Axe’s roar rattles the rooftop.
"You don’t want him to repeat that," Dominik warns in his lowest register.
Maurleen swallows, dabbing her cheeks. Two heavyset men donned in blue approach her, clasping her arms. Her head falls as they shepherd her back to the platform, where the regent announces our dismissal.
Chapter 51
AXE
Dinner has been sent to our guest suite in the lodgings adjacent to the capital building. Vessa takes only three bites, though I can hardly blame her for her lack of appetite. If we were in Yinsew under different circumstances, I would take her to my favorite rooftop restaurant to watch the sunset. Perhaps even stop by the Old Candor to see a play.
All I want is for her to lift her gaze to me without shame, because it damn near kills me. I don’t have the heart to tell her what I’m prepared to accept—that I’m not getting off clean this time. To think I just got her back . . .
You need to tell her, my wolf urges.It’s time.
Today took a lot out of her, I counter.It’s too heavy of a burden.
How much longer must I listen to these cowardly excuses?
I shake him off, crossing the kitchenette to join Vessa in the bathroom where she readies for bed, slipping out of her pantsuit. A humming rage rises in my chest. Bruises on her ribs and stomach have faded to abhorrent blue-green splotches. Puncture wounds on her thighs have scabbed over with red-black rings.
If you let this moment be defined by anger, you will regret it, the wolf interjects. I’ll be damned if that isn’t the most ironic thing I’ve ever heard him say.
“No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know—" I halt.
I can’t do this. If I tell her how I feel, how I’ve felt since the day I met her, surely, she’ll be marked for death. Just like everyone else I cared too deeply for. To think she would even reciprocate . . . Why would she after I let the most precious thing I’ve ever held slip between my fingers? After my careless actions got her tortured, violated, and nearly killed?
“Yes?” Vessa whispers. All the stars of the universe are in her eyes, flickering with hope.
“I want you to know that I’m so proud of you for standing your ground. No matter what comes down on us tomorrow, I won’t let any harm come to you.”
“I know,” she whispers, looping her arms around my waist. “I’m all yours,” she murmurs against my chest. “No vampire, no ruling, no distance between us will ever change that.”
Three little words. That’s all you have to say.
I ignore my wolf’s exasperated sigh, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Goddess give me the strength to keep from sneaking out tonight and slitting Preston’s throat.”
Idiot!the beast implodes.
"He lost his daughter. Hasn't he suffered enough?"
Blinking, it hits me that she may have a point. My eyes pan down to her neck. “Your mark. Looks like it’s finally healing.”
Vessa inhales sharply. “He was trying to remove it.”
Fists curling at my sides, I watch her shuffle to the bed, pulling back the covers. “Those pricks didn’t deserve the mercy of your bullets.”
Vessa slips under the sheets, staring at the floor. Fuck. This is not what I want going through her mind just before she goes to sleep.
I ruffle my hair, tossing a pair of couch pillows on the carpet. “Sorry. I’ll just?—"
“Will you hold me tonight?”
The request is simple yet drenched in sorrow.
“Of course,” I answer. Stepping to the edge of the bed, I remove my suit jacket, shirt, then my pants until I’m left standing in my boxers. I lift the top sheet to join her. I almost swear out loud, realizing how much she’s physically caved in over the last week and a half. How much color has drained from her cheeks.
She survived, the wolf reminds me.Be grateful.
