who I am now.
“I don’t know,” I say, putting a little quiver into my voice. “I’m so confused about everything that is happening.”
The emotion on Cyrus’ face comes flooding through. He gathers me into his arms, pulling me tight, cradling my head against his chest. “Everything will be alright, my love. We will get through this. Together.”
A small smile curls on my lips as I look into the flames.
The King is not the only one who can play games to heal emotional scars.
SOMEONE KNOCKS ON THE DOOR to my bedroom just as Lillian puts the finishing touches on my dress. “I’ll get that,” she says as she gives me one last admiring smile before walking to the door.
The gown is all black, falling from my waist in tiers. The neckline plunges low, so low it nearly reaches my bellybutton, exposing my cleavage. It stretches over my back, coming into a high collar that flares around my neck in a dramatic, old-world collar. My hair is styled into a complicated twist at the back of my neck, my crown sitting atop my head.
I look like the dark queen I pretend to be.
“You look quite stunning, I must say, Alivia.”
I turn to see Christian step into my bedroom. Lillian offers me a little smile, before sliding out the door and closing it behind her.
“I appreciate you saying that,” I offer, stepping into the bedroom from the immaculate bathroom. I slip into my heels, instantly growing four inches. “And I appreciate you being here.”
Christian’s face turns serious and his eyes drop away from mine as he takes two more steps forward. “I didn’t really come back for you,” he says honestly. “Not at first, anyway.” He sits on the edge of my bed, and for a moment, I bristle at that. This is my space, not his.
“It was a lot harder than I expected,” he says. He laces his fingers together, staring at them. “Being away from my brother. We’ve been together for over seventy years. A lifetime for humans. When you and Jasmine went to war, I didn’t know how to feel.” Finally, he looks up at me. That crooked, womanizing smile begins pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You swept into town and changed everything I had ever known. You had the blood of a Royal, but you knew nothing about our town. About our history. About being a ruler or even about being a damn vampire.”
He offers a mournful, little smile. He releases his hands, placing them on his thighs and sits there, looking very uncomfortable. “I didn’t think you knew what the hell you were doing, that my brother was a traitor for turning away from the House our father lead for over a century.”
He looks away again, and I realize just how very hard this is for him. “But then Jasmine didn’t look too much like a leader anymore, either. She was rash. Crazy. She couldn’t protect her own. And she just kept getting worse and worse. So when the shit hit the fan and suddenly I had to make a choice, I chose not to make one. I’ve been out there on my own, living like Anna did for a really, really long time.”
When he says Anna’s name, there’s regret in his voice. It’s been obvious Anna has history with both the Kask brothers, but it’s never been my place to ask what happened. That’s her past and she owns it.
“Lillian found me. Told me how happy Samuel was being a part of your House. How happy she was. How you knew what you were doing.” Christian looks up at me, his eyes open and ready for my judgment. “I didn’t really believe her. But I had to see, you know? I had to give myself some confirmation of what I thought before, that there was no way you could be a good leader, when you were such an…ignorant, uninformed infant.”
That stings a little bit. Because there’s confession of truth in his words. It’s what he truly thought of me.
“So, I came back with Lillian. I told her that I was just going to see what was going on. That I made no promises that I would join your House, even though she told me that was her mission.” Samuel stands up once again and takes three steps toward me. “But we came back. I heard the fight that was going on. And I watched as you begged for Jasmine’s life. And I heard all the terrible things she did to you. And, you asked for a second chance for her anyway.”