From the corner of my eye, I saw Rían’s eyes expand. “He’s the one, isn’t he? The one you gave yourself to.”
I could only nod, a fresh wave of mist clouding my vision as Rían began to pace in the cramped stairwell, his breathing growing more ragged with each passing second. The air vibrated; the hair on the back of my neck lifted as if lightning were about to strike. “Do you still love him?”
His sharp question stretched between us, piercing the tense air. “What?”
He scowled down at me, his eyes black pits and the veins in his neck pulsing. “Do you still love him?”
He couldn’t be serious. How could I love Caden when I loved the murderous wretch standing right in front of me? “Yes. I love him so much that I’ve completely forgotten about you. Is that what you want to hear? It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? For me to move on and find happiness with someone else.”
He scrubbed a hand over his pinched face. “You think this is what Iwant?”
“I haven’t seen you in months. I don’t know what you want anymore.”
Rían sucked in a breath, his mouth hanging loose. His gaze dropped to where the tip of a blade protruded from his chest. Deep red bloomed across his white shirt.
He fell to his knees, tipping forward onto the floor with a quiet curse before falling silent.
Caden stood at his back, a sword dripping blood on his worn brown boots, only he wasn’t the same Caden from a few moments ago. A vicious gash sliced across his left eye. Silver scars ringed his wrists, broader and thicker than my own. Shadows lived in the pits of his gaunt cheeks beneath his stubble. Scars shaped like the letter “P” had been carved into the skin of his muscular forearms.
A pirate’s brand.
Pointed ears peeked from beneath his shaggy curls.
Not just a pirate.
Afaepirate.
“You’re not human,” I whispered.
A lock of hair fell across his brow when he shook his head. “I am sorry for the deception, my angel, but you must understand why I couldn’t tell you.”
I understood, all right. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to give myself to him. He hadn’t told me the truth because he’d been dead set on getting under my skirts, no matter the consequences.
Caden returned his sword to its scabbard, not bothering to clean Rían’s blood from the blade. “You are even more beautiful than I remember.” His reverent whisper sent chills down my spine as he stepped froward to brush one of my curls from my sticky cheeks.
I turned my face away, the familiar sting of betrayal cutting to my core. “You need to leave.”
His chin jerked back as if I’d struck him. After all he’d done, I really should have. “Angel, if you’ll only let me explain—”
“You had your chance to explain, but you chose to lie.” Another selfish man wanting to take and take without giving an ounce in return.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his broad shoulders rising and falling with his weary sigh. “I’m sorry, but if you can find it in your heart to forgive me—”
He expected me to forgive him? Based on what? Trust?Love?
All he’d given me were broken promises and a bed of lies. “Swallow your apology just as you swallowed your truth.” I was done listening and done with him. I knelt beside Rían, lifting his head onto my lap and pressing my palm to his still warm cheek. “If you’re here when Rían returns, he will make you suffer.”
“Rían?” Caden’s good eye flicked to the body in my lap. “As in…Shit…” He retreated toward the back door. “The two of you are…Gods, Aveen. You cannot be serious. He’s a monster.”
“Yes, well. I’m clearly a terrible judge of character.”
Rían might have been a monster, but he wasmymonster.
And when the prince returned from death, there was no doubt in my mind that he would make Caden pay for crossing him.
8
RÍAN