Also, if the worst happened, if this blew up in my face, my family was just downstairs. I'd have backup. Love. Fury. Reinforcements.
If I was ever going to cover all my bases, this was the moment.
I opened my eyes and gave them a small nod.
Ras instantly lit up, grabbing my hand with an excited tug. “Perfect! We’ll get everything sorted, bond complete, and then we’ll be together forever.”
As we headed to the elevator, his optimism made my lips twitch into a smile.
Gods, I hoped he was right.
The dingof the elevator was a warning bell, signaling one final moment of calm before I had to face them all and find out if any of this was real.
If what they said they felt for me was more than just lust and hope masquerading as love.
Stepping out felt like a choice. I was walking toward a truth I couldn’t undo. Maybe, just maybe, they weren’t mine. Maybe they were just fragments of sweet, torturous moments that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
When I saw Maso, Van, and Lucus waiting at the door to the room Van and I had used before, a quiet ache twisted inside me.I’m going to miss them.
Before I could drown in that thought, a large, warm hand grabbed my arm and yanked me to the side.
“Hey! What the fu?—”
Alic glared down at me, eyes sharp. “What’s going on?”Was my spiraling really so obvious?
I yanked my arm out of his grip, jaw tight. “Nothing. Let’s just get this over with.”
I turned, about to stomp off, when his voice, steady, threaded with something raw, froze me mid-step.
“Aniyah… please.”
The sound of his voice rooted me in place. A lump formed in my throat.
“Don’t push me away.”
Like I wasn't in control, I slowly turned. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t annoyed. He looked… broken. An emotion I never thought I’d see from him—anguish—was carved across his face.
He stepped in close and flicked his chin toward the others. “You can do whatever you want with them. That’s between you guys. Butwith me…”
His massive hand gently cupped my chin, his thumb brushing across my bottom lip. My tongue darted out to taste him before I could stop myself, and he stepped even closer, putting us chest to chest, crowding me in a way that made me feel safe instead of trapped.
“I’ve lived beside you for so long, never letting myself hope,” he murmured, his head hanging. “Never believed that someone like me, a failure, could ever reach for someone like you without being turned away.”
His voice cracked, a whisper of pain layered in every syllable. “I never told you how I came to the Rossey clan. How I was cast out. How badly I failed.”
Something inside me cracked wide open. His pain mirrored mine so perfectly it stole my breath.
So, I told him the truth.
“I know,” I whispered, and his whole body froze. “I’ve always known. Nova told me before she ever sent you to me. About your life in Faerie. About the princess. About her death.”
I reached up, cradling his jaw, and lifted his face so he had no choice but to look at me.
“But I didn’t care. I saw you, and Iwantedyou. That was it. None of that mattered.”
His suspicious eyes snapped to mine, searching, probably thinking I was saying it to soothe him. I smiled, but it was bittersweet.
“I’m so despicable, so selfish, that my second thought after Nova told me was that I wasgladthat princess died. Because it meant your tie to her, to that royal world, was severed. It meant there was nothing to keep you fromme. Isn’t that awful? To be grateful for your shame and pain because it brought you to me?”
