Auraelia reached up and cupped his face in her hand. Relishing in the scratchy, soft texture of his beard beneath her palm. “Walking away from you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do—” She smiled and pulled his face to hers, placing a chaste kiss on his lips before resting her brow against his. “I won’t do it again.”
The words were acid on her tongue, and she knew that they were a lie as soon as they left her lips.
It may break her into a thousand pieces to do it, but she would walk away from him a thousand times if it meant keeping him safe.
Daemon stood and helped her to her feet as well.
Then, after another quick kiss, Auraelia watched as he walked out the door again.
Minutes passed before Xander broke the silence that had descended on their small group. “Lying through your teeth again, I see, sis.”
Auraelia flinched at the bite in his tone before turning to face him head-on. “You would have done the same in my situation—” She quickly glanced at where Piper was picking up papers from the floor before staring back at her brother. “Would you not?”
Xander didn’t respond, but the way his eyes lingered on Piper was an answer in and of itself.
Piper—oblivious to their conversation—straightened and turned toward them with a stack of parchment and books in her hands. “Would you both stop gawking at me and help? Vee is a tiny but terrifying woman. And I’d rather not get on her bad side.”
Back in her room at the castle, Auraelia stripped out of her riding clothes and took a long, hot shower before collapsing into bed. She was exhausted beyond belief, but her mind was a massive tangle of thoughts.
After tossing and turning for hours, she gave up.
Crossing the room to the writing desk that was nestled into a corner, she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the wooden box that had been locked away since Daemon left. Inside sat the sapphire pendant he’d given her.
The one that had let them reach each other regardless of time or distance.
The physical reminder of everything she lost. Everything that she’d given up.
She’d tossed it into a box and locked it away the same way she’d locked away her feelings for him. Building a wall so high that she couldn’t look back even if she’d tried.
Until tonight.
Bringing the box to her bed, she set it down on the coverlet and took a deep breath. As she slowly lifted the lid, and the contents inside came into view, her breath caught in her throat.
Surrounding the pendant were countless letters.
Newletters.
She’d left the old ones on the side table of her former room, unable to bring herself to take them with her into her new chambers.
He never stopped writing.
Tears sprung into her eyes as she pulled them from the box one by one and placed them into a pile on the bed.
Cracking the seals on each one, she slowly worked her way through them all. Her heart broke with each one she opened. Anger, sadness, and cold indifference poured through his words, and the guilt of everything she put him through crashed into her once more.
Each letter got shorter as she read. No longer were there greetings or farewells.
Instead, he flipped between cursing her name and begging her to write back.
But the one that stung most was the final letter that she’d received.
Tears streamed down her face, landing on the parchment in her hand and smudging the ink scrawled across the page.
Picking up the pendant from where it lay on the bed, she let the chain slip through her fingers before palming the rich-colored stone. The sapphire warmed in her hand, the familiar feeling bringing her a sense of comfort.
She had no idea how to—or if she even could—repair the damage she’d done to her relationship with Daemon. No clue if there was a way for her to make it up to him. The one thing she did know was that it wasn’t safe to try until she’d handled her cousin.
Piling the letters back into the box, Auraelia slipped back out of bed and padded over to her desk. After placing the box back in the drawer, she penned a response to Daemon.
