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)
I flinch. That’s not what I expected him to say. I should have. “Like I needed time to understand? Because Daddy Azazel knows best?” I laugh harshly. “Right. Of course. Why would I assume you’ve learned anything at all? What’s your motivation to change? All you had to do was wait me out and I fell for you, legs spread.”
“Don’t.” He takes a step toward me. “Don’t do that, Eve. That’s not what this is. That’s not what we are.”
“Isn’t it?” I whisper.
It’s suddenly all too much. I skirt around him to the bathroom and make quick work of getting ready for bed. He doesn’t say a word as he does the same. Or when we strip down and climb into bed. Or when he wraps a cautious arm around my waist and tugs me back into the curve of his body.
“I love you, Eve.”
My chest feels too tight. I love you too. I don’t say it aloud. I can’t say it aloud. I wish hearing those words from him were enough to ward off the dread churning through my stomach.
CHAPTER 18
AZAZEL
I’m not surprised when Sol arrives in my castle three days later. To be fully truthful, I’m relieved. Eve’s been spending every free moment with Briar, and with each hour that passes, I can feel the space between us growing. While I understand that fixing the problem with Briar and Sol won’t fix the one between Eve and me, it can’t hurt. Right?
I stare at the exhausted dragon standing in my office and resign myself to a stressful day. “Shut the door.” I glare before he has a chance to speak. “If you start roaring, I will kick you out of here so fast, you might not survive the portal out.”
Historically, Sol has been the most even-tempered of the other territory leaders. There’s none of that present. He has to visibly wrestle his anger and worry under control before he can speak. “Is Briar okay?”
As if I would ever hurt her. But I decide to throw him a small kindness, no matter how little he deserves it after that stunt with her birth control pendant. “That little hellcat nearly took my face off.”
He freezes. He doesn’t seem to even breathe. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I did, but . . .” I understand his confusion. I suspect Briar has never come at him the way she came at me that first day back in the castle. He shakes his head sharply. “You’ve made a mistake.”
“That’s what she keeps saying.” I press my claws to my temples, suddenly tired of it all. I just want to see Eve. I just want to figure out how to fix what I’ve broken. “Sit down.”
Sol shifts a little, then finally sinks into the chair in front of my desk. When he speaks, he’s managed to moderate his tone to sound more like himself. “When I signed my particular contract with you, I thought then that it made perfect sense. You wanted to expand the bargainer demon territory.” The words are slow. His dark eyes see far too much.
Ah well. They were going to figure it out eventually. “You have something to say. Say it.”
“I had some time to think while traveling. Several years ago, you said you wanted peace between the territories. I didn’t believe you. None of us did.”
He’s almost there. I give him a long look. “I fail to see what influence your belief—or lack thereof—has to do with me or our current circumstances.”
“It made sense that you’d set up a spiderweb with four neat little traps that will put you in charge of the entire realm. I didn’t question it.” He leans forward. “But you don’t want my territory, do you? You don’t want any of ours.”
There it is. Took you long enough. “You wouldn’t believe the gift without the strings attached. So I made them hefty ones.” I shrug. “Even if I took all four territories, I wouldn’t hold them indefinitely. Your respective peoples are too powerful and too stubborn. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
Sol isn’t particularly young, but he looks it right now. He’s absolutely crestfallen. “Then why take Briar?”
“That, I was not fucking around with. I realize the rest of you think we keep the humans here as our playthings and see them as little more than toys to be used and discarded when the deals are up. That’s not how it works. A contract is sacred.”
He hesitates, then finally huffs out a breath. “I owe you an apology.”
“I truly couldn’t care less what you think of me.” It’s mostly true. “But you harmed one of mine, and that I will not forgive.”
“Briar is not yours. She’s my wife.”
“Your wife by my leave.”
The door swings open behind him, and he leaps out of my chair, fully expecting an attack. It’s not one of mine slipping through the door. It’s Briar, her hair pulled back into a complicated twist, wearing a deep-gray dress that looks absolutely devastating on her. I narrow my eyes. No doubt Eve is to credit for this timely appearance.