“She’s fine. I tied her up, but she’s had plenty of food and water.”
Anna gasped, horror in her wide-eyed stare.
Kane dragged a hand down his face, groaning at the spectacle while I tried to contain the laugh bubbling in my chest. “Go untie your sister and no more pixie meddling.”
“We're sorry,” they both said. The two pixies fluttered out, Ella giving me a wink.
Kane went to close the door, and I realized Gideon had disappeared.
Was he in here with us? Certainly, Kane would notice, right?
“I need a drink.” Kane walked over to the table and poured himself a glass. “No one was ever supposed to read that.”
“I know I probably shouldn't have, but you hadn't said much to me at the time. We barely spoke, and I thought I could learn something about you.” I thought back to the first night I had read the diary and how heartbreaking the words scrawled along the pages were. “It was there on our wedding night. I’d read some entries after… and well, it made me understand you better. My mother left me at the temple when I was five. I know what it’s like to be left alone.”
“It's not your fault. My pixies are meddlesome. They always have been.” He handed me a goblet. “I don’t blame them. Everything they do, whether or not I like it, has been to protect me.”
The room was dim, the fireplace casting a warm glow. It was chilly at night now. The colder months were slowly creeping in on us.
“I can't believe I burned it,” he grumbled.
“We can try to pull it out of the ashes. Maybe use some kind of fancy magic. Fae have all sorts of tricks, don't you?”
His mouth perked up in a soft smile. “I don't think we can return something that was burned.”
“I am sorry.”
“And the things I wrote in those pages, well, it's embarrassing.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, he held the goblet in his hand, staring at it.
“Don't think that. It was heartbreaking. Everything you experienced… I can't imagine what that must have felt like. Even when my parents left me at the temple, I would still see them. They would come visit. Though that was hard, and I felt alone and sad, I was still around people I knew and that loved me. But you were alone.”
His shoulders sagged.
“Do you know why she sent you there?”
“She was so afraid that day. My sister had just died. Three sisters gone in a year.” He rested his elbows on top of his knees. “She said it was to protect me until she could figure out if my sister died tragically, like the other two or something worse. I don't think she knew about the time difference and what happened after… Everything happened so fast. She was covered in blood, frantic, shocked to see that I'd grown, and they told me my father had been attacked and to get to him quickly. By the time I got to the room, he was already dead.”
I placed the goblet down and stepped in front of him, placing a hand on his cheek. “I'm so sorry that happened to you.”
He looked up at me, his amber eyes brimming with sadness. “She killed him and then ran off, leaving me again. They both left me to rule a kingdom alone.”
“We may never know the truth of what happened that night, but it’s in the past. What matters now is how we move forward.” Brushing his cheek with my thumb, he turned into my touch, longing filling his expression.
“How do we make things right?” he whispered. “I don't even know where to start.”
“One step at a time.” I moved forward, drawing closer to him until I stood right between his legs.
He reached out, his fingers just grasping the back of my thighs. His gaze went to my mouth. “I want to make things right,” he said, his tone husky.
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Me too.”
Gazes locked. He pulled me closer, warmth blossoming in my chest, an excited rush drowning out my own thoughts. We were close, so very close.
Looking up at me, he dragged one hand up my back to my neck, his touch sparking my skin alive.
I hesitated, my heart pounding.
Part of me wanted to pull away, but the raw uncertainty in Kane’s eyes rooted me to the moment. Maybe it was the way his hand lingered at the base of my neck or the loneliness I so desperately wanted to go away.
