“Do you love me?” I twisted my gaze, so it locked with Feral's.
The male went stone-rigid, appearing caught off guard by the question as well as by the fact that I seemed to be holding back my stronger form to ask it.
“Love?” He repeated the word like it was something foreign and strange in his mouth.
“Yes, love. Are dark fae even capable of it?”
For a second, he almost seemed offended. “This world is more dangerous than I hope you'll ever know. Here, death is everywhere. My people express devotion by prioritizing the survival of the ones we keep close to while ensuring the longevity of our bloodlines. Call it love. Call it whatever you want. All that matters is that I'm doing it.”
“How can I even begin to convince myself that this part of you gives two craps about me when you brought me here?”
“This isn't about keeping you to myself. It's about keeping you away from the vampire king. It's true that Fairie is as close to Hell as I ever care to get you, but here, I'm at my most powerful.”
His lips twitched in a near smile, but it was gone before it even formed. “Here, I can ensure that you'll be mine forever.”
“By throwing me in a cage?” I laughed bitterly. “If you can't hold onto me without locking me up, you've already lost everything bars can't contain.”
The fae's stony mask cracked, and the emotion carving his physiognomy was enough to make me gasp. I'd never seen him look so...defeated.
“I'm accustomed to loss, Princess. The only thing I can't bare losing is you.”
And with that, he tossed me inside the bone enclosure and slammed the hatch shut. The lock snapped into place, and the cage swung violently on its vine as I was thrown against the bars.
An unholy screech ripped out of me. I lunged, my claws grappling for my captor.
My monster was fully awake and furious. A harsh wind picked up, thrashing branches and leaves. The entire tree shook. Magic pulsated through me. I could crush my enclosure to dust if I wanted.
But I didn't. This wasn't about the cage itself. It's what the bars meant, and that Vincent felt the need to use them.
I drove a baleful glare straight through him, and he met it with one of his own, his eyes burning so hot that I could feel their singe on my skin. He looked so devastatingly masculine, standing there in his unyielding stance as my storm did nothing to him but tussle his jet-black hair and ruffle his wings.
“For what it's worth, I do love you, Ruby. But that doesn't mean the same as it does from the lips of your other mates. The love of a dark fae is a curse.” He squeezed his fists, and his gray veins bulged beneath his brawny forearms. “No matter how unstable my hybrid blood is or what side of me is in control, there will always be a piece of me that wants to hurt you. That is what I am, Princess. Pain. My love is pain, and those wounds I cause you will never go away. Because I will never stop loving you.”
My fingers unfurled from my prison bars, and my hands dropped to my thighs. I felt so hopeless, angry...and completely beside myself with grief.
It felt like I'd lost something just now.
Or maybe it had never been there, to begin with.
“I can't take you with me to scout. My familiar form won't hold you. You'll be safe here until I return.”
By now, I was barely listening. I was too busy trying to cobble the broken pieces of my heart back together. He morphed into a raven, and in a blink, he was gone.
I was left alone with nothing but my monster and the magic she wouldn't stop gathering, as if she was telling me to cast a spell.
But what kind of spell?
Curling into a ball at the bottom of my prison, I tucked my knees beneath my chin and squeezed my eyes shut. I was so tired. Sleep seemed like the best means of escape. I would give anything to dream about home, about my princes.
Sleep.
Escape.
Dreams.
The lightbulb went off in my brain. How had I not considered the mind-link spell before? I wasn’t sure if I could enter any of the guys' minds when I was this far away from home, especially when chances were slim that any of them were asleep.
Still, I had to try.
