“That's good to hear, especially coming from its Duke.”
Galin made a scoffing sound. “Go call your mother, Master of Vegetation. I'm sure she'll say something similar and it will matter far more coming from her.”
“I will. You go take care of your mate.”
“Oh, I will. Goodbye, my friend.”
“Goodbye.”
Seconds later, Shale roared, “Who the fuck was that? And what is this device?!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I was so stunned that I just gaped at Shale.
“Sebastian?!” Shale stomped down the colonnade and loomed over me, his teal eyes flashing.
“What the fuck?” I whispered as I stared up at him.
Shale blinked. Shook himself like a dog shaking off water. “Great Gods,” he said. “I'm so sorry. I don't know why I got so angry.”
“Holy fuck!” I shot to my feet. “You're jealous!”
“No, I'm not.”
“Yes, you are!” I pointed at him. “You're jealous. And if you can feel jealousy, maybe—”
“No,” he didn't shout, but he said it in a way that expected no further discussion.
“Shale, this could mean—”
“It doesn't mean anything.”
“Can you stop cutting me off?” I growled.
“Can you stop speaking nonsense?”
“It's not nonsense if there's proof.”
“That is proof that I still feel other emotions, Sebastian,” Shale said wearily. “Not that I can . . .”
“Love me?” I finished.
The King's expression filled with pity—the last thing I wanted to see in his eyes when he looked at me.
“Don't do that,” I said. “I know what this is.”
“I think you did know, but now you're getting more attached.”
“Me? You just yelled at me for speaking to another man. Another man who's a kingdom away, Shale.”
His face twitched. “Sebastian, it's not that I don't want to love you or that I feel nothing for you. I am incapable of that emotion. It's gone. There is no growing it back like a lost limb.”
I blinked. “You can grow backlimbs?”
“We're getting off the subject.”
“Look, I know you can't suddenly feel love again. And I know that even if you could, it wouldn't mean you'd fall in love with me. I know this is temporary. But maybe I'm hoping for a miracle. Not for me, Shale. For you. I want you to feel love again. If not with me, then with someone else. In fact, it would be better for you to feel it for someone else. Someone immortal.”
