Kayden snarls at that. "Trust isn't something I give away, Sage. You're right about that. And yeah, you screwed up. But you think throwing yourself at him like some noble martyr is going to make it better? That's not redemption. That'sstupidity."
I press a hand over my chest. "You can't fight him. You saw what he did out there. He made you all burn. You couldn't even touch him."
I look between them, begging them to understand, but what I see in Kayden's eyes is wildfire, and in Asher's is all steel and cold, an immovable resolution.
"I promised you protection," Asher says, his voice low and clear. "And I will keep my word, Sage. We protect our own here. We'll figure it out. Even men like him have weaknesses." His gaze sharpens. "Unless you don't want that."
His question twists something deep inside me.
Do I want Darius dead?
No.
I meet Asher's eyes anyway. "I don't want to be with him. But going back might be the most sensible option for everyone's safety."
The moment the words leave my mouth, Kayden hurls his new glass across the room. It explodes against the wall in a rain of amber and shards.
"The hell it is."
He strides toward me, furious and feral, every step radiating that dangerous, obsessive edge I've come to know too well.
"You're not going back to that manipulative bastard. Not to his power games, not to his gang of enchanted forest freaks, not to some fucked up silver-platter ritual where you hand yourself over and help him grow stronger."
He's close, his eyes flicking to my lips, then back to my face. I feel the pull between us, wild and visceral. The kiss he wants to give. The one I want. But he doesn't.
Instead, he steps back, like it physically hurts to do it, and storms out, slamming the door so hard the frame trembles.
Silence falls, loud and ringing.
I turn to Asher, who's standing in the same position. The cold to Kayden's fire, but just as dangerous in his stillness.
"You're angry," I say softly. Not a question.
His eyes don't leave mine. "I asked you not to lie to me," he says. "You did anyway."
"I didn'tlie. I just..." I falter. "I didn't tell you everything."
"Half-truths," he says, voice clipped. "You asked Darius not to twist things. I expect the same courtesy."
That one lands. Shame surges like a tidal wave, dragging me under.
Asher exhales slowly and steps toward the door. "We will protect you, Sage. But if we're going to have any chance, you need to tell us everything—what you know about Darius, his team, their powers, their weaknesses. No more secrets. No more excuses. Once the others regroup, it's your turn to show us that you're on our side."
He opens the door. No slammed exit. Just silence and a deeper kind of hurt.
I'm left standing there, alone in a room filled with broken glass and broken trust.
CHAPTER THREE
Kayden
That's what fucking happens when you let someone in. They break you. Split you open and leave your insides dangling like it's no big deal.
And yeah, I let her in. Dropped the armor. Showed her something real. And all I got in return is more lies. More secrets. More fucking heartbreak.
I knew she was trouble from the start. The little nymph who tried to rob us and leave me bleeding.
But this? An all-powerful fiancé with eyes that glow like a goddamn celestial death machine? Who can command nature, and her, with a single look? I wasn't expecting that.
