Kane’s arms fell from around my shoulders. “Check this out,” he said walking across the gazebo. His gloved finger brushed over a carving in the wood where it was marked K+A. He turned back, his regretful eyes hitting mine. “To be honest with you, I think about her all the time.”
Why was he doing this to me? Why must he bring up Adeline?
Kane laughed, grabbing my arm and reeling me back into his arms. “In all seriousness, I always thought she’d be the one I’d marry. She was my match. I just know it.” He stopped and sucked in a breath. “Not that I’m trying to justify my actions, but I only treated you like shit because I missed her.”
I held on to his wool coat, my eyes widening. “It’s fine,” I assured him, not wanting to hear anything that could kill the mood. Before I killed him. That was not how my vengeful murder was supposed to unfold. “We were stupid, sad, and horny.”
“It’s more than that. My life’s hell, and I took it out on you because you always came back. You never warned me or threatened me. You never tried to change me or get on to me or give me bullshit speeches about being an example and a better man like Cyrus always does. It’s like you always saw me for what I was, and just accepted it.” His chest caved. “Guess the gods knew I never deserved anything good. Not Addy, not you.”
“Oh, Kane. You’ve always been the villain of your own story.”
He chuckled, but I could tell it was to ease the tension. “Let’s just say I was doomed from the second I was born. There was never any hope being a Pruitt.”
I felt my chest tighten, so I squeezed him to let it go. “What’s going on? Why are you acting like this out of nowhere?”
We were rooted in this spot with our arms wrapped around each other for warmth and his head pressed against the top of mine. “I killed a Heathen, Adora. I was done for. My father wouldn’t have been able to save my ass, and that would’ve been it for me. I thought I didn’t care—anything to get out from under Augustine, even if death was what it took. But do you know what I was thinking during those hours after I killed him?”
I closed my eyes, then opened them again. “What?”
“I don’t want to die.”
It came out so innocently. Childlike.
And my heart was beating so hard.
He sighed in an attempt to block all emotion.
“I want to live.” He rocked me. “Just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for not appreciating you like I should’ve. But I’ve never seen Cyrus as happy as he is now, even with everything going on. He’s always treated you better than I ever did.”
“Yeah.” Because I didn’t think I could say anything more.
“I do care about you, though. I think that’s how it’ll always be. We’ll always care about each other. We’ll always look out for each other. No matter what. So, if Cyrus passes and I’m still single, it’s you and me, A.” He squeezed me, then let me go. “So, where’s the mermaid blood?”
I reached into my pocket, then paused.
He was looking at me, and I was looking at him, unmoving.
Behind him, the dark eclipse glowed crimson.
My mother was eternally drowning in an ocean, and this was it. This was the moment to save her, and I couldn’t move.
I began to feel weak. Dizzy. My eyes watered, and I looked away to hide it.
Kane’s grin was lopsided, and he drew closer, his hands finding my hips. “You didn’t bring me all the way out here just to have a heart-to-heart.” With a slight of the hand inside my pocket, he swiped the vial and held it up between us. “Don’t be a pussy.”
My heart jumped into my throat, and my stomach dropped.
“Kane, no,” I said, trying to reach for the bottle.
He raised it high out of reach with a huge grin spread across his face as if this were a game. Then he uncorked the vial and poured the contents into his mouth.
As soon as the mermaid blood hit his tongue, Kane’s fingers became stiff, locking up, and the vial slipped from his curled hand.
His gaze moved to me, and he fell back against the wooden pole where the initials were carved. His brows contorted. “Witherbane?” he whispered from a hoarse throat, his features sallow and confused, blue veins popping in his neck. “You wanted to poison me?” I’d never seen so much hurt in his eyes before, and it broke me. And then he couldn’t talk, and a single tear slid down his cheek as he locked up.
I shivered, a tear frozen on my cheekbone. “I’m so sorry.”
His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the bench, knocking my backpack to the gazebo floor.
