She stared at the timestamp for so long that her eyes began to burn. Even when she processed the string of letters and numbers, she couldn’t quite get her brain to connect the dots as it should.
Atria blinked. In the split second between closing and opening her eyes again, she understood.
A heavy hand gripped her shoulder. “Princess,” he said, so very cautiously, “please let me explain.”
“Explain what?” Her lips and tongue were stiff, half-frozen. It was hard to get the words out. “How long have you had this file, Kaz?”
She let him gently extract the papers from her hands. Setting them down on the nest, he answered, “I didn’t make the file. My sister did. She gave it to me after Margot and Teddy’s wedding.”
“Why?”
“Delilah is a Seer. She saw you and me together. That was her trying tohelp.”
Atria took a step back and held up her hands. She needed distance to think. To process. There was too much at once. She had to break it all down into manageable pieces.
Delilah Solbourne is a Seer?That part made sense. Every time she saw the former sovereign in a newsfeed, she looked…off.It didn’t surprise her at all to learn the reason behind that wild-eyed look was an ability to see the future.
If she was anything like Kaz, it also made sense that she would think delivering a packet of information on one’s future mate was extremely helpful. That didn’t upset Atria either, though it was certainly unsettling.
No, she knew what bothered her. Sheknewwhat was wrong, where that creeping sense of unease came from. She knew and it felt like the floor was shifting under her feet, threatening to knock her down again when she’d only just gotten back up.
In a soft, high voice, she asked, “She told you I was your mate three years ago?”
Kaz stood by the foot of the bed, his hands fisted by his sides, and watched her the same way one might track a wild, fearful animal. “Yes.” The word was bitten off the tip of his tongue. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move a single muscle. He just… watched her.
The wave of directionless hurt that crashed over her was immense. Atria pressed a hand against her chest, trying to breathe past it. Despite the crushing realization, her mind still managed towhirr,putting together context that she had simply glossed over before. “But that wasn’t— that was printedafterthe wedding.”
Her eyes widened. Another wave crashed over her. “You said you saw me at the wedding. I didn’t think about what that meant before, but you said yousawme there.”
Resignation. Regret.
“I did.”
“Did you know?”Oh gods. I’m going to be sick.
Kaz licked his lips and sank onto the edge of the nest. Placing his palms flat on his knees, he answered, “I did.”
It was as if he punched the air right out of her.
Atria fought the impulse to double over. Instead, she whirled around so he couldn’t see her expression as she gasped for breath.He knew. For three years he knew. Why didn’t he say something?
It was one thing to think that he’d looked at her, a complete stranger, and walked away. It was quite another to know that he’d known everything about her — even herphone number— for three years and still chose not to pursue her.
Why?
The word thrust its way through her like the sharpened edge of his knife. Why did he turn his back on her at the wedding? Why did he choose, again and again, over three years to keep his distance?
Still breathing hard, Atria turned back around to hoarsely demand, “Kaz, did the bounty force you to…”
Guilt. So much terrible, sickening guilt.Was it his or hers? She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything anymore.
She could see in the wretched stillness of his expression that he wasn’t going to answer her completely. “Atria, I—”
“Answer me.”She thumped the meat of her palm against her heart twice, punctuating the words. “If it wasn’t for the bounty, would we have ever met? Would you have ever chosen me?”
Kaz’s blank expression cracked, revealing a sliver of something savage. “Atria.”
Remorse still choked the air between them, but when he looked at her, she felt something else, too: a pulse of possessiveness so deep, it rattled her bones. “I fucked up. I thought I was protecting you and myself by keeping my distance — that was fucking stupid.”
