“Oh—he’s protectingsomeone,” Jaxon snorted, although there was no humor on his face. “But everyone he ever cared about is dead…unless it’s someone new.” His eyes lingered on her, dark and accusing.
“I haven’t given him any reason to care about me,” Araya protested.
Not wanting him to die a terrible and painful death didn’t mean shecaredfor him—not like that. She’d dumped out her tea every night this week, desperate for even a glimpse of him—but Loren hadn’t visited her dreams since Garrick’s birthday. Whatever had linked them—if it had ever been real—was gone.
“I told you—” Her voice cracked, her heart pounding so hard against her ribs that it felt like it might burst. “You’re the only man I’ve ever touched. The only man I’ve ever slept with. The only man I’ve ever?—”
She caught herself too late, her breath hitching as she snapped her mouth shut on the word.
“Loved?” Jaxon finished for her, tilting his head curiously. “Do you love me, Starling?”
Araya’s heart twisted. She hadn’t meant to say it—hadn’t even meant to think it. But it hung in the air between them now, impossible to take back.
“Yes.” She choked on the confession. “Even now—when you question my loyalty every time I turn around.”
For a fleeting moment, something flickered in his eyes—a shadow of the boy who had laughed with her, had promised her a future at his side. But that boy vanished in an instant, overshadowed by the cold, calculating stranger who stood before her now.
“That’s sweet, Starling,” he murmured. “But I don’t need your love.”
Araya caught her breath, dropping her hand as if burned. She blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears welling in her eyes—but Jaxon saw them.
His thumb brushed across her cheek, catching the fat tear she couldn’t stop with a tenderness at odds with the grim set of his expression.
“Don’t take it personally, Starling.” He cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Love doesn’t change the world. But your loyalty? Your power? Those are the things we’ll build our legacy on.”
Araya swallowed against the ache in her throat, hating herself for wanting to lean into that touch.
“And what happens to me when you’ve gotten everything you need from me?” Her voice trembled, despite her best efforts to keep it steady.
“Is that what you’re so worried about?” Jaxon’s low voice curled around her like smoke, soft and suffocating. “That I’ll cast you aside?”
He stepped forward, pressing his lips to her temple as he gathered her into his arms.
“Let me make something clear, Starling,” he murmured. “No one—not the Arcanum and not some half-mad fae prince—will ever take you from me.”
Araya’s breath hitched, her pulse thundering in her ears. “And if I choose to leave?”
“You won’t,” Jaxon said, laughing.
Araya should have left it there—but hurt and anger made her foolish. “But if I did?”
“Then I’d find you and bring you back.” Jaxon’s fingers tangled in her hair, his grip tightening just enough to make her breath hitch. “And if you refused to come?”
He leaned in, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. “Then I wouldburn your world to the ground and take you from the ashes. You’re mine, Starling. You always have been, and you always will be.”
He paused, his breath hot against her skin. “Now—say it again.”
Araya shuddered as her magic flared again at his command, rising unbidden like a pulse beneath her skin. Part of her wanted to spit in his face—to deny it and claw back some tiny shred of dignity. But her magic wouldn’t let her lie—and maybe, in this moment, that was the cruelest thing of all.
“I love you,” she whispered, her voice breaking like glass in her chest.
Shame burned beneath her ribs—shame at the relief she felt, knowing the lengths he would go to keep her. Maybe he didn’t love her. But hadn’t she told Serafina she didn’t have the luxury of love? This wasn’t about feelings. It was about survival. And even if he didn’t love her, he chose her.
“And that’s how I know you’ll never leave me.” Jaxon closed the distance between them, his hand tightening at the back of her neck as he claimed her mouth.
There was nothing tender about it—it was a declaration, a mark of ownership. His fingers dug into her flesh, but she couldn’t pull away. Instead, her body leaned into his touch, answering to the connection between them like he hadn’t just shattered her heart.
Araya was breathing hard when he finally pulled back, her whole body taut with a confusing blend of desire and panic. Jaxon smiled down at her, stroking his thumb along her jaw one more time before he finally stepped back, smoothing down his shirt like nothing had happened.
