“Youlovehim, Kingston.”
He released a shuddering breath, a weight lifting from his shoulders as he lifted his eyes to mine.
“Quinn, I fell in love with him when we were just boys. Two frightened kids holding onto each other in the dark. Today, I said goodbye to who he was, but…” Blue-gray eyes shone with tears as he said, “No version of me exists, now or in the future, without the memory of loving him. My heart can’t forget it anymore than his can.”
Sunlight peeked through the clouds, clearing shadows cast by the trees overhead. It fell on Kingston’s face as one single tear slipped down his cheek.
“Yes,” he whispered.
And then, finally, he spoke his truth.
“I love him. I’m stillin lovewith him. And I alwayswill be.”
Kingston
It was the first time I’d uttered those words aloud to anyone but him. A confession I had only made once in my life.
A secret I never thought I’d be free to release again.
I’d done a lot of things I wasn’t proud of during my time at Camelot Court.
I had my fair share of regrets.
I’d made mistakes.
But Quinn Everly? Choosing her folder from that pile, selecting her asThe King’s Maiden,and everything that brought forth?
It could never be one of them.
It would never be.
Because she was exactly who I’d thought she was. Everything I thought she could be.
And so much more.
Now, I simply had to hope. Pray to whatever higher power might watch over me, that she could find it in her heart to forgive me. For taking a risk that hurt her. For failing to find a way around my father that hadn’t led to so much pain.
And for the mistakes I’d made long before I ever met her, that haunted me to this day.
She’d been right.
That day on the lawn, she’d been right about me asking for what I struggled to give.
But I hoped, now, she saw why it wasn’t easy for me to trust. Trust her with my plans. Trust him with the past. And, on a deeper level, trust myself to make the right decisions…
Elevensons.
Each time, I let them in. Each time, I wanted to believe I wouldn’t be fighting alone.
And when Landon finally stood by my side, it filled me with so much hope I thought everything had fallen into place.
That had been my first mistake.
One I paid for every day, as I worked tirelessly to end the antiquated ways of the Camelot Society, and to free us from our families’ expectations.
So we could all love without this kind of fear.
All without ever knowing if the person I was holding onto would be there at the end. If, without the past binding us together, we’d be able to find each other in a new light.
