His cheeks were adorably pinked from the night air, his hair ruffled after being tucked under his hood, and the second he saw her, his eyes lit up in a way that speared a mix of untethered anger and hurt through her chest.
She wanted to run to him.
But she wouldn’t. Not anymore. Not after what he did.
“I thought you might be asleep,” he said. He shucked off his gloves and tossed them onto a nearby table, followed by his cloak. “I was inventing all sorts of delightful ways to wake you, since you’re the first person I wanted to see.”
“Me too,” she whispered. Her lips shaped into a faux smile. It wasn’t a lie. She’d been dying the last few days. Waiting.
He donned casual black clothes like those he’d worn in Malheim, the ones that made him someone else entirely. In those, he was Dez. In his button up shirts and capes, he was Destonne O’Daire, the cruel King of Asaella. Reconciling between the two was messy, tiresome, and left her empty.
Because she wanted both and couldn’t have either.
As he crossed the room, her heart banged against her ribcage, stretching for him as if it wanted to break in the palms of his hands instead of in her chest where it already lay cracked beyond repair.
Dez gathered her in his arms, his breath warm in her hair as he placed a kiss onto the top of her head. It brought her back to how he had been her sanctuary in the labyrinth, her home when she woke days ago, and her strength the months she’d struggled. She rested her cheek against his chest, allowing herself to sink intohim one last time, until she peered up at him and steeled herself, turning her blood to ice and skin to stone. “Where did you go?”
“To find answers about my magic. It called for an in-person visit.” He pressed his face into her hair, and murmured, “I know it was only a few days, but I missed you.”
Her shoulders tensed though his words sounded so sincere. They weren’t. Couldn’t be. And it was the last blade she’d allow in her back.
Dez reached under her chin and tilted her face up to his, but she shrugged out of his arms and nodded at the chair. “Sit,” she ordered.
His brow arched. “Why don’t we retire to my room, so I can show you exactly how muchI missed you?”
She placed a hand on his chest and gave him a shove until he folded into the chair. “It wasn’t a request.”
“Now who’s being bossy?” he teased. As she climbed atop him and settled into his lap, Dez grasped her hips and chuckled softly. “Em, someone could walk in.” His breathing sped and his fingers dug into the fabric of her trousers like he debated tearing them off right there and devouring her. “Actually, let them. They would be so lucky.”
He leaned in, to close that space, to kiss her, claim her, but little did he know that would never happen again. Only a hair's breadth from his lips, she placed her hand on his chest and held him back. She let that tension wind, crank, revelled in him withering beneath her as she stole his power.
She’d learned from the best after all.
He groaned in frustration and it only fueled her.
Then she slowly leaned in, savouring the catch of his breath, as she whispered, “Why did you lie to me, Destonne?”
He stilled, even his chest halted, and he was quiet for such a long stretch she thought he hadn’t heard her. That he’d suddenlyfallen deaf. But eventually another deception wheezed out of him. “I’ve never lied to you.”
“I’ll ask again,” she purred, fire in her eyes. “Why are youlyingto me?”
“I’m—” His throat worked. “I think you’re mistaken. Did you—what happened?”
“I’ll start with an easy question, and your answer will dictate how this night goes.” She skimmed her lips up the side of his neck to his ear and he shuddered. “Can you explain why your handwriting matches my book?”
He drew a shaky breath. “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Did you know you write your D’s in a very distinct way? And your O’s.” Her sigh down his neck made his skin prickle and fingers tighten on her.
“You think I’m your Shade? Is that it?” He huffed a laugh. “While I’m flattered, it’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think? I read it cover to cover.” He blinked at her. “I would know if I wrote it.”
Again, like before, he worked around the truth and didn’t answer directly.
“I wracked my brain, trying to figure out why you would have done it and what could possibly be in it for you. And for the life of me, I can’t decide if this was some long game or if it’s merely a coincidence.” She tilted her head at him. “Unless of course you know who Shade is and kept it from me.”
“If I knew, don’t you think I would have told you already? We have a deal. And Ialwaysmake good on my deals.” He cleared his throat. “Now that we have that sorted—”
She leaned forward and added, “I know about the Council.”