Shame entered his eyes, and her breath caught.
Anger surged first, but it simmered beneath a surface of humiliation and hurt. The sharp emotions slapped her in the face, startling Lucenna so much she was horrified when her eyes burned. She tried to swallow it away. Tried to bury it because sherefusedto cry in front of him. Getting up on her feet, she turned away from him and adjusted her dress.
“Lucenna...”
She hated the sound of guilt in his voice and how utterly exposed she suddenly felt. That was the thing when one removed their armor. Without it, nothing else protected you.
She knew that. Sheknew, and she had stupidly let him remove it.
Klyde said her name again, and he took her face in his hands, making her look at him. His blue eyes shadowed further at the tears he found in hers.
“Did you mean everything you said to me, or were you simply attempting to bed me?” Lucenna asked. She hated how weak and pathetic she sounded.
“No.” His expression tightened. “That’s not what I meant. Listen, please, I am trying to explain.”
“You already did.” She took his wrists and pulled them down.
She grabbed her shoes, fighting to keep her damn tears from spilling over as she put them on.
“Lucenna, wait—” He reached for her hand, and she tore it away.
“Don’t touch me!”
His face crumbled at her scream. “Lucenna I—it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I can’t have you like this.” His gaze dropped to her ring glittering in the moonlight. “I am trying to do what’s right.”
“Because of this?” She held up her hand and scoffed harshly. “When I attempted to contact Everest, I had planned to end the engagement. I felt so terribly guilty because I realized I never loved him. Some stupid part of me thought perhaps I might know what that felt like with you.” She smirked airily, shaking her head. “Thank youfor completely eradicating that absurdity. Gods, I don’t even know why I wear this anymore.” She grabbed the ring to yank it off, but Klyde stopped her.
“Don’t take it off,” he pleaded. “Not for me.”
That infuriated her so much she slapped him. The sharp blow imprinted a pink handprint perfectly on his cheek. “Don’t pretend to care now. The ring certainly didn’t deter you from seducing me.”
Klyde shut his eyes.
Her fists crackled with violent electricity. “If you come near me again, I truly will rip off your nethers.”
Lucenna stormed away, and he didn’t attempt to follow.
Good.
It wasn’t as if she expected him to. She didn’t need him or this. Her face burned, and an ugly feeling she couldn’t name bubbled up her chest. How could she allow him to beguile her this way?
Casting an invisibility spell over herself, Lucenna found another set of courtyard doors into the castle and made her way through the winding corridors for the west wing. The only thing she wanted right now was a bath and a private place to cry.
Because damn him, his rejection truly cut deep.
But when Lucenna entered their shared bedroom, she found Dyna on the couch, arms wrapped around her knees, crying so hard she was gasping for air.
Lucenna rushed over. “What happened?”
Keena worriedly fluttered around Dyna’s down turned head. “I don’t know. I found her like this.”
Dyna looked up, her face a mess of tears and snot. “Why must love hurt?”
Sighing, Lucenna sat beside her. She laid her head over Dyna’s as her own eyes grew wet. “I wish it didn’t...”
“I’m afraid of having my heart broken again. But how do I move on when I can’t cut him out of me?”
Keena settled on a velvet cushion. “My mother once told me no relationship is easy. They come with deceits and qualms and other muddled things that hurt.” She shrugged her tiny shoulders, scattering a sprinkling of gold dust on the upholstery. “You must decide if loving him is worth that.”
