I yanked my fangs from his neck and pulled my head back to stare into his ice-blue eyes…and my head dropped back as my entire body went limp inside his fierce hold.
I fainted dead in his arms.
King Belshazzar was my soul mate.
* * *
I groaned under my breath and lifted my head off the warm body I rested against. The scent of mint clung to my dirty clothes. I squinted into the sunlight, staring up at Belshazzar. The gentle rocking of the horse we rode had my frame swaying inside his hold, my legs straddling his, my face toward him.
The sunrays haloed his dark head of hair.
He looked like a fucking death angel.
I blinked. “Huh?”
“Hush.” He rubbed my back gently, pulling me closer again. I didn’t mind. I wanted to be close to him, extremely close. King Belshazzar insisted softly, “You’re safe now.”
I snuggled closer, a personal tug to be near him wrapping around my heart. I stared at his chest and rubbed at my own, my dark brows furrowing and hunger striking a beat inside my stomach. My jaw gradually started to drop as memories invaded.
What I had done…
ExactlywhyI wanted to be near him…
“Oh my gods,” I moaned. I rubbed over my heart harder, that personal connection embedded deep inside my chest—the magical draw to be beside your soul mate. “What have I done?”
Belshazzar’s entire body went rigid under mine, but he stated patiently and calmly, “Go back to sleep. We are getting closer to Short River. We’ll need to catch a train after that. Get your rest while you can, Gwen.”
Other hoofbeats clapped softly next to our horse.
My wide, blurry eyes scanned back and forth, looking for an exit to the predicament I had put myself in. Kimber, Rilen, Roran, Aiko, and Dorian rode their own horses next to ours. Their eyes were all carefully averted—except for Dorian, who pointedly looked at me, watching every move I made—pretending quite dreadfully that they weren’t hearing this conversation. There was nowhere to run, only trees nearby.
“I hate fucking S’Kir,” I whispered under my breath, peering down at my wrist…where my soul mate mark was. One thin, black band now marring my flesh. I glared at the mark. “Give me your wrist, Bel.”
King Belshazzar didn’t bother asking which one, releasing the reins of our horse from one hand, and pulling his free arm between us for my inspection. His chilling blue eyes stayed ahead on the trail we followed, not looking down as I hurriedly unsnapped the leather wristband around his wrist.
And there it was beneath the leather.
His own single, black, magical band.
“Motherfucker,” I hissed. I tossed the leather band onto the trail’s ground without care…and started pelting his chest with my weakened fists. I shouted, “You bastard! You lied to me this entire time!”
The others cleared their throats, uncomfortable.
Dorian still stared—mute.
King Belshazzar grabbed at my fists with his hand—the wrist with the damned soul mate mark—quickly swiping my hands together and holding them against his chest. His bicep flexed when I tried to jerk them free, but he held tight to my hands, keeping us from falling off the horse. His attention snapped down to mine, and his nostrils flared. With forced patience, he asserted, “I did not lie. Not ever. I let you fuckingliveand grow up.”
I wheezed through my tired lungs. “You never fainted, you asshole. You tricked me.”
“I did faint. The first time I had your blood,” Bel growled, tilting his head down to focus directly on my eyes. “Do you remember when you were seriously injured when you were just a child? There was a young boy with you at the time—who I now believe isJoshua. You almost died?Iwas the person who found you two and licked over your wound to seal it. And I fainted flat on my ass right next to you.”
I stared with rounded eyes, utterly stunned to my core. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around that right now. I sucked in a harsh breath and spewed, “That’s even worse! And you still tricked me, goddammit! You never told me! In athousand fucking years,you never told me.”
How could he have done that to me?
How could he have lived that way himself?
“Dammit, Gwen. I let you live your life. I let you have a youth. I let you experience everything that you should have without being tied to me.” He shook his head hard, his hair flying out around his shoulders. “I gave you what you fucking needed to grow up!”
