“Maybe a little,” she says with a hint of a smile. “But you didn’t turn to stone with that look, and if her look had affected you, you absolutely should’ve. I don’t think you are, though. I’m not, andneither is our harpy friend here. Please, just look her in the eye again. Prove me right.”
“I’m not ready to die,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes.
Avyanna runs her thumb over my bottom lip. “You’re not going to die, Addie.”
Hearing her call me that after so long does something to me. A tear rolls down my cheek, and I take a deep breath before my eyes drift to the gorgon. She’s already staring at me with her jaw clenched and her snakes hissing. I’m guessing something about this interaction between Avie and me is upsetting her, but I still look her in the eye and prepare for the worst.
Her eyes shimmer like the most exquisite emeralds I’ve ever seen, making it impossible to look away. I almost want to get lost in them. But then she looks away from me, and Avyanna pulls away from me in the next second, walking to where the gorgon still stands. Vaelyn stands against the opposite wall, mouth agape, and face even paler than it was previously.
I walk over to where she stands and cup her face in my hands, crashing my lips to hers in a desperate kiss. She lets me kiss her for a few seconds before she shoves me away. When she tries to leave, I grab her arm and pull her back to me.
“I can’t do this right now,” she says.
“Don’t leave yet,” I plead.
Her gaze turns severe. “I saw the way you looked at her, Adrestia. She means something to you, and I can’t get in the middle of that when I’m still trying to figure out what I feel for you.”
“Look, I had something with Avyanna a long time ago, and she wants nothing to do with me anymore. So, while I may still have feelings for her, it’s not going anywhere.”
Vaelyn rolls her eyes. “The way she spoke to you says something totally different.”
“She just wanted me to listen to her, and she knows how to get what she wants from me.”
“Whatever. Deny it all you want.”
My jaw clenches. “Please stay. You’ve been a drifter for far too long, and I can give you somewhere to call home again.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and she rips her arm from my grasp. “Fuck. You. Adrestia. We fucked and spent one night together. You don’t know anything about me or what I need.”
“I may not, but I want to—I wantyou. While that might sound a little crazy because we only met yesterday, I’m drawn to you like a moth to a flame. I know that’s really fucking cliché, but I don’t want to let you go. Last night was one of the most incredible nights of my fucking life, and that wasn’t just because of the sex. It was your being there, talking to me, and keeping me company.”
Vaelyn’s nostrils flare as she huffs out a breath. “Last night was nothing.”
“You’re a fucking liar, and you know it!” I hiss.
“Goodbye, Adrestia. Have a nice life,” she says flatly, although her eyes tell me a different story as they glisten.
“No,” I growl. “Don’t do this. Stay. Let’s figure this out together. If it turns out to be nothing, then you can go, and I won’t stop you.”
But she doesn’t stop her trek out of the alley.
Chapter thirteen
There’s too much going on today, and I can’t handle it anymore. I put my veil back on as I start walking down the alley. Avyanna catches up to me, hurrying around me to block my path, but I skirt around her. She appears in front of me again and stops me this time, so I turn around, trying to go back down the alley, but she’s in front of me in the blink of an eye.
Her hands grab onto my shoulders to keep me in place, but my gorgon form takes over, and my snakes start hissing at her. “Let me go, Avyanna.”
She shakes her head. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Away from here. I don’t know what I was thinking when I allowed you to take me to your place. I was so desperate to get away from my father’s house that I didn’t stop to question what I was doing.”
Her brows furrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I wanted you to be my knight in shining armor; I wanted so badly for you to swoop in and take care of me when no one else would. It was too good to be true, though—there’s something between you and… Addie? I don’t even fucking know at this point. I’ve been living in my dreams, apparently, thinking you would just be the perfect person right off the bat.”
She huffs out a laugh. “First off, Adrestia and I have nothing going on now. She’s one of my exes. Because of something that happened between us, I don’t want her or anything she has to offer anymore—”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
