His smile told me everything I needed to know.
“See?” he said. “My wingspan is so much bigger than Wolf’s! You see it, right?”
He spun in a full circle and my stomach twisted.
“It’s cute that you think that.” I forced myself not to gawk. “Wolf has the largest wings in Scarlata. No question.”
His wings fell back behind his shoulder blades as he gasped. He took two massive steps toward me, closed the distance between us, and wrapped an arm around my waist. Before I could resist, he hauled me off my feet and over his shoulder.
I fell into a fit of laughter as I half-heartedly attempted to squirm from his grasp. “Jessiah!” I squealed. “Put me down!”
“Not until you take it back!” His fingers dug into my sides as he tickled me. I laughed and laughed, which had been a foreign sound for so long. Around him, though, it was rare not to be laughing. Smiling. Teasing.
Jessiah made me feel. Slowly, day by day, he was breaking through that thick sheet of ice that guarded my heart.
And I was letting him.
My chest welled with emotion as he continued to spin me around. I kicked my feet in the air, but his pure angelic strength controlled me easily.
Another flood of warmth cascaded through my body. Was this love? Was this the emotion I’d given up on? Was this what I tried so hard to convince myself wasn’t real?
A tingling sensation took over my senses.
Within a second, everything changed.
The warmth I felt turned to an abhorrent fire. My heart chilled. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, accompanied by something dark.
Something sinister.
Something I’d only felt one other time—the time I’d killed my own mother.
“Wait!” I screamed. The playful laughter was long gone. Jessiah must have sensed this. He stopped immediately. “Put me down, right now!”
He did as he was told, then searched my face as if looking for an explanation.
But how could I give him one? Nobody knew this dark force that lived within me. I took a few calming breaths and backed away. Swallow it down, I told myself. Swallow that feeling. Lock up that vile power.
Nobody else would get hurt because of me. Especially not someone I loved.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Get away from me.”
His brows drew together. “Rummy, I?—”
“I said get away!”
“Help me understand. What’s going on?”
My heart cracked wide open in my chest. For the final time, I let myself feel something. I’d been pretending. I’d been acting like I was normal. Like I was loveable.
But I wasn’t.
I was cursed.
And anyone who loved me would end up hurt. Just like my mother.
“Nothing is going on.” I sharpened my words until they stung. “Just stay away from me, okay? Whatever this is, is over. Let’s stop being ridiculous. Nothing’s ever going to happen between you and me.”
