‘You’ve sacrificed your throne, Enfys? Your chances of ever marrying. I can’t think of you putting The Alliance above your own happiness,’ I said as Matthias placed his hand on the smallof my back. Sparks erupted at his touch. I turned, a rash burning across my cheeks as I found his gaze locked on me.
‘I’ve never wanted his throne. I’d be a terrible ruler, and as for marriage? It’s never been something I’ve wanted. The thought of being trapped with a man chosen byhim.’ She shivered as I turned to Matthias, finding a smile on his lips as he continued to watch me. ‘I’ll hide the books under the mattress before I leave. Danté’s room is next to mine. He insisted on it. I’ll leave everything you need.’
‘We can’t thank you enough, Enfys,’ he said, finally tearing his gaze away from me. ‘You’ve saved us.’
‘But there’s still so much to do,’ I muttered, imagining how the amount of research was skyrocketing. ‘I’ll start as soon as you leave.’
‘And we’ll help.’ Skye smiled.
‘I’ll bring a fire bucket,’ Matthias said, earning a bat on the arm from his sister. ‘You’ve already got an army of people helping. You know what needs doing.’
I nodded, and he flashed a smile that had my toes curling. If he ever learned the effect that damn thing had on me I’d never get my own way again.
‘I think it’s time Asmar came out on top,’ I said.
Ignoring the room of people, Matthias pulled me in, his warm mouth slamming against mine.
The room erupted in cheers. I pushed him away, my cheeks burning, but as I took in my family, my friends, their joy bathing the room with more warmth than the flames of the hearth, I found for once my scowl transformed into a wide smile.
CHAPTER 27
A king – riddled with envy – ingested Vyrium. He cursed Evella. He was king. Why should a gutter brat be considered greater than he? He learned quickly and painfully, only Evella may bestow her gifts. They cannot be taken by force. When the green-eyed man took his final, desperate gasp, Vyrus waited, accepting him into his fold for all of eternity.
— THE HISTORIES AND PROPHECIES OF THE STAR-CROSSED GODS: CHRONICLES OF VYRUS
‘I’m sorry,’ I muttered to Skye, hurt glinting in her eyes as she turned from me. She smiled sweetly, but I realised too late how she’d taken my words to heart. We sat in the library, studying the books Enfys had rescued. ‘My drawings – my art – it’s a sore point.’
‘It must be.’ She pushed my sketch of a diafol bird under one of the open maps. ‘It’s…Enfys was right. They’re stunning. You’re incredibly talented.’
I bit back the retort ofwasdesperate to spring from my tongue. Instead, I stood, stretching my legs. I searched the fireplace, seeking the form of Pablo in his favourite spot, but he must have got bored and wandered off. I released a half groan, half sigh as I rolled my aching shoulders. I couldn’t blame him.
Skye sat on the edge of a table, one of my notebooks from the Drufaeran library resting on her lap. She pushed a curl of coffee-coloured hair behind her ear and swung her legs, the ruffled skirts of her emerald-green dress crinkling in time to the squeak of the table.
I hissed, gripping the elbow I’d been absently scratching, unaware I’d drawn blood, and my heart stilled. The way I’d lashed out at Skye. She’d only asked me why I never drew any more. She’d seen how much love I’d poured into my sketches. I rubbed the blood oozing slowly from the marks I’d gouged into my skin. Perhaps I’d been sitting too close to the fire, or maybe it was the dust from the library. I swallowed. The itching. Itcouldn’tbe?—
I rubbed the almost constant throb in my head. Time to locate the mine was slipping away.
We’d been searching through the books for almost two weeks since Enfys had left. She’d gifted us so much—all the resources, passed me my notes. She’d even clawed back some of the time I was desperate for, but the location remained stubbornly obscured. By working with Francis and a few clerks, we’d sent a strongly worded letter, citing the treaty and thus, temporarily, halting Romero’s attempts to usurp Matthias.
But we stillhadto find that Vyrium.
And that still wasn’t the real reason why I was leaping down everyone’s throats if they simply breathed the wrong way.
Every morning, I woke up in cold, lonely chambers with only Pablo for company. Apart from a few painfully chaste kisses on the cheek, Matthias made no attempt to seek me out. My lipsburned with the ghostly memories of his kiss. I’d smile whenever I sensed his heated gaze. But for some reason, that was as far as it went. We’d opened up. It was clear he adored me. I thought he wanted me. So why did my husband back away? An awkward chasm was splitting apart the happiness we’d discovered, and my heart twisted. The gap between us shouldn’t exist any more; we should be closer than ever. My jaw clenched against a sudden stab behind my eye. I should’ve known not to let him in. I should have known it would cause nothing but pain. As I rubbed the ache, I wondered how much of our chasm was the pain I still carried, and how much was the blight, twisting my emotions and eschewing the truth?
I blew out a breath and marched back to the map, grabbing my notes and making sure I’d marked the locations of diafol hunts correctly. Something was missing, and it wasn’t Matthias.
A guard strode in. I lifted my head, my heart hammering as I mistook him for the king at first. I bit my bottom lip. Maybe I should stride into his room later? I’d never been shy before. I’d had a few lovers from my days in the library. If I wanted someone, if it was mutual, then I refused to play games. So why was this so different?
The pain behind my temple spiked, and I winced.
‘Sorrow?’ Skye said, with that damned faraway voice. ‘Are you all right? Tea?’
I shook my head, taking deep breaths through my nose. ‘It…it’ll pass. I’ve been squinting too hard. I should really get some glasses of my own.’
I grinned as I swung the borrowed glasses by the arm, relieved to see Skye grin in return.
‘Imagine owning a whole country of your own for several months and still wearing second-hand glasses?’ she said, her shoulders relaxing.
